GAEREA arrived shrouded in mystery. The masked sensations emerged from pandemic limbo with a vision for Black Metal that was guided not by myths or pagan beliefs but a purging of emotion. Existential dread still pulses through the Portuguese band’s blood, but their upcoming fourth album signals a shift in psychology.
With “Coma”, GAEREA are no longer strictly a Black Metal band. Instead, they’re breaking to the forefront of Extreme Metal. Though their new album was produced by trusted confidant Miguel Tereso, it broadens the band’s signature sound by taking it in two seemingly opposed directions. There are more moments of intense beauty, but they only heighten the ensuing blows.
The world may be as hopeless as the album’s lead single declares. But with “Coma”, GAEREA have returned to prove that they are only the band who can guide us into the darkness. “Coma” will come out on October 25th via Season Of Mist
When GAEREA secretly gave everyone a sneak peek at their new album back in April, they set the world ablaze. Now, with the first official single off “Coma”, they’re ushering in the immediate aftermath. “Hope Shatters” opens with a lone guitar that wails like a siren before a whirl of blast beats sucks the world back into the band’s vortex.
“Welcome to the urban abyss“, their unnamed vocalist pronounces. “Where dreams turn to rust”.
GAEREA aren’t afraid to embrace harsh realities. There’s clean singing on “Coma”, but the swarming darkness of “Hope Shatters” is only punctured by cries of agony. Even when the song collapses under its blistering heaviness, the melody hangs perilously in the air, like a swaying chandelier, before it’s smashed to pieces by hammering bass and concussive drum fills.
Still, perhaps GAEREA have uncovered a shred of hope from beneath the blackened wreckage. As “Hope Shatters” meets its end, the band push ahead through the ashes with a triumphant, headbanging riff. “Enter the maze through the never-ending haze”.
With “Hope Shatters”, GAEREA deliver an anthem for our dying era. The video for “Hope Shatters” was produced by Grupa 13 and directed by Dariusz Szermanowicz.
To usher in this new era, GAEREA are touring behind Coma later this year when they come to North America with Zeal & Ardor.
The band will also be performing “World Ablaze”, “Hope Shatters” and other songs from their new album at several European summer festivals, along with two special dates with BEHEMOTH and TESTAMENT.
“Coma” track listing:
- The Poet’s Ballet
- Hope Shatters
- Suspended
- World Ablaze
- Coma
- Wilted Flower
- Reborn
- Shapeshifter
- Unknown
- Kingdom of Thorns
You can watch the official video for “Hope Shatters” below:
