Unverkalt have always been drawn to the edge. Since emerging from Greeceâs underground catacombs in 2017, the five-piece post-metal band have balanced boundless atmosphere with suffocating heaviness. But now, on their upcoming third album and first for Season of Mist, they are plunging into the darkness thatâs always waited for them below. While wrestling with the weight of our accursed history, Héréditaire now stands as their heaviest and most heartfelt offering.
âThe contrasting elements at play in Héréditaire, from the gloomy to the raging and the eerie to the explosive, make it a compelling listen that rewards over timeâ, Dead Rhetoric writes in an 8/10 review. âUnverkalt grapple with the emotions and atmosphere with masterful tone and intention, eliciting a response that leave you reflecting on what you just heard and make you want to return to it once again”.
âThis is an album that refused resolution because resolution would be dishonestâ, Metal Kaoz writes in a 10/10 review. âIs there a light at the end of this tunnel? Thereâs no promise of one, only the insistence that you keep walkingâ.
Héréditaire comes out tomorrow, Friday, February 27 on Season of Mist, but you can hear all nine foundation-shaking songs today by listening to the full album playlist on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.
Listen
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLArAJlC1y558GLkyd9eCnMIkFoE1H2Jku
âOur aim has always been to blend softer, more romantic elements with extreme chaos. With Héréditaire that time has now comeâ, Unverkaltâs guitarist and chief composer Themis Ioannou says. âThis album is a lament for what is far older than our very existence. It speaks of what seeps through generations, searching for an answer to one pervasive question: What do we carry that was never ours?â
Pre-order
https://orcd.co/unverkalthereditaire
Pre-save on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/5ndUNl3HyjsagbOuQCrakn?si=QESfESdPQwqHTC5MKNX4Jw
Available Formats
CD Digipack
2Ã12â Vinyl Gatefold (Black)
2Ã12â Vinyl Gatefold (Black & Gold âSunburstâ)
Unverkalt are still possessed by a cinematic vision for post-metal. As if coming into focus, lead single âDie Auslöschungâ appears from behind a slow-moving haze before itâs snapped out of its trance by fiery blast beats. But whereas the bandâs previous albums took cues from French painting and European film noir, Héréditaire throws back the velvet curtain in favor of a veil. âOath Ov Prometheusâ dismantles the myth of man as godâs perfection creation with Dimitra Kalavrezouâs freshly blackened vocals.
âWe love to experiment with every albumâ, Ioanno says. âMy two favorite genres are black and post-metal. With Héréditaire, we wanted to blend the two together. Introducing extreme vocals brings out all these heavy feelings. Itâs like theyâre shaking you awakeâ.
Héréditaire is a pulse-pounding new direction for Unverkalt, but the albumâs arc traces back to our deepest and darkest origins. âThe concept behind our new album ties in with the bandâs heavier directionâ, Kalavrezou says. âEach song peels back another blackened layer of memory, trauma and suffering, which linger over us like ghosts: invisible, yet endlessly presentâ. Beneath a surging bass line, âIntrojectsâ rips away beliefs that were never ours but inherited like a disease between generations.
Kalavrezouâs mystifying cleans remain one of Unverkaltâs defining traits. But her contempt for those who watch the world burn is all the more heated when forged alongside her Athenian brother-in-arms and Season of Mist labelmate Sakis Tolis from Rotting Christ on the monolithic âI, The Deceitâ. As the album draws to a close, Héréditaire ends shadowed in doubt for the future. âBathed in lies / Can we make it betterâ she wonders before disappearing into the shivering wake left by âMaladie de âEspritâ.
âThis album is not meant to resolveâ, the band says, âbut to dissolve patterns from those who came before, faceless yet familiar. The colors have drained. What remains is veiled in black, not as a symbol, but as a truth that covers everythingâ.
On Héréditaire, Unverkalt lift the veil on our cursed existence with their heaviest and most heartfelt offering.
âI enjoy discovering new, unique and compelling music in todayâs overwhelming world of information, and I believe I truly succeeded with Unverkaltâ, Sakis Tolis says. âThis is an exceptional piece of art, worth every minute of listeningâ.
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