Brazilian Black Metallers PATRIA, have released new single “A Last Breath Οf Sulphur”, alongside a lyric video. After five years hiatus the band returns with new album “Hexerei”, which will be released on July 15th via Ketzer Records (Europe), Dawnrazor Records (South America) and Helvete Records (Mexico).
Entitled “Hexerei”, a German word that means Witchcraft, features compositions focused on 90s Black Metal legacy.
“We chose this title because the lyrics and music are surrounded by this mythical and ritualistic atmosphere. Musically, compared to our previous album, ‘Magna Adversia’, I’d say we hit the brakes in the evolutionary sense, in a positive way, of course. The new songs follow more that 90s Black Metal style”, explains Mantus. “This new work can be seen as a rescue of what PATRIA was on the first albums, but with a better production, even with that dirty and raw approach, and allied to acoustic and melodic parts“, completes the vocalist Tsword.
Also, Mantus explains that PATRIA is using more synths and piano than usual: “The intention was to create a more dramatic and gloomy touch. We always used it discreetly, but the presence of these new textures in this new material is way more expressive and evident, but not sounding ‘symphonic’ at all. The idea was to have an ambience that unite the music to the lyrical context. We were very pleased with the result“, he details.
Mantus also commented on the contrast with the dirtier sound in relation to the cover: “We opted for a minimalist and iconic cover art, even without the use of the logo and title on it. This subjective approach usually generates a bigger curiosity. We kind wanted to get away from traditional Black Metal covers on this new record. The hands with dried blood symbolize this mythical aura of black magic, death and rebirth, where the right hand tries to contain the left, as if it were a kind of counterpoint between reason and emotion of the human mind.“
“Hexerei” features very special guest like the drummer Leonardo Pagani, who played with Mantus for long years on MYSTERIIS and several other projects like LE CHANT NOIR. “He’s a fantastic drummer, one of the most impressive I know and yet he has this harsh metal vibe in his blood, which are qualities that are difficult to see together in a same musician. Also, he’s a great producer. He co-produced, mixed and mastered the entire album“, emphasizes Mantus. “He knows how to combine good sound quality with the grime that is needed on a real black metal record. We couldn’t be in better hands.“
In addition to Leonardo Pagani, the album features Demon Fog, from the legendary Brazilian Black Metal band SONGE D’ENFER, who shared vocals with Tsword on several tracks. “The curious thing is that when I was taking PATRIA off the ground in 2008, he was the one who would sing on the first album, ‘Hymns of Victory and Death’, even before I moved to the extreme south of Brazil and officially founded the band. SONGE D’ENFER is one of the best Black Metal bands in Brazil, in my opinion, and it’s an honor to have him with us in ‘Hexerei’ “, celebrates Mantus. “To complete, we had the participation of the vocalist Lembetu of the band LOITS, from Estonia, in the track ‘A Last Breath Of Sulphur’, where he sings his parts in Estonian, while Tsword is singing in English. Me and our other guitarist, Ristow, have been in Estonia in January and we arranged to have a pizza with Lembetu, which make us to bring this idea of having him on the record. I love LOITS’ records and I’m a big fan of his vocals. We even decided to put it as a bonus track, but with him singing all by himself in Estonian“, he adds.
The intro, “Hexerei”, which opens the album’s repertoire, was created and orchestrated by Dave Deville. “He is a talented producer and musician from Serra Gaúcha, who has worked for The Troops of Doom and Litosth. We became friends and the partnership also happened with Patria. When we imagined an ‘intro’ for the record, we wanted something really obscure, inspired by old horror movie soundtracks and our main inspiration was the score for ‘The Omen’, by the icon Jerry Goldsmith. The result was wonderful“, completes Mantus.
“Hexerei“ track listing:
- Hexerei (Intro)
- Worms of Light
- Archetypes
- A Last Breath of Sulphur
- Under the Devil’s Void
- Consecration
- Unborn Spellcraft
- Storm of Wilderness
- Transmutation
- All Vices
- Viimne väävlisõõm (bonus track)
You can watch the lyric video for “A Last Breath Οf Sulphur“ below:
