Exclusive Track Premiere Phasma‘s “III”
“Form was exhaled from the lung of that darkness.”
On February 20th, Phasma will release their third full-length Purgatory via Transcending Obscurity Records. Helmed by guitarist/songwriter Jason Athanasiadis (Kawir) and vocalist/lyricist Luise Ferre (Gravecarver) and joined by bassist Giorgos Markantonis and drummer Bill Nanos (Dead Congregation, etc.), Phasma share traits with labelmates Saevus Finis, Crypts of Despair, and Maere. Like their contemporaries, Phasma aims to mix benighted black metal with domineering death metal, finding some kind of cosmically terrifying balance in the dissociated fray. The resulting feeling throughout Purgatory is one of grim haunting, anxious apparitions, and choking pressure. “Maybe you have felt this, too,” writes Nina MacLaughlin, “that grief itself has become a thin layer of the atmosphere, its particles collecting in the overlap between troposphere and stratosphere, particulates of grief surrounding the whole globe.” Phasma has made their home in that thin layer, sucking specks of grief deep into their lungs.
A rage borne up and out of grief, though perhaps they are the same thing. Lead single “I” opens the album with a twisting, gnarled tremolo black metal riff that shifts down into a tank-treaded death metal breakdown. Ferre switches between gravelly black metal shrieks to thundering brutal death metal grunts and growls. It’s all deftly accomplished, taking little time to establish the tone and tempo for the rest of Purgatory. Second single “V” proceeds accordingly, only ever slowing down to stomp cracks into concrete and envelope the listener in fumes of noxious dissonance. MacLaughlin continues, “For now, here we are. Confused and frightened, angry maybe, too, but that’s just the fear again.”
Today, we’re thrilled to bring you third single “III.” Mournful and shrouded in despair, “III” begins plaintively enough, before a familiar sense of swarming besieges the listener. Bellowing vocals hover over chugging breakdowns and pinch harmonics, as the band dips its toes into the foul waters of Dying Fetus for a fleeting moment. From there, things get downright catchy, as an upbeat two-step OSDM riff worms its cryptic way into your brain. Out of the available singles, “III” seems most committed to a sense of foreboding, permitting feelings of dread and dis-ease to spread ever outward in the song’s final melodic minute.
About the album as a whole, the band has this to say:
“On Purgatory, Phasma enter a new era,
fusing death metal and black metal into a unified sound.
This record marks a clear turning point for the band,
defining their identity and personal sonic vision.”
Ever so aptly, McLaughlin ends her essay, “The opposites are right now in tension, twinned and twined, the great cosmic tug. And the tug is never stronger than in this moment, as we sink into the deepest part of darkness.” Phasma’s new era is twinned and twined, staging the great cosmic tug between black metal and death metal in the depths of darkness. If this unity sounds chaotic, then so be it. To wit, “Khaos emerged at the birth of the universe, preceding the rest of the primeval gods. A state of disordered darkness, a void where nothing was named.” So hold tight.
Purgatory arrives on February 20
via Transcending Obscurity Records.
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