AN NCS PREMIERE: SOTABOSC — “FREYJA”

(written by Islander)

Here is background information about the Spanish band Sotabosc whose music we’re sharing with you today from their debut album El batec dels Maquis:

SOTABOSC was founded in 2023 in Barcelona by Oscar Linares and Manel Song, known for their work in Syberia, together with Xavi Forne, creator of the dark-folk project Ulmus and founder of Error! Design. In 2025, the project solidified with the addition of David Rodríguez on vocals and Gerard Serrano on bass, completing a lineup deeply connected to the Catalan underground scene and involved in bands such as Amargor, Arna, Malammar, Stained Blood, Vampyric Winter, Llacuna, Hurricade and Carontte, among others.

Firmly rooted in an anti-fascist ethos, SOTABOSC conveys its message through lyrics sung entirely in Catalan and a carefully crafted visual identity, including artwork, logos, stage aesthetics and graphic materials. Their artistic and political discourse form a coherent whole, integral to the project.

The album itself has a distinctive structure, and to describe it we’ll again quote from materials we’ve received:

The band’s debut album El batec dels Maquis unfolds in two complementary sections. The first reimagines three compositions from Ulmus, originally instrumental and written for acoustic instruments, now transformed into a sound shaped by Atmospheric Black Metal with strong post-rock influences. The new lyrics focus on animals, forests and the natural environment, forming a narrative arc that connects with the second half of the album.

The second part consists of a single track exceeding 15 minutes, where SOTABOSC expresses its purest musical identity: raw black metal roots, expansive instrumental passages and experimental structures inspired by post-rock. The vocals – harsh and evocative – pay tribute to the Maquis and their anti-Francoist resistance in Catalonia during and after the Civil War.

What we have for you today is the premiere of a song from the album named “Freyja“, which appears in the first of those two complementary sections described above. Here is how Sotabosc describe it:

“Freyja” was originally conceived as an instrumental piece for Xavi Forné’s solo project, Ulmus, inspired by the Norse goddess. In its reinterpretation with Sotabosc, the concept shifts into the context of the Maquis, where Freyja becomes a metaphor for the women of the resistance. Like the goddess – associated with war, death, and fertility – these women embody strength, care, and determination amidst conflict. Not as a distant myth, but as a real, silenced, and essential presence.

“Freyja” is a stunning song that unfolds in three phases. Its opening two minutes are mythic and mesmerizing. At first everything brilliantly rings and reverberates, from the acoustic guitars that establish the melody (a mystical but melancholy melody) to the ethereal ambient tones that provide a backing shimmer of sound. When the bass and drums arrive to provide a much heavier counterpoint, the gleaming melody persists but soars on the wings of vividly rippling tremolo’d chords.

That first phase, to repeat, is hypnotic and beautiful, but as we hear it, it’s also threaded with wistfulness and sorrow. The second phase, on the other hand, is dramatically different. The music suddenly explodes in a torrent of blast-beat cannonades, thunderous bass-lines, blazing guitars, and truly harrowing screams. Although the stirring and whirring melodies from the song’s opening are still there, they have become far more expansive and intense. In this phase the music is breathtaking, and swallows the listener whole.

In the song’s final phase the music’s surging and soaring turbulence gradually and seamlessly abates — although, if anything, the vocals scream and cry out with even greater intensity. Rather than racing, the music slows, towers, and heaves. You can imagine the earth shaking under the power of the slow rhythmic blows, and although the music looms at a near-symphonic scale, it feels steeped in darkness and loss.

In sum, this is an extremely dramatic and moving song in all of its changng facets, and it’s easy to become captivated by its emotional power. We’ll also venture the guess that it will appeal especially to fans of such bands as Agalloch, rendered through a post-metal prism.

El batec dels Maquis was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Siete Barbas Studio in Barcelona by Daniel Gil. The album includes layout by Error! Design, and symbology by Woodcvtter Illustration. It will be released on April 17th by Dunk! Records. For more information, check the links below.

Also below you’ll find a stream of the extensive song, previously released, that is the second part of the album: “El batec dels Maquis/Records vius en la foscor“. Both that song and the one we’re premiering today are available now as digital singles at Sotabosc’s Bandcamp.

SOTABOSC:
https://www.instagram.com/sotabosc_official
https://www.facebook.com/sotaboscofficial
https://sotaboscband.bandcamp.com