Photo by Alex Snape
Atmospheric blackened doom practitioners, NEPENTHE, will unleash their first physical release, a compilation of their new EP, The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow, and their 2020 debut, Elegies Of Loss And Doom, on November 15th via Hypaethral Records.
Forged in 2018, the NEPENTHE collective emerged from a shared desire to compose music that leaves a lasting impression on the world. Although rooted in doom and atmospheric black metal, NEPENTHE expands these genres’ boundaries by incorporating elements of post-metal, goth rock, and neo folk. The result is an emotional soundscape that traverses both beauty and dejection, exploring the complexity of the human condition through haunting melodies and evocative arrangements.
The band’s lyrics draw philosophical inspiration from figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Charles Baudelaire. By interlacing vivid imagery and rich symbolism with dark acoustic passages and ethereal atmospherics, NEPENTHE evokes a profound sense of existential reflection.
In November of 2020, NEPENTHE released their debut EP, Elegies Of Loss And Doom, earning recognition from the underground doom and black metal communities. Their upcoming EP, The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow, marks their first new musical output in four years. Across both releases, vocalist Konrad Schröder’s impassioned delivery guides listeners through themes of loss and dread, prompting them to confront life’s darkest truths.
Further elaborates Schröder on the record, “The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow is a gathering of both our personal and artistic struggles up to this point. Musically, we have aimed to capture more intensity and fury into our writing process, but still keep balance and leave breathing room to build atmosphere. Thematically, both …Fading Promise… and Elegies… deal with themes of depression, loss, and degeneration. Both are a culmination of the madness of the previous several years; an exercise of coping with existential futility.”
In advance of the release, today the band unveils a lyric video for first single, “Upon These Unfamiliar Shores,” an eight-minute epic that weaves vivid imagery and rich symbolism with dark acoustic passages, ethereal atmospherics, and black metal riffing to evoke a profound sense of existential reflection.
“Thematically, ‘Upon These Unfamiliar Shores’ is an allegory of how one’s love can sometimes be a poison to others,” notes Schröder, “and how ultimately, we all end up alone. In a sense, the song is about accepting the transience of experience and learning to find comfort in solitude.”
Watch NEPENTHE’s “Upon These Unfamiliar Shores” video at THIS LOCATION.
The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow was recorded and mixed in 2024 by Chris Rowan (Skaldic Studios) and mastered by Bogdan Makarov (Nekkomix).
Elegies Of Loss And Doom was recorded, mixed, and mastered in 2019 by Alex Snape (Nomadic Arts) and includes a pipe solo on track 4 (“Dawn” by Layne Richardson (Becomes Astral). The record was remastered by Bogdan Makarov (Nekkomix) during the Summer of 2024.
Hypaethral Records will unite both EPs in a single release on CD and digital platforms as well as limited LP on Graphite Vinyl. Find physical preorders at the Hypaethral Records webshop HERE. Find digital orders at Bandcamp HERE.
Fans of Woods Of Ypres, Warning, Falls of Rauros, Panopticon, and the like, pay heed.
The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow Track Listing:
- Upon These Unfamiliar Shores
- The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow
- Time Time Time (Of The Wand & The Moon Cover)
Elegies Of Loss And Doom Track Listing:
- Dawn
- Breathe Deeply, This Lethean Mist
- Drowning In Acrid Light
- Elegies Of Loss And Doom
Founded in 2012, Hypaethral Records stands as one of the preeminent labels in the realms of doom and blackened metal. This NEPENTHE LP will stand shoulder-to-shoulder alongside releases by labelmates QAALM, Föhn, and Locusts And Honey.
NEPENTHE:
Scott Rice – lead guitar
Steve Rowlands – rhythm guitar
Chris Rowan – bass
Konrad Schröder – drums, vocals, lyrics
The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow (Tracks 1 – 3):
Alex Snape – keyboards, additional vocals, violin
Nathan Boots – additional reamping, editing
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