(written by Islander)
Alkemia is a new band that has emerged from Uppsala, Sweden, but the lineup is composed of metal veterans. They include three members of the long-running death metal band Sarcasm — Heval Bozarslan (vocals), Peter Laitinen (guitar), and Philip Borg (bass) — and drummer Alvaro Svanerö, who was also once a Sarcasm member.
But despite these connections, Alkemia isn’t a Sarcasm clone by any means. Instead, this new formation has delved deeply into doom. As Alkemia‘s label Chaos Records explains, the music on the band’s debut album Depulsus “balances the solemnity of traditional doom metal with the raw intensity of death-doom, forging a sound that stands apart yet pays homage to the greats.”
Identifying some of those greats, the label recommends the album “for those who seek the melancholy of My Dying Bride, the dark mysticism of Celtic Frost, the ominous grandeur of Black Sabbath, and the bleak weight of early Paradise Lost.”
Those are all very accurate reference points, as you’ll hear for yourselves through our premiere of the album track “Lamenting Serenades of Eden“.
As previewed above, this new song is both solemn and stricken, both tragically beautiful and harrowing, ethereal and mystical but also earth-shaking in its heaviness.
Alkemia provide a haunting introduction to the song through an eerily quivering organ melody. As the music builds, drums crack sharply, the bass moodily hums, and the melody becomes more shrill and distressing. After that brief crescendo, the band bring in delicate ringing and shimmering notes, creating an aura of mystery and intrigue — as a prelude to the advent of deep gasping growls.
Things do get heavier, thanks to a riff that alternately chugs and moans, backed by tumbling drum-fills and fronted by savage snarls. When those ethereal sounds re-emerge, they’re joined by a lead guitar’s soulful but despondent wails.
The song’s evolution continues with gritty riffing that channels desperation and with feverishly jolting grooves, and Alkemia build the tension further with a frantically swirling guitar solo, dismally crawling chords, and harrowing howls. Even when a plaintive piano melody gently surfaces above heavily heaving subterranean movements and neck-cracking beats, the music holds to its dark and distressing aura.
Near the end, the band crank up the intensity one more time. The vocals surge toward new heights of terrifying intensity, the rhythm section slug hard, and the music also seems to cry out in pain, even more stricken than before.
Depulsus was recorded, mixed, and mastered at HSH Studios during April-December 2024, and produced by Alkemia. It will be released by Chaos Records on June 20th on CD, cassette tape, and digital formats. Explore the options and learn more about the album via the links below, and also check out the record’s opening track, “Dormant and Macabre“.
PRE-ORDER:
Main store: https://www.chaos-records.com/product/alkemia-depulsus-cd-digipak/
Bandcamp: https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/depulsus
Ampwall: https://ampwall.com/a/chaosrecords/album/depulsus
ALKEMIA:
https://www.facebook.com/alkemiadoom