Midwest melodic death metal trio Astralborne have announced their forthcoming sophomore album, Across The Aeons, will be released on July 28 via Prosthetic Records. Accompanying the album announcement, Astralborne have also shared the lead single and music video for "War Vessel".
Speaking on the album announcement and "War Vessel", Astralborne comments: "This track sets the tone for the whole album; thematically, stylistically, and musically. It's a fast, aggressive, and in-your- face banger that represents four years of hard work as a band. We chose this song as the first single because it's raw and relentless, but doesn’t give away too many of the album's secrets. Ultimately, 'War Vessel' exists for one simple purpose: To destroy."
After their 2020 debut album, Eternity’s End, introduced Astralborne as accomplished purveyors of both compellingly intricate melodicism and dexterous brutality in equal measure, Across The Aeons’ creative process began immediately following their lauded first full-length release. Commencing writing in spring of 2020, the group soon found themselves expanding upon the more grandiose passages of their sonic foundations, with conscious efforts made to accommodate cellist and composer Kakophonix’s contributions.
Recorded by bassist and vocalist Paul Fuzinki in 2021 between Call Of The Yeti Studio in Swanton, OH and North Shore Studios in Fife Lake, MI, Across The Aeons was then mixed by Unnus Latif at Black Moon Recordings, Columbus, OH and mastered by Orden Ogan’s Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann at Greenman Studios in Germany. The end result of production sees Astralborne’s knack for lofty fretwork and rhythmic pummel shine among sanguine acoustic arrangements and beguiling orchestration.
The 12 tracks on offer chart a journey of acceptance in the face of humankind’s impermanence within a cosmic void, be it Fuzinski’s bellowing promise of hell itself, “chaos, death and fire” on lead single "War Vessel", or interdimensional overlap on "Gemini"’s celestial death metal pomp. Elsewhere Astralborne team up with labelmates Steve Redmond (Foretoken, The Day Of The Beast) and Yegor Savovin (Fires In The Distance) on "December Flower" and the resplendent mid-album instrumental "Promethean Fire" respectively.
Astralborne’s interstellar voyage is visually brought to life in evocative fashion by Spanish artist Juanjo Castellano (The Black Dahlia Murder, Voidceremony, Coffins). For as alone as we may be in the cosmos of Across The Aeons, the band's second album shirks the nihilistic connotations of such a realisation, opting instead to revel in the totality of all beings and things.
Tracklisting:
"Exordium"
"War Vessel"
"Nocturneous"
"Skybreaker"
"Gemini"
"December Flower"
"Promethean Fire"
"Star Of Extinction"
"Paradigm Shift"
"The Pillars Of Creation"
"Across The Aeons"
"Cadence Of Sorrow"
For further details, visit Astralborne on Facebook.
