Indonesian atmospheric Black Metal unit PURE WRATH will unleash “The Forlorn Soldier” EP on March 6th via Debemur Morti Productions. This poignant offering serves as the band’s Debemur Morti debut as well as a teaser to the band’s third full-length.
Forged 2014 in West Java, PURE WRATH is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Januaryo Hardy who presents here an emotive three-track, near-half-hour exploration of events behind a brutal incident during the ’60s genocide in Indonesia where male members of a family were kidnapped and “vanished” by a tyrannical army in the name of “so-called nationalism”.
Far darker and more immersive, expansive, and organic than previous works, “The Forlorn Soldier” — with its powerful, melodic cascades, impassioned vocals, skilled guest drum work by Yurii Kononov (ex-WHITE WARD), and piano contributions by Dice Midyanti (VICTORIAN) — journeys to an all-encompassing realm where mythic dreamscapes meet bloody thematic realism.
“The Forlorn Soldier” cover art was painted by Aghy Purakusuma and will feature the following songs :
1. When A Great Man Dies
2. Children Of The Homeland
3. With Their Names Engraved
You can sample the opening track here.
“The Forlorn Soldier” will be released worldwide on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Pre-orders are possible via the label’s EU shop, US shop or Bandcamp.
Indonesian PURE WRATH began in mid-2014 as a primitive black metal solo project of multi-instrumentalist Ryo. Starting in 2016, Ryo began to shift the lyrical and thematic content of PURE WRATH to be more in line with his own life and family history. This paradigm shift resulted in the debut record, “Ascetic Eventide,”released in 2017 through the Indonesian label Hitam Kelam Records, selling out within four months.
Following the success and positive feedback of the debut, Ryo was contacted by the Mexican label Throats Productions to arrange a vinyl rerelease of “Ascetic Eventide.” Not long after, the split release “Endless Journey” between PURE WRATH and French symphonic black metal project Onirism was released through Throats Productions at the end of 2017.
In mid-2018, Ryo began writing what would become the second PURE WRATH record, “Sempiternal Wisdom.” It was released in October 2018 through Pest Productions in China and Hitam Kelam Records in Indonesia.
As of 2019, Ryo is preparing to bring PURE WRATH to a live setting and is currently writing a follow up EP to “Sempiternal Wisdom.” To be proudly released under Debemur Morti Productions, this EP will serve as a bridge to the upcoming third PURE WRATH full length record, and will feature Yurii Kononov (ex-WHITE WARD) as a session drummer.