Ukrainian drone/doom/sludge act Nonsun premiere their new album »Blood & Spirit«, out this Friday via Dunk!records
Ukrainian drone/doom/sludge act Nonsun will release their new album, titled »Blood & Spirit«, this Friday, April 15th, 2022 via Dunk!records.
Today, Decibel Magazine is hosting exclusive full album premiere. Listen to »Blood & Spirit« in its entirety HERE!
Tracklist:
01. A Wizard Grieving Over The Loss Of Magic
02. That Which Does Not Kill
03. Days Of Thunder Bring New Wisdom
04. Guilt, Disgust, Disaster
05. In Your Eyes I’m A Cripple
The band comments: “The album’s theme refers to spiritual struggles through the bloodiest of times. The five tracks, in a sense, are yearnings, or prayers, thrown into the void.
What doesn’t kill you… Does it make you stronger? Or leave you even more crippled?
When all magic is gone… Is wisdom worth a thing?
It’s about raising questions rather than giving answers.
As the rational mind & willpower fail, a spiritual quest begins.
Never could we imagine how painfully relevant the album & song titles would sound at the time of release… Wish they wouldn’t.
Though initially meant to have a personal meaning, obviously now they resonate with oh much more…”
Please consider supporting Ukraine in these dire times:
standforukraine.com
linktr.ee/HowToHelpUkraine2022
linktr.ee/RazomForUkraine
Dunk!records adds: “Obviously you are all aware of the devastating situation in Ukraine. You might also know about one of our label bands, Nonsun, who live in Lviv, Ukraine. At this moment, all band members and their families are ok. However, the circumstances are difficult and their lives are completely upside down. In agreement with the band we decided to launch the pre-orders for their new album »Blood & Spirit« as of today. This creates an opportunity for us and for you to support the band in these hard times. Dunk!records will donate 100% of the profits to the band (as well as all profits for their 2018 release »Black Snow Desert«) as of today until release day (April 15th, 2022).”
Courtesy of Dunk!records:
You may be familiar with this Lviv, Ukraine quartet from their debut album »Black Snow Desert«, which we released back in 2018. But whatever you think you know about them, put it to the side in preparation for their sophomore effort. Whereas their first album was intended to be like a single composition spread across six tracks, »Blood & Spirit« is more a collection of distinct, standalone songs, each telling its own story. And what stories they have to tell! We loved the dense and often demanding drone/sludge approach of »Black Snow Desert«, but what listeners will discover on »Blood & Spirit« is truly a force to behold, blending the breathtaking immensity of their doom leanings with a gripping immediacy that’s more consistent with traditional post-metal stylings.
Opening track »A Wizard Grieving Over The Loss Of Magic« unfolds gradually and quietly with a dreamy, almost post-rock adjacent intro. Soon enough the intensity edges in, and once that first powerhouse guitar riff is unleashed, it becomes clear that there is a different energy at play with »Blood & Spirit«. A snarling, even swaggering progression that would be just as at home on an old Crowbar or Down record, it reveals a crucial new dimension in Nonsun’s songwriting that lends a degree of approachability that never steps on the toes of their more expansive compositional ideals.
Listeners who loved »Black Snow Desert« will still find some callback to that record’s drone leanings, particularly on »Blood & Spirit«’s back half. Both »Guilt, Disgust, Disaster« and »In Your Eyes I’m A Cripple« feature lengthy opening passages that gradually establish an oppressively bleak tone before eventually erupting into explosive crescendos that provide powerful counterpoints to the creeping atmospherics that precede them. Though it is technically an instrumental record, vocals do play a role in a non-traditional, non-lyrical fashion. The band consistently integrates rumbling, guttural vocalizations and breathy chants into the fabric of the songs, subtly perceptible but effective in building a looming sense of dread that pervades the album.
Fans of doom, drone, post-metal, and avant-garde music should consider this 2xLP a must-have. It’s one of the most compelling combinations of principles from those brethren genres put to record in some time, offering an increased accessibility without sacrificing the potent ferocity or probing experimentalism Nonsun initiated with Black Snow Desert. »Blood & Spirit« reveals a group of musicians tightening their collective grip on an already-compelling conceptual framework and elevating it to new levels of might and impact.
The album pre-orders:
Vinyl 2xLP: dunkrecords.com/products/nonsun-blood-spirit-2xlp
Digital: nonsun.bandcamp.com/album/blood-spirit
Nonsun’s debut full-length (after two EPs) album »Black Snow Desert« was released on 2xLP vinyl & digipak CD in 2018. Artwork for »Black Snow Desert« was made by Samantha Muljat (Earth, Goatsnake, Pelican, Today Is The Day; ex-Southern Lord Recordings art-director). In support of that album they have toured and played festivals (Dunk!Fest, Fusion Festival, Electric Meadow Fest, Koza Fest, etc.) up until pandemic started.
The band’s debut live performance was in 2014 as they were opening the show for YOB & Pallbearer in Wroclaw, Poland. Nonsun was personally selected (of 22 bands) by YOB. Since then they have also shared the stage with bands like Rosetta, Fister, Chrch, Ranges, Somali Yacht Club among many others. Nonsun’s music appeared in the historical drama film »Alive«, directed by Taras Khymych.
Nonsun is:
Goatooth – Guitars, Bass, Vocals
Eerie Cold – Guitars
Alex – Bass
Alpha – Drums
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well