This morning we’re streaming Elder Giants, the paradoxically ultra-dark debut full-length from German black metallers Sun Worship — a roiling, nasty, multi-layered beast which, already much-beloved in Europe, at long last receives its North American release next week via Translation Loss.
And here are some collectively composed thoughts from the band on the serendipity behind Elder Giants, its reception, and across-the-pond reissue…
Two-thirds of Sun Worship come from a background as metal kids as far back as the 90s — death/black/doom metal, especially — who went on to explore all kinds of music in the mean time all the while planning to get together for a black metal project at some point. That finally happened in late 2009. A tape, a 12″EP, two split releases and a bunch of shows later we released Elder Giants digitally and on tape to get those at that point already rather old recordings out of the way to be able to concentrate on new songs. What was intended as some kind of demo tape then almost accidentally became our first proper album. Our vision is actually the result of the different visions of three individuals merging in a sometimes painful process. That said, we’re ultimately satisfied with how everything turned out.
The lyrics are not very cryptic and are there for everybody to read and interpret. Elder Giants was not consciously conceived as a concept album, but it may well be received as such. The title partly refers back to the black metal movement — in the nineties as our main musical influence at that point. To some extent, Elder Giants is an aesthetic homage to an era that first allowed for a spiritual experience of the genre, an experience which left its mark for good: “Når helvete engang kaller er det ingen vei tilbake.”
“Elder giants” may also refer to the trees in the forest you return to to remind yourself of who you really are. Or to an abstract set of obstacles, hopes, ambitions which have their root in your personal past and which define your present being, all encompassing like the Sun even when you think it’s not there…
What you hear is basically a rough mix which was shelved for a few months while we figured out what to do with the recorded songs. We then discovered that the rawness of this rough mix actually fit the songs perfectly. The recording setup was pretty simple, aiming at an accurate representation of what we actually sounded like at that point. You could say we actually avoided work to achieve just that – a natural, raw and unpolished sound…
Initially instinctive, then time intensive. Most songs are written over a period of weeks and sometimes even months in the rehearsal space. It’s a very- time — and nerve- — consuming process but it’s very rewarding when things finally start working out. We don’t set out to write songs with a certain length and a certain structure. The songs happen or they don’t. Many don’t.
