From death metal to prog to folk, with its wide range of influences, Octoploid's upcoming debut album, Beyond The Aeons, due on 5 July via Reigning Phoenix Music, takes its listeners to a world of its own.
In anticipation of the record's release, the band led by bassist Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine (Amorphis, Barren Earth, Mannhai) has presented the second single - "The Dawns In Nothingness".
Continuing the list of prestigious guests, Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow The Sun) lends his distinctive vocals to "The Dawns In Nothingness", which opens the gate to Beyond The Aeons in the form of the fateful peal of bells, cawing craws and acoustic guitar tunes. The eventful song raises the bar with its driving yet dark character, interspersed with a handful of wonderfully psychedelic guitar/keyboard solo parts on what may be one of the most unexpected death-prog albums of the year.
Laine explains: "This track is an unlikely marriage between black and death metal, rock, and medieval monk chants, rounded out by Swallow The Sun vocalist Mikko Kotamäki. Even though the texts are very personal, the gloomy lyricism is not always to be taken literally. That's just a part of the classic doom-metal ethos in its finest!"
Beyond The Aeons was crafted at E-Studio in Sipoo, Finland, where Petri Majuri (Hanoi Rocks, Michael Monroe) took care of mixing the eight tracks and David Castillo (Katatonia, Leprous, Opeth) mastered the album. Orion Landau (Carcass, YOB, Russian Circles) completed the magnificent package with dreamy artwork.
Octoploid is the solo band of Olli-Pekka Laine (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), formed in 2022. Combining elements of 90s death/black metal, 70s prog rock and 90s psychedelic rock, its music has its place on the map. In one phrase, Octoploid's sound has been described as "classic death prog".
Built around Laine, the core band includes four additional musicians: Well-seasoned and diverse drummer Mikko Pietinen brings experience from stoner rock (Mannhai) and Finnish mainstream pop rock (Kasmir), while lead/rhythm guitarist Peter Salonen (The Kinky Thing; a band performing Finnish psych rock legends Kingston Wall covers) is a new face in the scene. The five-piece completes with keyboardist Kim Rantala (Giant Robot, ex-Amorphis) and vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow The Sun; live). Link
Beyond The Aeons tracklist:
01. The Dawns in Nothingness
02. Coast of the Drowned Sailors
03. Human Amoral
04. Shattered Wings
05. Beyond the Aeons
06. The Hallowed Flame
07. Concealed Serenity
08. A Dusk of Vex
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"With Hypocrisy, I'm very "home", but with Pain, it's an adventure, just like going into the jungle only with a knife and no glass of water and trying to survive." - Peter Tägtgren
"The whole thing for us with the lore we have created is inspired by Greek Mythology and the stories of Atlantis." - Phil Primmer
"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
"We only make an album when we feel genuinely inspired. You can't just say, "OK, I'm going to record a new album", because without inspiration, it would be boring." - Gregor Mackintosh
