Italian atmospheric post-black/doom metal project Marea has presented the first single/video, "Useless", from its new EP, Adrift, scheduled for release on 9 May via Masked Dead Records/Sulphur Music.
Melancholy, despair and drama are the main emotions channelled into the music of Marea. Melodies and high-pitched vocals paint and lead the whole towards depressive shores, resulting in stuff for fans of Austere, Katatonia, Woods Of Desolation, Forgotten Tomb and Novembre.
Adrift is a quietly remarkable EP that, while continuing the legacy of The Silence Of Rust debut album, very much follows its own path. The journey begins with the deeply melodic riffs, measured drums and harsh vocals of 'Useless', a song imbued with a sense of movement and space, yet carrying the immense weight of powerful emotions. Vast oceans of melancholy are traversed, but there are moments of bittersweetness, like sunlight briefly catching the crest of waves - while the deeps remain dark and untouched by the light. A beautiful acoustic guitar leads us into the light of 'Rusted', a soft cloud of dreams that is then fractured and dismantled by a tattered, torn vocal and intense guitar, the perceived positivity held tantalisingly out of reach, happiness unattainable. Finally, 'Marea' descends upon us with a wonderful lightness of touch, a peace summoned through an invocation of the movement of water – of streams, rivers, seas and oceans. There's a sense of reflection upon a moment and life, a feeling of acceptance and maybe even a harsh joy in the final vocal cries. Adrift is a journey through music and emotion, infused with accrued wisdom, whose effect upon the attentive listener is profound.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Carlo Meroni (Imago Mortis, Ancient, Kaiserreich, etc.) Adrift has been blessed with a sound that enhances all the rawness, subtlety and complexity of the emotions that it so successfully conveys. As for the album's artwork and design, Matteo Balzarini approached artist Francesco Gemelli (Howls Of Ebb, Midnight Odyssey, Venomous Echoes, etc.) with a very specific brief… "a water-themed landscape that could express desolation, melancholy, but also beauty and poetry,with a graphic style that could resemble watercolour painting"…and suffice to say Gemelli has delivered the perfect visual accompaniment to Adrift. Link
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"There were already bands doing small illustrations of symphonic metal, and I was thinking, why doesn't someone do this all the time?" - Christofer Johnsson
"You can see it in social media, in the world, with the wars going on, and I think it's an appropriate title for an album." - Skinny Disco
"Art isn't meant to always be pretty and make us feel comfortable and good about ourselves. I'm not afraid to broach difficult emotions and to express the beautiful ones too." - Martin Saint
"It's a dark album. According to me, it's the darkest yet in our discography. It's also very suggestive, very introverted, less direct, and might be less friendly..." - Daniel Moilanen
