TAR POND are now unveiling the fierce video clip ‘SLAVE’ as the next single taken from the Swiss doom visionaries’ forthcoming newalbum “PETROL”, which is scheduled for release on September 15, 2023.
Please note that it is an integral part of TAR POND‘s artistic concept for this album to have all titles written in capitals.
The video ‘SLAVE‘ is available for immediate publication via the following link: https://youtu.be/AMt-7VyGWhI
Pre-sale link: http://lnk.spkr.media/tar-pond-petrol
On further news, TAR POND will reissue their debut full-length “Protocol of Constant Sadness” parallel to “PETROL” on September 15, 2023. The album will be available as an LP both on gold vinyl and on standard black vinyl, and as a Digipak CD.
TAR POND explain: “Although the video for ‘SLAVE’ was produced simultaneously with the clip for ‘BLIND’, we approached the visuals in a quite different way”, vocalist Thomas Ott elaborates. “This dark and heavy song rather evokes simple and slow images. I had some interesting shots of jellyfish floating in dark water. So we decided to shoot some additional material of the band performing in the rehearsal room, filled with a maximum of smoke. That quickly turned out to be a bad idea due to the fire alarms installed in the building. Well, with the kind help of some good old friends, Marky managed to procure a much better location in no time. Initially, the video for ‘SLAVE’ was planned with more varied footage, but Fabrizio Merico’s sublime camera work, shot in only one night at the Zukunft Club in Zurich, and the absolute professional editing by Coroner’s Daniel Stoessel made us decide to just let it all go up in smoke! Sometimes less is more!”
Tracklist
1. BOMB
2. BLIND
3. SLAVE
4. SOMETHING
5. DIRT
The blues legend claims that the devil waits for those wanting to sell their souls at the crossroads. “PETROL”, the second full length of Swiss doom visionaries TAR POND is very much born from such a convergence – but one where more than three dimensions meet. On a temporal level, “PETROL” connects the past, present, and future of the band, and the album’s conception even transcends life and death.
Although “PETROL” is clearly drawing inspiration from US doom classics such as SAINT VITUS as way as going all the way back to the British roots embodied by BLACK SABBATH, there are also moments that connect TAR POND with more contemporary doom acts such as ELECTRIC WIZARD and ACID BATH. At the same time, TAR POND also exemplify the stubborn streak of Swiss metal that displays a fierce individuality and creative independence as outstanding acts such as CELTIC FROST, CORONER, and ZEAL & ARDOR easily attest.
Going back to the crossroads of time, everything seemed to change when Martin Ain, bass player of the iconic CELTIC FROST and one of the founding members of TAR POND passed away in October 2017. Before this tragic day, the Swiss legend had already recorded the debut album with the other founding members, the former CORONER drummer and lyricist Marky Edelmann, the renowned scratchboard artist and vocalist Thomas Ott, and the two guitarists Alain Kupper and Stefano Mauriello.
Entitled “Protocol of Constant Sadness”, the debut was originally written and recorded in 2016/17 under the guidance of producer and guitar-legend Tommy Vetterli of CORONER fame. After the shock began to fade and a long time of intense deliberation, the Swiss decided to continue as a band and began to perform live, which at first led to two sold-out release shows at Zurich’s legendary porn cinema Kino Roland.
Inspired by the enthusiastic reception for their debut, TAR POND started working on new songs and continued their successful collaboration with Tommy Vetterli at the New Sound Studio. The resulting sophomore album “PETROL” is a collaboration of old and new band members throughout different times. Under these circumstances, it is quite remarkable that the album comes across fully coherent and focused.
When TAR POND were conceived, the band’s declared aim was to deliver a soundtrack of brutality and an electric protocol of constant sadness, which the Swiss filed under the description ‘Doom’n’Gloom’ that has also been described as a combination of doom and post-metal.
With “PETROL”, TAR POND fulfil their original promise: this album is a beautiful soundtrack of darkness and sorrow.
Release date: September 15, 2023
Style: Doom Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions
Current line-up
Thomas Ott – vocals
Marky Edelmann – drums
Stefano Mauriello – guitars
Daniele Merico – guitars
Chris Perez – bass
Guest musicians
Michael Flury – trombone on ‘BOMB’, ‘BLIND’, and ‘SLAVE’
Nathalie Dreier – intro voice & lyrics on ‘DIRT’
Tommy Vetterli – piano effects on ‘SOMETHING’
Recorded by Tommy Vetterli & Tar Pond at New Sound Studio, Pfäffikon, Switzerland
Mixed by Tommy Vetterli at New Sound Studio, Pfäffikon, Switzerland
Mastering by Dan Sutter at Echochamber, Zürich, Switzerland
Frontcover painting by Justin Mortimer
Inlay artwork by Thomas Ott
Layout by Oliver Amberg & Marky Edelmann
Shop
http://lnk.spkr.media/tar-pond-petrol
Available formats
“PETROL” is available as a dark green vinyl LP, as a black vinyl LP, and as a Digipak CD.
Links
www.tar-pond.com
www.facebook.com/tarpondband
www.instagram.com/tarpondband