Today, Amor Fati Productions in conspiracy with Extraconscious Recordings announce April 19th as the international release date Lhaäd‘s highly anticipated third album, Beyond, on CD and vinyl LP format.
Hailing from the currently thriving Belgian black metal scene, Lhaäd are a part of the esteemed Nox Entity collective, which also includes the likes of Entartung, Rituals of the Dead Hand, and Wolven. To begin to understand Lhaäd, one must dissect the band’s phonetically & visually unique moniker: an anagram of “hadal.” The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanic trenches. The name comes from Hades, the ancient Greek god of the underworld. Fittingly, Lhaäd bring the same, incredibly vast darkness & tension as if they were to capture and take you to the ocean floor, deep within the largest abysses.
Thus far, Lhaäd have accomplished such through two titanic full-lengths, 2021’s Below and last year’s Beneath, and now put punctuation to a trilogy with Beyond. The band’s third and perhaps final album, Beyond is aptly titled: the landscape of the past has been travelled on, and now only lies the infinite void of possibility – and nothingness. Working with their characteristic framework of martial / cosmic hypnosis – in a black metal context, cue classic Thorns and Darkspace – mainman Lykormas here expands upon the almost-ceremonial aspect of Beneath, bringing that ominous beauty to a breathtaking level. Perhaps literally, that: Beyond, as a whole, is paradoxically much more violent, its tempos categorically cyclonic and speeding. Lhaäd seemingly sense that this is the end, then, whipping forth a world-eating vortex of HUGE sound that’s suffocating and spacious simultaneously. “Aquatic” still, if tsunamis count as music, but there’s no denying Lykormas’ melodicism, which imparts tragedy, tension, and terror with equal aplomb. And the production across Beyond is of a sterling quality, both more organic than those previous and yet somehow more otherworldly.
And like its two predecessors, Beyond sees Lhaäd utilizing a made-up, improvised language, lending ever more mystery. Except, this time, there’s one line in English: During the last seconds of the album’s outro, you can hear “there’s nothing beyond this world but fire.” In the background, there’s a fire sample running, instead of the typical water samples; the mesmerizing cover art can also provide some tantalizing insight. And with all three albums conceptually about the deep sea, Beyond closes this chapter – the trilogy is over. If there will be a fourth Lhaäd album, says Lykormas, “it’ll not be very soon…”
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Beyond III” HERE at Amor Fati‘s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Lhaäd’s Beyond
1. Beyond I [7:50]
2. Beyond II [7:33]
3. Beyond III [6:15]
4. Beyond IV [6:00]
5. Beyond V [6:59]
6. Beyond VI [7:57]
MORE INFO:
www.thenoxentity.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/thenoxentity