Tag: LETHEAN

TERMINUS Signs With Cruz Del Sur Music; New Album ‘A Single Point Of Light’ Due This November

Enrico

Irish epic metallers TERMINUS have signed with Cruz Del Sur Music for the release of their second studio album, “A Single Point Of Light”. Recorded at the home studio of instrumentalist David Gillespie and mixed and mastered by Richard Whittaker (SOLSTICE), the album will see the light of day this November. The artwork was created by Anaïs Mulgrew.

The TERMINUS/Cruz Del Sur relationship stretches back to 2013 when both parties were tossing around the idea of releasing the band’s “The Reaper’s Spiral” debut. While the idea didn’t come to fruition then, there is no better time than the present — Gillespie says Cruz Del Sur is a “natural fit” for TERMINUS since their friends in RAVENSIRE, ARGUS, LETHEAN, GATEKEEPER and LUNAR SHADOW already call the label home. 

TERMINUS ceased to be a live entity in late 2017 after triumphant appearances at Keep It True, Up The Hammers, Pyrennean Warriors Open Air and Ultimate Revenge in Helsinki, enabling the band (now a two-piece featuring vocalist James Beattie and Gillespie on instruments) enough time to focus on new material. According to Gillespie, the goal with “A Single Point Of Light” was to “evolve enough so that a second album was not a redundant exercise while still remaining true to our core sound.”

“As the principal songwriter, it was self-imposed pressure to prove — to myself — that I wasn’t a one-off and that I could write another record of equal or superior quality,” he continues. “Hence, we did not simply poop out an album in 18 months, but took our time.”

Like its predecessor, “A Single Point Of Light” is a deep dive into the realms of epic and progressive metal, with bountiful guitar harmonies, complex song arrangements and the controlled, but emotive delivery of Beattie. It results in an album that is a comfortable step forward for TERMINUS while not reneging on the core tenets that initially brought the band together in 2012.

“The obvious thing is that we haven’t turned into a Sisters Of Mercy tribute band or anything silly like that,” says Gillespie. “The new album is in the same vein and we have retained our ethos — which seems to have become strikingly popular of late — that the album should fit on one side of a 90-minute tape and should split evenly and sympathetically across both sides of a 12-inch LP. Some elements of the sound have been dropped, some have been focused on and there are a few new textures in there to keep things fresh.”

“A Single Point Of Light” again finds TERMINUS exploring lyrical themes off the traditional heavy metal path. Instead, the band continues their approach of interpreting classic science-fiction tales alongside stories of their own telling.

“We have always been antithetical to the rest of the subgenre, lyrically,” wraps Gillespie. “Our songs are not about heroes and their deeds. They’re about cowards, deviants, deceivers — the scum of the universe, really. There are no heroics and no victories to be found in our world.”

“A Single Point Of Light” track listing:

  1. To Ash, To Dust
  2. Harvest
  3. As Through A Child’s Eyes
  4. Flesh Falls From Steel
  5. Mhira, Tell Me The Nature Of Your Existence
  6. Cry Havoc
  7. Spinning Webs, Catching Dreams

LETHEAN presents “Idylls Of The King”: pre-orders of “The Waters Of Death” open!

Enrico

 

 

We’re glad to be finally able to present you LETHEAN’s “Idylls Of The King” off their debut album “The Waters Of Death”.

 

To be released on Nov 9, “The Waters Of Death” is an epic doom monolith that will appeal to fans of the genre especially those into Solstice or Atlantean Kodex’s atmospheres.

Accompanied by atmospheric cover art courtesy of German artist Stefan Bleyl, “The Waters of Death” is an album that details themes of decline, departure and the passage of time, reinforced by diverse imagery drawn from mythology, literature and the elements. Ambitious in scope and rich in the fundamental traits of epic heavy metal, “The Waters of Death” firmly places Lethean into their own category where class, intelligence and a taste for the bold reign supreme.

“The Waters Of Death” will be released on compact disc, vinyl and digital. Pre-order your copy here:

Compact disc: https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1858

LP (limited 400 copies, black vinyl, includes insert & download card):

https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1859

U.K. Epic Heavy Metallers LETHEAN Sign With Cruz Del Sur Music

Enrico

U.K. heavy metal ensemble LETHEAN has inked a deal with Cruz Del Sur Music for the release of their “The Waters Of Death” debut album, which is due November 9.

Comments founding member James Ashbey: “We’re excited to be joining Cruz Del Sur. We feel at home within their roster as so many of their releases are ones we spin regularly. We’ve long felt Cruz Del Sur would be a good match for our style of heavy metal, so we’re grateful to Enrico  for putting faith in the two of us despite our relative obscurity. It’s been a pleasure so far — his reputation for professionalism and honesty is well deserved.”

Formed in Essex in late 2012, LETHEAN’s stated purpose was to combine epic metal, NWOBHM and doom, along with the lyrical ethos of mortality and time, leveraging imagery from mythology, history and literature. The band’s 2013 debut two-song demo caught the attention of Greek duo Giannis Alexandrakis (WRATHBLADE) and Michalis Bakoulas (CONVIXION) who helped LETHEAN re-record the songs at an Athens studio. However, it was not until the early 2017 addition of vocalist and co-writer Thumri Paavana that LETHEAN started to gain creative traction, sparking the creation of “The Waters Of Death”.

The album is the first product of the fledgling Seven Gates recording studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, with Jamie Elton (ex-AMULET) in the producer’s chair. Recorded in the age-old tradition with microphones in front of loud Marshalls and given an analogue mastering by Jaime Gomez (ANGEL WITCH, PARADISE LOST) of Orgone Studios, London, “The Waters Of Death” has a traditional tone that sets it apart from highly-polished contemporary metal.

The atmospheric cover artwork for “The Waters Of Death” was painted by German artist Stefan Bleyl, who has captured the album’s themes of departure and the unknown beyond while reinforcing the frequent references to water, fire and oblivion found in LETHEAN’s lyrics.

Described by Ashbey as “six solemn heavy metal songs about death, turmoil and the passage of time,” “The Waters Of Death” effortlessly skirts genre boundaries, all the while maintaining a strong sense of melancholy — a defining trait of the band. “We have found that people have struggled to draw immediate parallels between us and other bands,” he says. “Of course, there are plenty of glimpses of our influences, but hopefully these rise and fall within a sound that isn’t defined by mimicry. And while we hate the vague categorization that tends to be assigned to ‘female-fronted’ bands, our use of female vocals will undoubtedly catch new listeners off-guard, repelling some and attracting others. We like it this way; we would much rather our music polarized opinion than stirred no one.”

“The Waters Of Death” will be released via the following formats: COMPACT DISC | VINYL | DIGITAL.

 

“The Waters Of Death” track listing:

 

Idylls Of The King

Seafarer

In Darkness Veiled

Time And The Gods

Across Grey Waters

Devouring Fire