(written by Islander)
Atlantic Ridge is the brainchild of Italian artist Giuseppe Emanuele Frisone, who will be known to our site’s visitors (and many others) as the person behind such heavy musical projects as Thecodontion and Clactonian. We’re told that the ideas for Atlantic Ridge came to him as long ago as 2019, and then took shape through years of work, with the help of the band’s second member instrumentalist Jacopo Gianmaria Pepe (from the progressive rock/death metal outfit Bedsore).
At last, Atlantic Ridge will have their self-titled debut album co-released in April by Void Wanderer Productions and Dusktone. The labels describe the music as “blending elements of atmospheric black metal and funeral doom metal passages”, evoking “alternatively rich atmospheres and desolate soundscapes”, and recalling “the immersive spirit of bands like Wolves in the Throne Room or Altar of Plagues, combined with the majestic heaviness of early Ahab.”
The album’s conceptual framework is also intriguing. Each of the six songs as we received them includes a parenthetical subtitle which points to a far-flung and mysterious locale on the Earth’s surface, which is consistent with the labels’ further description of the album as one that “represents both a physical and spiritual journey: a descent into the unknown, chasing the idea of reaching to the world’s farthest edges.”
What we’re bringing you today is the premiere of the first song to be revealed from Atlantic Ridge, “Our Faith Is Our Strength (Tristan Da Cunha)“.
The parenthetical identification on this song led us to discover that Tristan da Cunha is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean and one of the few places where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (more about that feature in a minute) rises above sea level. The main island, itself named Tristan da Cunha, consists of two volcanic peaks in a relatively small area. It is sparsely inhabited and can be reached only by ship. You can find more details about it here.
Although Tristan da Cunha is part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, none of the other locations identified in the song titles are as close to that mostly underwater mountain range – the longest mountain range in the world, and one that includes rifts (or valleys) that run along the sub-sea crest of the ridge and reach tremendous depths.
At the time of this writing, the connection between the song titles and their parenthetical place-names is obscure. The songs are probably not literally about the remote places, but perhaps were inspired by thoughts about these locales. Whatever the connection may be, the song itself that you’re about to hear, “Our Faith Is Our Strength“, is itself volcanic, daunting in more ways than one, and also mystical.
The viciously vibrating riffage is abrasively ragged in tone and tormented in mood, while the rhythms vigorously pump with gut-loosening weight. A shrill lead guitar sends its wail spiraling up through the roiling turbulence, and ominous chords claw and drag above thundering double-kicks. When the vocals arrive, they manifest as a harsh and savage howl.
The lead guitar also menacingly (and perhaps miserably) slithers before raising its wailing voice again as the drums march. As the music’s pacing slows, the mood of the melody becomes even more hopelessly distraught, and the vocals seem to scream in agony, leading the song to an outpouring of intensity.
The song then undergoes an even more dramatic change, banishing those heavy beats and ravaging guitars and replacing them with drifting sonic panoramas of ethereal shine which create a spell of wonder — and perhaps represent the triumph of some kind of faith over turmoil and pain.
CREDITS:
Giuseppe Emanuele Frisone – vocals, lyrics, concept, songwriting
Jacopo Gianmaria Pepe – all instruments, arrangements
Session guest/musicians:
Elisa Mucciarelli – female vocals on track 1
Gabriele Gramaglia – drum programming
Artwork & logo by STRX
TRACK LIST:
1 – Leo Terram Propriam Protegat (South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands)
2 – Our Faith Is Our Strength (Tristan Da Cunha)
3 – Strange Paradise (Socotra, Yemen)
4 – Abandoned Buildings (Pyramiden, Svalbard)
5 – The Non-Existent Island (Freezeland)
6 – Contemplating the Vastness of the Universe (The Gobi Desert, Mongolia)
Atlantic Ridge will be released on April 24th, on cassette tape by Void Wanderer and on digipack CD by Dusktone, as well as digitally. They recommend it for fans of The Ruins of Beverast, Wolves in the Throne Room, and early Ahab. Pre-orders are available now.
PRE-ORDER:
https://voidwanderer.com/product/atlantic-ridge-mc/
https://dusktone.bandcamp.com/album/atlantic-ridge
ATLANTIC RIDGE:
https://atlanticridge.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/atlanticridgeofficial