Chile's Ater have released the second single from their upcoming sophomore full-length, Somber. The new track, “Descending”, is the band’s heaviest and most technical offering to date.
Speaking on the mindset and creative outlook of the song, lead vocalist/bassist Fernando ¨Feroz¨ Bühring says: "'Descending' is one of the more straightforward songs in the album and, to me, the darkest song of the bunch. The lyrics for this song are very personal and I wrote them during a very dark period of my life. It turned out to be one of my favorite songs in the new album. It was chosen as the second single in advance of ’Somber’ because it contrasts with the first single ('Ignis Immortalis'), which is a longer, epic song. 'Descending' is shorter and to the point. It will take you to the dark side of your own self right away."
For the “Descending” video, Ater partnered with independent film producer Wizardhead, whose AI-assisted works have been seen in videos for the likes of Meshuggah.
On the subject of working with the creator on their latest video, Feroz shares: “Back in November of 2022, the video for ‘They Move Below’ by Meshuggah came out and I was blown away. At the time I wasn’t very aware of how AI was making its way into the art and music industries. I approached Wizardhead with the idea (for 'Descending') and he started to work shortly after. During this time I learned more about the creation process and realized that AI is just another tool. The artist is still doing art. Just utilizing a different and new set of tools.”
On working with Ater on the “Descending” music video, Wizardhead shares: “When I listened to 'Descending', with my eyes closed, I witnessed a continuum of souls being pulled down into a place of remoteness and hopeless submission to some kind of unrelenting force manipulating and consuming them. Something beyond hell, more alien and incomprehensible. I explored representing a visitation of this place in many attempts, by assembling structures like tunnels and fractal spaces, then applying diffusion approaches to embed faces and body forms into the walls and shapes of the environment. I also wanted constant motion, swirling and undulating, to imply this is an active and conscious experience for the unfortunate denizens. This final version is one I feel deeply connected to and unsettled by, and I hope it becomes a place for others to visit and contemplate again and again, as I do.”
Conceived in 2013 by Fernando “Feroz” Bühring, the first iteration of the group - rounded out by Matias Acuña (drums) and Yeray Santos (guitar), released their debut full-length Eternal Gray Spiral in 2018. Shortly after the release of EGS, Feroz relocated from Santiago, Chile to Los Angeles - where he quickly formed connections with guitarist Josh “Sol” Seguin and drummer Stephan “Kalani” Seguin, ushering in the current lineup of the band.
Somber was recorded during the Covid pandemic and was mixed by Feroz in a temporary studio in Mexico City where he was bunkered in during restricted times. The album was then mastered by Ted Jensen of Sterling Sound (Mastodon, Gojira, Korn).
Somber will see an April 19 release. Pre-order Somber on Bandcamp.
Tracklisting:
“Striges”
“Descending”
“Somber”
“Through The Portal”
“Ignis Immortalis”
“Shrine”
“Sæculi Fine”
“Solitude”
“Ignis Immortalis” video:
