Polish pagan black metal alchemists VARMIA – praised by Decibel Magazine for “combining black metal with traditional folk instruments in a way that rises and falls in energy and extremity” – have once again provided insight into the writing and recording process for their upcoming third album (and M-Theory Audio debut) “bal Lada.” After giving an initial peek behind the curtain towards the end of 2020, the band has uploaded a second “making-of” video for viewing at: https://youtu.be/PsXDwzH23PQ.
The new clip features comments from vocalist/guitarist/band founder Lasota and footage of the production process at a makeshift studio that was set up inside a culturally significant 19th Century manor in northern Poland, where the group recorded their instrumentation together as a live unit with no sound editing and tracked additional vocals in an open-air forest setting. CD and limited-edition brown marble double-LP editions of “bal Lada” are now available for pre-order at http://smarturl.com/varmia.
“Mystery and mysticism in our art are the most important qualities to us,” explains vocalist/guitarist Lasota. “However, the very recording process of Varmia is so special that it affects the music itself. We feel that letting you inside that process will help you immerse in the upcoming album even more. This closure should bring the mysticism up to the very surface.”
VARMIA pays tribute to their Baltic roots by combining black metal with traditional instruments such as the goat horn and the tagelharpa. All of their albums to date have been recorded in culturally significant regions throughout their native Poland, including the 10 tracks of ominous and atmospheric pagan black metal that compose “bal Lada.”
The group has unveiled two tracks so far from “bal Lada”, both of which are currently available for streaming at https://varmiaband.bandcamp.com/ and are available for immediate download with pre-orders of the full album. First single “bielmo” provides the soundtrack for a stunning visual montage of the band’s home region, and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/ujzPY7NmeXQ. The video for “Upperan” – featuring a guest performance from Polish “whitevoice” vocalist Jagna – was recorded live in a local castle with no overdubs or post-production sound editing, and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/0ydYs0vR7bg.
VARMIA was formed in 2016 with a mission of fusing black metal with musical influences that pay tribute to the ancient Baltic tribes of the historical Warmia region of northern Poland. “bal Lada” is the group’s third album following 2017’s “Z mar twych” and 2018’s “W ciele nie.” Vocally, harsh growls shroud the band’s music and native Polish lyrics in a visceral aura, the only breaks occurring when using the traditional, ancient technique of “whitevoice” clean-singing as utilized during ancient East-Central European rituals, rites of passage and festivals. Meanwhile, the power of the band’s metal influences are enhanced on “bal Lada” by traditional ethnic instrumentation of the Baltic Rites via sounds of tagelharpa, goat horn, wood tuba and krivula. The result is a compelling mix of dark metallic sounds that channel the spirit of early Enslaved, Satyricon and Wolves in the Throne Room and folk elements that drive acts such as Wardruna.
VARMIA is:
Lasota – guitars, vocals
Alle – bass, backing vocals
Svarrge – drums
Piotr – percussion, tagelharpa, goat horn, wood tuba, krivula, backing vocals
www.facebook.com/varmiaband
www.instagram.com/varmiabandhttps://varmiaband.bandcamp.com
www.m-theoryaudio.com
https://varmiaband.bandcamp.com