SOOTHSAYER - THE UNBINDING

Hailing from Ireland's County Cork, Soothsayer have been weaving their visceral tapestries of sound and story, magick and melancholy since 2013. Their output has been considered and unhurried - just a handful of releases over the years, including a solitary full-length album in the form of 2021s Echoes Of The Earth - but each offering to bear the Soothsayer name matters; it carries weight, significance and a sense of purpose. Now, having recently announced their affiliation with the highly respected Apocalyptic Records label, Soothsayer are set to unveil their next portentous creation - their second full length album. Blending primal instinct, raw emotion and accomplished art, Soothsayer have once again delivered songs of import and substance, sounding like a band with lifetimes of releases and shared experiences behind them. Shaped by history, identity and tradition, infused with passion and tempered by grief and rage - it is time for The Unbinding.

In a thunder of drums and an attack of shocking, blistering intensity, 'Eroding The Sky' snatches the hesitant listener from the threshold and carries them into an all-encompassing maelstrom of sound. That initial charge collapses into a mire of mists and dark majesty, immense vocals exclaiming above the haze of mystery while bewitching threads of melody unwind through the shadowed gloom. Before this first song has passed you have been transported completely into a world of Soothsayer's imagining. A passage of haunted invocation delivers you, seamlessly, into the waiting arms of 'Sooner Acceptance', it's plaintive acoustic guitar and tortured vocals quickly consumed by vast chords and colossal drums. 'Sooner Acceptance' never allows you to settle, shifting from towering doom to blackened venom; it stretches out, recoils, attacks - possessing a malignant life it offers no safe harbour within its cruel kingdom. Each song that makes up The Unbinding is an elemental, storm-tossed challenge - part of the overall journey, but also long, hard, transformative roads in their own right. 'Endless Shesha', each note burdened with the weight of the world suggests secrets within its serpentine coils, tempting you into obsessive repeated listening, while the emotional intensity of 'The Vine' is fierce, draining and exhilarating. The versatility of vocal expression here is remarkable, with Liam Hughes playing narrator, sorcerer, hermit, priest, combining storytelling with the outpouring of overwhelming emotion. The winds between worlds carry us finally to the concluding 'A Vague Shimmer'; loss, ritual, imposing presence haunting its repeating guitar motifs. More than any other, this song echoes with the essence of Soothsayer's island home, inescapable bindings reaching back to the past. The Celtic guitar at the song's heart, the drums touched by the ghosts of ancient heritage and an indefinable sense of passing combine to make this a most fitting ending to a quite incredible album.

Brought to life with sound engineer Shaun Cadogan (Coscradh, Diocletian, Dread Sovereign etc) at Last Light Recordings in Dublin, The Unbinding sounds magnificent - every individual element of the band given power and clarity, just the right level of prominence afforded each intricate detail, while all is bound into a huge, cohesive force. Soothsayer have outdone themselves with The Unbinding, delivering a superlative distillation of their art. Look for its coming on July 3rd, on limited edition vinyl, digipak CD, cassette and digital formats - all from Apocalyptic Witchcraft.

Presale link here.

Soothsayer Links »

Apocalyptic Witchcraft Links »