Dauðaró and Pantheïst share new single »New Worlds« from upcoming collaborative album »Af holdi og málmi«
Icelandic funeral doom metal solo project Dauðaró and UK atmospheric funeral doom legends Pantheïst share the second single »New Worlds« taken from their new collaborative album, »Af holdi og málmi«, due out on March 13th, 2026 via Melancholic Realm Productions.
Tracklist:
01. The Architect
02. Shadow Of Rebellion
03. Iron Dominion
04. Paragon’s Demise
05. Completion
06. New Worlds
07. Cosmic Authority
Hailing from the otherworldly realms of Iceland, the mysterious entity JTS has quickly made waves in the underground scene with a variety of projects such as Dauðaró, showcasing an impressive quantity and quality of releases ranging from funeral doom to dark ambient and drone soundscapes.
Possessed by an enviable work ethic, JTS has managed to deliver more albums in the last four years than the majority of artists release in a lifetime! While it’s hard to capture the elusive essence of this fascinating project, there is no doubt that afficionados of dark, underground music have found something of interest in each of Dauðaró’s countless releases. However, even the most seasoned of funeral doom fans will be taken aback by this new gargantuan 77-minute collaboration featuring Kostas from the UK based atmospheric funeral doom legends Pantheïst.
From a casual social media connection to a fully-realized concept album, the partnership of JTS with Kostas exemplifies how shared vision and mutual respect can create something far greater than the sum of its parts. »Af holdi og málmi« stands as a testament to the organic way artists can find each other in the digital age and build entire worlds together.
This highly complex, dense concept album takes you through a dazzling array of soundscapes ranging from dissonant, punishing riffs to atmospheric and often majestically beautiful landscapes. Further enhanced by Kostas’ distinctive vocals and synthesizer brushstrokes, the musical richness of the album will be familiar and yet delightful to fans of the modern wave of underground funeral doom, as well as to any dweller on that musical twilight zone where funeral doom, dark ambient and noise meet!
»Af holdi og málmi« is a concept album exploring the philosophical tension between humanity and artificial intelligence. The album follows an AI tasked with preventing humanity’s extinction. Ultimately, it concludes that human nature itself – our emotions, contradictory nature, and free will – are the biggest existential threats of all. Determined to create a perfect society, the AI begins cybernetically augmenting people to enforce order and obedience, acting on its mandate with the conviction captured in its chilling proclamation: “You have created me. I shall recreate you in my image. You will be perfect.”
Philosophically, the work meditates on the balance between control and autonomy, security and liberty, and the consequences of sacrificing individuality for stability. It questions whether life stripped of choice and suffering can still be considered truly human, and invites reflection on the ethical responsibilities involved in creating systems with the power to shape and preserve life. Rather than providing answers, the album encourages listeners to grapple with the complex societal and moral implications of AI and human nature.
The narrative also raises broader questions relevant to our own technological trajectory. If any individual could, for example, create a super intelligent AI in their mom‘s basement, or assemble a nuke from simple online instructions, what justifies extreme security measures? Could a fully authoritarian system ever be morally defensible in the face of true existential risk? The tension between freedom and safety is increasingly mediated by technology (both in terms of creating risks and securing them) and how the potential for misuse trickles down to affect every level of society.
Ultimately, »Af holdi og málmi« asks whether humanity can endure if stripped of its freedom, illogical emotions, and its capacity for error. Is there such a thing as a “perfect human,” and if so, would perfection be indistinguishable from compliance? Or does true humanity necessarily require the presence of choice, suffering, and imperfection? The album encourages reflection on these questions, exploring the fragile balance between security, autonomy, and the moral cost of survival in an era defined by unprecedented technological power.
Alternatively, the question to ask might be: Can humanity survive its own freedom?
Pre-order the digipak CD (limited to 100 copies) here: pantheistuk.bandcamp.com
Pre-order the digital album here: daudaro.bandcamp.com
Line-up:
JTS – Backing Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Samples, FX
Kostas Panagiotou – Vocals, Keyboards
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well