Opium by Descend into Despair

Catalog: FUNERE-08

300 limited copies. 6-panel digipak, CD.

Descend into Despair is a Romanian Funeral Doom metal band, founded in 2010, gradually rising from that point into one of the most noteworthy bands in the local scene – with a fair ammount of international critical acclaim. Fusing together death metal, black metal, sludge, electronica and dark ambient elements to further refine the Funeral Doom foundation, Descend into Despair push creative boundaries and take pride in experimenting as much as they can. The band developed a musical and lyrical universe around a pervaisive feeling of weltschmertz, a brooding and ever-looming feeling that physical reality can never fully satisfy the demands of the mind. The Romanian doomers consider that the confines of traditional doom metal can no longer accommodate the broad spectrum of emotions that they seek to transpose into sound. Conflicted with the obtuseness of this world, their response became increasingly nuanced, ranging from the chronic, almost surreal screams of anguish of their earlier works to a more stoic – almost blissful in a masochistic sense – realization of the freedom one can find by embracing pain. Peculiar and strong emotions can only be exposed by their own particular sound, so they sought to create it from the ground up and turned to analogue synthesis. This- an abstract conceptual touch complemented by abstract sound design – is, without a doubt, what singles them out from the crowd.

"Opium's conceptual driving force is, we believe, fully grasped within this image, blurring the lines between painting and photography.
Twisting classical beauty into modern obsession, weaving harmony of proportion into the disharmony of meaning that soaks through the fabric of existence, our Venus rises forth from horror and remembrance, drained by her rebirth, as murky as the sea that bore her."

Recorded between April and December 2019 by Descend into Despair
Written by Descend into Despair
Guitars, lapsteel recorded at A.P. Roads Studios in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Drums and vocals recorded at Corvin Studios in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Vocals, analogue synths - Xander Coza
Clean Vocals, Lapsteel guitar and field recordings - Florentin Popa
Guitars - Xander Coza, Dragoș C., Cosmin Farcău
Bass - Alex Costin Keyboards and Rhodes Piano - Flaviu Roșca
Drums - Luca Breaz Featuring vocals from Tara Vanflower on track 1
Choir on track 3 by Irina Movileanu, Eva Breaz, Luca Breaz, Florentin Popa
Dialogue on track 3 by Bogdan Neciu and Răzvan Târnovan
Mixed by Indee Rehal Sagoo from March to April 2020 in London, UK
Mastered by Greg Chandler in April 2020 at Priory Recording Studios, Birmingham, UK
Cover artwork photography and concept by Xander Coza, model Melinda Nagy, painting by István Bába, bodypaint by Brigitta Adorjan
Additional album artwork by István Bába Band photography by Eduard Szilagyi, make-up by Ștefania Boțoagă

Doom Metal label.

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