Fires in the Distance is a Connecticut-based band that includes three members of the long-running melodic death metal project Archaic Decapitator. Their friendship and existing familiarity with each other’s talents created a smooth path into this new project, but the musical conception of Fires in the Distance gave it a distinct identity, one that draws upon death/doom influences as well as inclinations toward atmospheric and progressive metal. Among their inspirations, the band cite such groups as Man-Eating Tree, Type O, Enshine, Swallow The Sun, Amorphis, and Dark Tranquillity.

The band’s debut album, Echoes From Deep November, is now set for release on May 22nd. Conceptually, as the band have told us, “The record primarily encompasses a perpetual struggle with mental health, primarily living with major depression. The songs generally reflect the progression of going through the peaks and valleys of torment and internal rationalization of existing with chronic mental illness.”

Serious and decidedly melancholy subjects, to be sure, and the music does indeed have strong emotional resonance. But listening to it is far from a depressive experience, as you’ll discover through our premiere of the album’s opening track, “The Climb“. Continue reading »