Can we just start by saying that the word “sisyphean” is a personal favorite. It’s usually followed by the word “task” and it means something that cannot be completed or achieved. (Example: Meeting deadlines is a sisyphean task for this writer.) Its origins are in Greek mythology, because the troublemaker King Sisyphus pissed off the Greek gods so badly that he was forced to push a huge rock up a steep hill, only to watch it ultimately roll back down—for eternity. Lesson learned: don’t piss off Greek gods!
The Sisyphean we’re premiering today aren’t Greek—actually Lithuanian—and their dissonant black metal likely won’t offend any mythical deities. We’re definitely partial to the blasting cacophony being laid down on “Hearts of Mercury” which shows the quintet—vocalist Dainius P., guitarists Adomas V. and Kamil U., drummer Mantas D. and session bassist Andrius B.—at its most intense. Though other tracks on the band’s upcoming second full-length, Colours of Faith—set for release on vinyl, CD and digitally via Transcending Obscurity Records on May 27—offer more ambient influences, this is a heads-down, full-on, five-minute assault.
“The poetry of the track is inspired by Buddhist philosophy, which claims the world is imperfect and naturally unsatisfactory for human nature. We tend to avoid this predicament by using such things like faith and religion to stuff the emptiness in our understanding. Here, Mercury acts as a symbol of poisonous fluidity, which kills god inside ourselves.”
If you preorder the album here, you get access to digital downloads of two of the tracks immediately.
