Atmospheric black metal act, Shylmagoghnar, has announced its third studio album, titled Convergence, out November 10 via Napalm Records. A music video for the first album single, "Follow The River", can be viewed below.
What started out as a duo back in 2004 has turned into a one-man-band, yet, the upcoming new album sees Shylmagoghnar returning heavier and stronger than before. Shylmagoghnar is still a home-produced project to this day, run by multi-instrumentalist and founding band member Nimblkorg.
Convergence picks up right where both previous albums left off, and is intended as the end installment of a trilogy-in-spirit. While its predecessors, the much acclaimed Emergence (2014) and Transience (2018), invited the listener on a journey through human existence, time and space, Convergence marks the inward journey of death that one has to go through before being able to pass on. While the album's protagonist is dying and lyrics describe the emotional, philosophical and psychedelic journey he is undertaking, the new Shylmagoghnar offering is also an allegory for learning to let go of positive and negative themes of the past that hold us back from moving on, and eventually, hopefully reaching inner peace.
As the first album single "Follow The River" showcases, musically, Shylmagoghnar delivers the perfect soundtrack to that journey, where raw heaviness meets pure elegy, and where destruction gives way to harmony.
Nimblkorg comments: "Dear listeners, friends, family, Finally I get to break the silence on Shylmagoghnar's upcoming third album, Convergence. On a journey of death, the protagonist awakens in a surreal world. Are the things he is seeing real, or merely the machinations of a dying brain? It doesn't matter now. All that he knows is that he must follow the river.“
Both inside and outside of the music, Shylmagoghnar has always been a path with a will of its own for the Southern Netherlands-based Nimblkorg, who produces and records all of the music on his own. Once again, almost half of the album is instrumental, as Nimblkorg agrees with a significant part of his fan base in that words can distract from the enjoyment of the music. The band mastermind also wishes to motivate other artists to not be afraid of home production. But what is immediately evident, is that it marks the deepest and most personal Shylmagoghnar record to date, as it's dedicated to his late mother.
Convergence is a stirring, emotional and deep journey - never afraid of genre borders and always balanced between the light and dark, the beauty and horror, life and death. Some bands need countless records and members to create a masterpiece, while Shylmagoghnar already unleashes it with album number three, and one that will ultimately establish this one-man-show as one of the most enthralling acts in extreme music!
Convergence will be available in the following formats:
- 1 CD Jewelcase
- 2 LP Gatefold BLACK
- 2 LP Gatefold Crystal Clear Deluxe Edition
- Digital Album
Pre-order here.
Convergence tracklisting:
"I Hear The Mountain Weep"
"Follow The River"
"Threshold"
"Strata"
"Gardens Of The Erased"
"Egregore"
"Infinion"
"Convergence"
"The Sea"
"Becoming"
"Follow The River" video:
(Photo - K.H.M. Bertrand)
