Polish pagan black metal group VARMIA have premiered their new music video for “Upperan,” the second single from their upcoming third album (and M-Theory Audio debut) “bal Lada.” The clip – which premiered yesterday via Decibel Magazine – was shot on location at a castle in the band's home region of Warmia and features a guest appearance from Polish “whitevoice” vocalist Jagna. The “Upperan” video can be viewed HERE and produced by Otwarta Scena.
“Upperan” is also now streaming on all major platforms and is one of two instant downloads that are included with digital pre-orders of “bal Lada,” which will be released on March 12. CD and limited-edition brown-marble double-LP editions of the album are now available for pre-order HERE.
VARMIA pays tribute to their Baltic roots by combining black metal with traditional instruments such as the goat horn and the tagelharpa. All of the group’s albums to date have been recorded in culturally significant regions throughout their native Poland. The band continued this practice during the making of the music video for “Upperan.”
Vocalist/guitarist/band founder Lasota had this to say of the video for “Upperan” and the song itself: "An ecstatic dance of flames as they devour the flesh. To disassemble the bones to leave the soul naked in the cold. Nothing brighter than the burning pyre. Nothing colder than the stone stained with the stream of blood. 'Upperan' in ancient Prussian language means "sacrifice." We performed the song at the castle where such stone still stands. Deep in the ground, veiled by the numbness of the centuries, yet still pulsing with its coldness. It conducted these tones."
The 10 tracks of ominous and atmospheric pagan black metal that compose “bal Lada” were tracked in a makeshift studio set up by the band in a 19th Century manor in northern Poland, where they recorded while playing together as a live unit with no sound editing. A video documenting the album's creation can be seen HERE.
The video for “Upperan” is the follow-up to “bielmo,” the first single from “bal Lada.” The clip for that song, loaded with visually stunning images from the band's home region, can be viewed HERE.
VARMIA was formed in 2016 by with a mission of fusing black metal with musical influences that pay tribute to the ancient Baltic tribes of the historical Warmia region of northern Poland. “bal Lada” is the group's third album following 2017's “Z mar twych” and 2018's “W ciele nie.” Vocally, harsh growls shroud the band's music and native Polish lyrics in a visceral aura, the only breaks occurring when using the traditional, ancient technique of “whitevoice” clean-singing as utilized during ancient East-Central European rituals, rites of passage and festivals. Meanwhile, the power of the band's metal influences are enhanced on “bal Lada” by traditional ethnic instrumentation of the Baltic Rites via sounds of tagelharpa, goat horn, wood tuba and krivula. The result is a compelling mix of dark metallic sounds that channel the spirit of early Enslaved, Satyricon and Wolves in the Throne Room and folk elements that drive acts such as Wardruna.
