Following 2020’s widely-worshipped “Melinoë“, US Oneiric Black Metal band AKHLYS return triumphant with six elaborate and exhilarating new tracks of pure Black Metal terror. “House of the Black Geminus” evokes abyssal nightmares, taking the listener through labyrinthine halls, shadowed corridors, cellars of dread, and attics of epiphany, as ordeal and ecstasy meet at the vertices where each beholds his own daemon.
Tracklist:
01. The Mask of Night-speaking
02. Maze of Phobetor
03. Through the Abyssal Door
04. Black Geminus
05. Sister Silence, Brother Sleep
06. Eye of the Daemon – Daemon I
The cover artwork was designed by Agostino Arrivabene, Jose Gabriel Alegría Sabogal contributed additional artwork to the booklet. Yurii Kazarian/Into the Abyss Design is responsible for the layout.
“House of the Black Geminus” was recorded at Promethean Forge Studios between March 2022 and January 2024. Dave Otero (COBALT, NIGHTBRINGER, CATTLE DECAPITATION) tracked the drums, mixed and mastered at Flatline Audio in January 2024. Additional engineering was performed by Mike Low.
As a mesmeric introduction to their upcoming fourth album, “House of the Black Geminus,” US Black Metal band AKHLYS unveil intricate new composition, ‘Sister Silence, Brother Sleep‘. Over nine minutes, composer Naas Alcameth fuses relentless, ferocious guitars, intense blast beats and sharply piercing vocals, creating a soundscape both relentless and eerily ominous. The addition of haunting dark ambient tones and melodious interludes add layers of complexity to elevate this powerfully sinister piece.
Alcameth describes the genesis of ‘Sister Silence, Brother Sleep‘:
“”Sister Silence, Brother Sleep‘ holds a special place for me as the opening riff to the song was the first riff I wrote for the album. At the time of writing this riff, I had yet to begin working towards composing the album. I had come up with this riff that stuck with me and became the opening to the track. That opening resonated with me so profoundly that I saw it as the key that opened wide the gate to the rest of the composition. Everything after just flowed in a nearly frantic succession of inspiration. I wouldn’t say that I changed my approach to writing, at least from a technical perspective, but that the muse that drives it all has adorned a new mask, shifting atmosphere, tone, and, ultimately, the imagined images invoked by the compositions.“
AKHLYS‘ fourth long player, “House of the Black Geminus“, is set for release via Debemur Morti Productions across multiple formats – CD, vinyl, tape, and digital – on July 5th. Various merch designs will accompany the launch. Pre-orders are available through the label’s EU, US, and Bandcamp stores.
AKHLYS was formed 2009 by Naas Alcameth (NIGHTBRINGER, AORATOS, BESTIA ARCANA) as a musical expression for the inexplicable visions, journeys and phenomena that occur in liminal lands between slumber and awakening. Initially exploring these concepts via Dark Ambient in debut “Supplication” (2009) and then haunting Black Metal through lauded follow-up “The Dreaming I” (2015), Alcameth has once again reified and rarefied this vision, giving rise to a third and crowning work, “Melinoë“, which was released in December 2020.
Earning widespread acclaim for their live performances, AKHLYS secured a partnership with Parasite Gallows Booking in 2022. Amidst numerous tours and festival appearances in Europe, Israel, Latin America and the United States, the recent years have also witnessed the crafting of new compositions destined for the band’s fourth album. Titled “House of the Black Geminus,” this much-anticipated release is scheduled for release July 5th, 2024.