(written by Islander)
IRR is a Swiss black metal band formed by Daniele Brumana (drums), Sebastian Vogt (bass/vocals), and Tobias Kalt (guitar/vocals) after the disbanding of their previous band Forlet Sires, whose music we applauded here in previous years. They made their recording debut in 2023 with a demo named Twisting and Twirling / Of Flesh Subliming. After a few selected live shows with bands like Afsky, Panopticon, Kvelgeyst, Vígljós, or Abhorration IRR dedicated themselves to work on their debut album.
That album, Remains Remain, is now completed and scheduled for release in various formats on October 24th by Berggeflvster Records, Monastyr Records, and IRR. To help introduce the album, today we have a riveting video premiere for a stunning album track called “Eternal Immurement“.
photo by The Yelling Light
IRR describe the album as one that is a sonic representation of “the crestfallen times before an inevitable collapse,” an album that “is not for escapists, but for those who sense themselves beneath the archway of a ruin.” With regard to the song we’re premiering today, IRR have provided this introduction:
“Immurement or live entombment as a form of execution, describes the enclosure of prisoners in extremely tight confinements, where they were left to die of starvation or dehydration.
“The song applies the image of immurement to the architecture of power, where the edifices of the upper class are themselves built on the slow death and starvation of others. It reflects on the cyclical and everlasting structural oppression, turning the social order into a graveyard where no one can escape.”
In the music and the video, IRR seize attention immediately, hurling an electrifying sonic storm at the listener while visibly throwing themselves into the performance. The bass is thunderous; the drums discharge a furious battering; the rage and wretchedness of the vocals is scalding; and the riffing submerges the listener in dense and abrasive swarms, rising and falling in the upper range in ways that seem to channel despair.
As the song continues unfolding the drums shift into a steadier rhythm and the nimbleness of the bass is noticeable. Cold guttural growls emerge, along with a change in the riffing that seems to signify desolation and doom before IRR blaze and swarm again, punctuated this time with booming and tumbling toms.
Further dynamic changes are still to come, in both the song and the increasingly chilling and supernatural visuals. The music seems to shine and soar, but also to draw out strains of melancholy and to create fear. Like the strange creatures in the video, the music also closes the song with sounds of eeriness and mysticism.
All in all, “Eternal Immurement” is a relentlessly gripping piece of music, both heavy and harrowing, both furious and forlorn, a signpost of despair and ruin but also a raging bonfire. It’s viscerally powerful but also atmospheric and mood-altering, and a very promising sign of the new album headed our way.
Video Credits: Produced by IRR in Oct/Nov 2024; directed by Daniele Brumana and Pascal Pendl; camera and special effects by Miauwz Visualz; lights by Dominik Heim; photography by The Yelling Light; supported by Suedkultur.
Remains Remain was recorded by IRR in a small cabin out in the fields of Northern Switzerand in June 2024. Vocals were recorded at Verwaltzen Productions in July/August 2024. The album was mixed by Yvo Petrzilek at Verwaltzen Productions, and it was mastered by Justin Weis. The album is completed with front cover artwork by Antï Graphics and photography by The Yelling Light.
Remains Remain is set for release on October 24th on vinyl via the newly founded DIY black metal label Berggeflvster Records (Winterthur, Switzerland), on tape via Monastyr Records (Prague, Czech Republic), and digitally, with music available on streaming platforms via The Yelling Light. Pre-orders will go live today:
PRE-ORDER:
https://irr666.bandcamp.com/
IRR:
https://linktr.ee/irr666
https://www.facebook.com/irrblackmetal/
https://www.instagram.com/irr.666/
BERGGEFLVSTER RECORDS:
https://berggeflvsterrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/berggeflvsterrecords
MONASTYR RECORDS:
https://monastyrmetal.bigcartel.com/
https://monastyrmetal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/monastyrmetal