Decibel is pleased to present, for the thrashing-mad among us, an exclusive stream of the debut album from Sweden’s Paranorm: Empyrean. The band plays a technical, progressive form of thrash metal, but one that still has its dark roots buried in the old proto-black thrash sound of the Teutonic bands like Sodom and Kreator. The style is a fitting backdrop for the band to explore its wider themes of humanity’s destiny and the cosmos.
According to guitarist and vocalist Markus Hiltunen:
“Humans as a species stand at a point where the decisions we collectively make at present will affect not just the next few years, but possibly our entire future existence. We have the potential to create something wonderful and be a part of the universe for a long time, but also the destructive power to end ourselves along with most other life on earth. Which path will we choose? A recurring concept on Empyrean is this balance between potential and risk, often with a weight towards the latter.”
On a purely sonic level, guitarist Frederik tells us that “Paranorm never was about rushing out mediocre music. This time we obsessed about the songwriting. Every section down to single notes has been thoroughly worked through and many parts have been rewritten. When we started the band we barely knew how to hold a guitar. But over the years we have been honing our musicianship and gradually working our way up to this point.”
Empyrean will see a full digital and physical release on February 26 via Redefining Darkness Records. Check it out here:
