Los Angeles progressive rock and dark folk goldsmiths Vitskär Süden present their Lovecraft-inspired “R’lyeh” video, taken from their new studio album “Vessel” released today on Ripple Music.
“The works of H.P. Lovecraft have always bubbled beneath the surface of Vitskär Süden’s music, the band considering themselves to be purveyors of weird fiction and cosmic horror in musical form. Storytelling has been present on all three V.S. albums, whether in a literal or figurative sense, so it seemed only natural to nod to the sunken city where great Cthulhu dwells in one of the band’s tracks,” comments vocalist Martin Garner.
“In that spirit, the music video for “R’lyeh” features footage from a 2005 silent film version of The Call of Cthluhu directed by Andrew Leman, who co-runs the HP Lovecraft Historical Society based out of Los Angeles. Garner had contacted Leman early in the writing process to ask about the correct pronunciation of the fabled mythical city, but Leman assured him that the city’s name was in the alien tongue of the Great Old Ones and impossible to pronounce via the human vocal apparatus. So there was really no wrong way to pronounce it. That being the case, Garner pronounced it the way it sang best,” he adds.
Majestic and evocative, Vitskär Süden’s third studio album “Vessel” contemplates the fragility of human life in the form of a weird fiction collection of sorts. From post-apocalyptic, rain-soaked forests and sunken Lovecraftian cities to turbulent seas and marshy battlefields, the record guides listeners through portals to seven distinctive soundscapes. They expand their sonic arsenal with the additions of strings, synth and electronic elements, leaning further into progressive rock territory while remaining singularly themselves all the while. “Sonically we wanted to go further with what we started in The Faceless King, using different instrumentation, more synths, piano, and strings,” says guitarist Julian Goldberger. “I think we all wanted to stretch out a bit and lean into the atmosphere and vibe that was emerging from these dark tales.”
The album continues the band’s collaboration with co-producer and engineer Don Cento and features guest appearances from cellist Max Mueller, violinist Emily Moore and pianist Rich Martin as well as vocalists Kristi Merideth and Isabel Beyoso. Watch their mesmerizing video for “Hidden By The Day“!
VITSKÄR SÜDEN “Vessel”
Available now on Ripple Music (vinyl/CD/digital)
International preorder / US preorder
TRACKLIST:
1. Vengeance Speaks
2. R’lyeh
3. Through Tunnels They Move
4. Hidden By The Day
5. Tattered Sails
6. Everyone, All Alone
7. Elegy
Vitskär Süden is a cross-genre rock band that merges evocative storytelling with rich sonic texture, fusing elements of neo-psych, space, doom and progressive rock. The Los Angeles-based quartet’s material often features weird fiction sensibilities and feels cinematic in scope – understandable given the fact that most of the members met through filmmaking before bonding musically.
The band appeared on the radar in 2020 with a self-titled, cosmic horror-inspired debut Metal Hammer Magazine described as offering “epic soundscapes as soothing as a blood-red Californian sunset”. The album landed at #17 on Doom Charts’ best of the year list. In 2022 the band signed with Ripple Music and released “The Faceless King”, a dark fantasy concept album weaving the origin story of the record’s antihero namesake. Special editions of the vinyl release were accompanied by an RPG module written by band members and expanding on the album’s story.
Their latest record “Vessel” sees the band pushing genre boundaries yet again, experimenting with additional progressive elements while transporting listeners through seven distinctive soundscapes. Vitskär Süden continues their ascent as one of the most unique musical voices on the underground rock scene.
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