Australian experimental/post-metal act Black Aleph released their debut album »Apsides« via Dunk!records and Art As Catharsis!

Melbourne, Australia based experimental/post-metal act Black Aleph has just released their debut album »Apsides« on October 25, 2024 via Dunk!records (Europe) and Art As Catharsis (Australia).

Tracklist:
01. Descent
02. Ambit I (Ascension)
03. Ambit II (Aphelion)
04. Separation
05. Precession
06. Return
07. Occultation

Courtesy of Art As Catharsis:

Black Aleph are a Sydney/Melbourne based experimental ensemble featuring Lachlan Dale (guitar/effects), Peter Hollo (cello/effects) and Timothy Johannessen (percussion).

On their debut album, the trio draw inspiration from diverse sources ranging from post-metal to middle-eastern modal music. »Apsides« features both composed and improvised pieces that involve the players layering live-loops, ritualistic-beats and doom-metal style musical variations that progressively unfold and build in intensity throughout the performance.

Black Aleph’s style has been compared to Justin Broderick, Neurosis, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor – though there is a borderline spiritual quality to the music that comes from the unique instrumentation: guitar, cello, and Iranian daf drum.

Photo credit: RH Photography & Design

The sound is tectonic – apt for a record centred around concepts of orbital mechanics, like the notion of ‘apsis’, which is the points of extreme and least distance between a celestial and a primary body (sun-earth-moon) in an elliptical orbit. A second theme concerns the relationship between light and dark, or more specifically the difference between bodies that emit versus those that merely reflect light – and in-between those that obstruct it.

»Apsides« was recorded over a number of years by Tim Carr (We Lost The Sea) and mastered by Mell Dettmer (Earth, Sunn O))). Jessika Kenney lends her sublime voice to a number of tracks, as does Natalya Bing her violin.

The album cover artwork was created by Melbourne-based artist Darren Tanny Tan, whose process involves ‘destroying’ a solid surface using various materials and techniques, while the single artwork was produced by the Syrian artist Salah Alkhal.

Order »Apsides« here: blackaleph.bandcamp.com/album/apsides

Recorded by Tim Carr at Studio 301, Rancom St Studios and Kiln Studios.
Mastered by Mell Dettmer at Studio Soli.
Jessika Kenney recorded by Randall Dunn at Aleph Studios, NY.
Artwork and design by Darren Tanny Tan.

Black Aleph is:
Lachlan Dale – Guitar, Effects
Peter Hollo – Cello
Timothy Johannessen – Daf, Setar

Guest musicians:
Jessika Kenney – Vocals on tracks I, III, VII
Natalya Bing – Violin on track II

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well