Ah, the freedom of completely unfettered creative expression. Nothing like it. And when it’s just you, your instruments and some recording gear, dealing with other human’s and their opinions isn’t a concern. So, if you want to craft a devilishly old-school black album around a fantasy novel you wrote (The Rise of Meklarah), such as Artanor mainman Menelyagor has done on his new release In Servitude of Darkness, who’s to say otherwise?
We’re premiering a track, “Sons of the Rock,” taken from Artanor’s first full-length, which is but one chapter in the Meklarah saga. The six-minute slayer has all the chilly, grim hallmarks of classic Scandinavian BM and grinds away with an atmospheric bleakness that belies Artanor’s Aussie origins. In Servitude of Darkness is set for release on vinyl, CD and digital download via Gutter Prince Cabal on July 27. In the US you can preorder it here. Elsewhere, you can preorder here.
Here’s what Menelyagor had to say about the new album and single:
“Artanor is a solo project that emerged in 2006 after [my previous band] Fen Hollen. Creatively, I’d been sitting on a conglomeration of ideas for some time as my family and managing life’s sufferings took a front seat. Then spontaneously, one night, I diverted and began writing what quickly became the bulk of a high fantasy novel for a bit of personal fun, The Rise of Meklarah.
In Servitude of Darkness is a release of sounds that accompanied the atmosphere of the story as the novel was written. Naturally, the album could then only be lyrically based on the stories events and actions of its characters, which was somewhat of a relief because it allowed me to reduce exposure to the more personal perspectives that I generally associate with and relate to when I listen to black metal.
‘Sons of the Rock’ is about the necromancer Rakinar and his head minion, Lauw, and their attempt to discover what the Mûrkar (elemental ground dwellers that live and work amongst the humans), are up to. While it is obvious to Rakinar they are forging weapons, armor and tools for the humans, they appear to be forging something far more important, in secret.”
