Today, Babylon Doom Cult Records
announces April 22nd as the international release date for Freja’s striking debut album, Tides, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
In lieu of this announcement, Freja have
just been announced as part of this year's lineup for the esteemed Roadburn
festival, set to take place April 21-24.
Freja are a duo hailing
from the Netherlands, consisting of C. (Witte Wieven) and W. (Laster, Verval).
The two found each other musically during the lead-up to Roadburn 2019 while
working on the commissioned piece Maalstroom – a veritable “supergroup” of the
ever-thriving Dutch black metal scene, including members from the esteemed
likes of Fluisteraars, Turia, Terzij de Horde, Verwoed, and Grey Aura among
others – and they decided to continue that creative energy with Freja.
Tides is Freja’s first public recording,
and a more auspicious debut one will not find. The duo’s shared interest in
atmospheric metal is immediately reflected in Freja’s
towers of sound, built upon layers of dense-yet-spacious riffs, subtly
shimmering melodies, and plausibly catchy compositions which include themes
that evolve throughout each of the album’s six songs. Thundering, crushing,
almost inescapably so? Yes, but also immensely ethereal and sometimes as smooth
as gossamer, creating a paradoxically levitation aspect that effortlessly
carries the listener through these Tides.
Part and parcel of Tides’ sonics are
the album’s strident lyrical themes. Inspired by persistent energies from
ancient myths – like the symbol of the goddess Freja – to cope with the complex
emotions and struggles of modern life, the dance of this duo sparks the force
of creation.
Furthering that duality is Freja’s
instrumental makeup, with both C. and W. equally handling clean and harsh
vocals, spanning the entire sonic spectrum with dazzling depth. Amazingly, the
entire writing & recording process for Tides took only a
year, with the recording & mix handled by the band themselves mastering
done by Joris Bonis from Dodecahedron/Ulsect. Completing the album’s totality
is the cover painting exclusively done by Johan Prenger of Reflections Records.
Calamitous and cleansing and cathartic above all, Tides
takes conceptions of “atmosphere” and “black metal” itself in
widescreen new directions. Freja defy
conventional genre categories, and instead stoke the fire of potential in us
all.
Tracklisting
for Freja's Tides
1. Our Chosen Path [5:59]
2. Scattered Shields [7:10]
3. Dusk [7:51]
4. Cataclysm [5:15]
5. Of Those Stricken by Fate [3:42]
6. Cloaks of Valor [9:06]
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