AN NCS PREMIERE: TOME OF THE UNREPLENISHED — “TAKE ME TO THE STARS”

In January we came across a musical teaser clip for a forthcoming album entitled Innerstanding by a Cypriot band named Tome of the Unreplenished, and featured it (here) without much commentary in a round-up of new discoveries. Since then we’ve had the chance to explore the album, and today we bring you the premiere of a full song, a work named “Take Me To the Stars”.

The sole member of this band, who calls himself Hermes, was at one time affiliated with the satanic black metal band Necrosadist (and the new album was mixed by Necrosadist’s A. Dictator), but Innerstanding is not an assault of raw black metal. Though it still makes use of black metal elements, it has different goals and follows different pathways, more a work of personal catharsis and experimentation than a re-treading of old, unhallowed ground. As the album’s title suggests, it is an exploration of one man’s inner self as well as a conception of an individual’s place in the immensity of the cosmos. Yet the music is also open to interpretation by the listener, the kind of sounds that inspire imaginings which will vary from person to person.

The songs are also not all alike. “Take Me To the Stars” is an atmospheric piece, its rippling riffs tracing melodies that shimmer and soar like the northern lights. But the music is also propelled by a heavy undercurrent of power and aggressiveness that’s underscored by deep, resonant vocals, even as they repeat the words, “A time to heal all wounds and apathetic desires”. The song also breaks apart in its mid-section, transforming into a strange cacophony of sounds, some of them haunting, some disturbingly dissonant, before the music resumes its original course with renewed intensity and searing fire. The piercing, reverberating lead guitar melody that’s the centerpiece of the song’s final minutes will continue to echo in your mind after the song has ended.

It’s a fascinating and engrossing song that’s an emblem of a fascinating and engrossing album. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path that will pull you out of the mundane surroundings of daily life, this is well worth your time.

Innerstanding will be released on CD, with a full-color, 8-page booklet complete with lyrics, on March 30, 2015, via the always interesting I, Voidhanger Records. The amazing cover painting was created by Brian Smith

https://www.facebook.com/TomeoftheUnreplenished
http://i-voidhanger.com
http://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com