Ahead of this Friday's release of their third album (and M-Theory Audio debut) “bal Lada,” Polish pagan black metal group VARMIA have unveiled the music video for their latest single, “Ten Blask Co Po Nim Śmierć” (English translation - "the gleam and then death”) The conceptual video – depicting a compelling visual tale of a Polish villager roaming through the forest in an attempt to heal his ailing lover – was shot in the band's native region of Warmia in northern Poland, and can be viewed HERE. CD and limited-edition brown-marble double-LP editions of are available for pre-order HERE or in Poland.
"We have been awaiting this moment for over two years now,” explains singer/guitarist Lasota. “When we started shooting this music video nobody realized that it would take so much time. So many things changed in that period. First of all, we never thought that the content of that picture would be so... prophetic. The script was written long before anybody used the term Covid or pandemic. Yet here we are. The times have put a new interpretation to our piece. Funny how the world powers can manipulate your original intentions. Keep your eyes wide open when staring straight into the gleam... and then death. This massive production wouldn't be possible if not for the co-operation of our friend, DOP, co-writer and co-producer Łukasz Gracz.”
VARMIA pays tribute to their Baltic roots by combining black metal with traditional instruments such as the goat horn and the tagelharpa. All of their albums to date have been recorded in culturally significant regions throughout their native Poland, including the 10 tracks of ominous and atmospheric pagan black metal that compose “bal Lada.” The recording process for their new album saw the band setting up a makeshift studio inside a culturally significant 19th Century manor in northern Poland, with all instrumentation recorded while playing together as a live unit with no sound editing. VARMIA recently posted a behind-the-scenes video detailing the recording process for “bal Lada,” including footage of guitarist/vocalist/band founder Lasota recording his vocals outdoors in a northern Poland forest. This clip can be viewed HERE.
In recent weeks, VARMIA unveiled two other tracks from “bal Lada”, both of which are currently streaming HERE and available for immediate download with pre-orders of the full album. The video for the first single from the new record, “bielmo”, is a stunning visual montage of the band's home region, and can be viewed HERE. The video for “Upperan” – featuring a guest performance from Polish “whitevoice” vocalist Jagna – was recorded live in a local castle with no overdubs or post-production sound editing, and 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.
VARMIA is:
Lasota - guitars, vocals
Alle - bass, backing vocals
Svarrge - drums
Piotr - percussion, tagelharpa, goat horn, wood tuba, krivula, backing vocals
