Somniate (photo by Martin Štembera)
Back in 2020, Czech black metal cult Somniate released their debut LP. As an introduction to their sound, The Meyrinkian Slumber revealed a band who explores the peripheral shadows of black metal. But as a concept album it reflects Somniate’s tastes even further. Their debut was inspired by the seminal magical realism of Gustav Meyrink’s The Golem. Like that author, they toy with the expectations of their art form with a unique vision of blackened metal. Now Somniate return with a new hallucinatory and literary album, entitled We Have Proved Death. Today Decibel exclusively streams the album a couple days ahead of its Lavadome Productions release.
We Have Proved Death emerges from a nebulous fog of distorted guitars. But across the first two tracks, Somniate approach black metal with dream logic and nightmarish tones. That’s fitting, considering the concept album’s source material is the notoriously surreal post-apocalyptic novel In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan. Like that story, this album encourages reflection on the horrors that await in a supposed utopia. “The Statue of Mirrors” banishes the band’s heady and elegant black metal for a vicious opening snarl of dissonant hell. A track later, “Black Soundless Sugar” is a multi-chapter composition with a surprising mouth harp contribution from vocalist Zdeněk Klekner. Drummer Tomáš Mařík impressively guides the album from shadow to shadow, leading the blazing guitars from Marek Štembera and Aleš Vilingr by lantern through the album’s wastelands.
The album was mixed and mastered by Woodshed Studio’s V. Santura, who has also deconstructed heavy genres with Triptykon and a multi-decade reign in Dark Fortress. With Santura at the helm, Somniate banish black metal orthodoxy to a bottomless pit. Even when the title track screams to a stop to close the album, it bristles with a distinct energy. At once raw and primal while also achieving an elevated sense of wonder, We Have Proved Death is a singular record dying to be heard by every jaded metalhead.
The album’s promotional text begs the listener to consider the themes explored in the lyrics. “On the wings of merciless but skillfully crafted black metal, Somniate brings you a story from a world where the sun shines a different color every day. A world about which nobody is sure whether it ended for good or was born anew. A quiet community, undisturbed by the former matters of modern man, thriving in nature yet in the shadow of an old civilization. A city once swallowed by the apocalypse. Unconditional happiness or insanity? Peace or lethargy? Stillness or death? There are men who revel in love and compassion, and there are those who drink the bodies of the dead. Their paths are bound to collide.”
Press play below and drink from the strange dark waters of Somniate’s We Have Proved Death below.
Pre-order We Have Proved Death from Lavadome Productions HERE
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