Nottingham, UK doom trio Twilight’s Embrace recently emerged from the darkness to reveal details for their new record, and follow up to 2014’s acclaimed debut By Darkness Undone.
“After a couple of years that saw some members leaving and little in the way of live performances, we decided an EP was a good way to ease back into things and to let people know we’re still alive,” comments band leader and guitarist Ben Sizer. “Musically, the new tracks deliberately continue the path of previous releases, attempting to take classic doom-death recipes and add other influences to taste.”
Entitled Penance, the self-produced EP is set for release 23rd February and spans 4 epic death doom soundscapes, reminiscent of genre pioneers including Katatonia, November’s Doom, Agalloch, Insomnium, Primordial, and more. There is also a not so subtle hint towards Paradise Lost, with a cover of ‘It’s Too Late’ from 1999’s Host.
Today the band reveal a new music video for opening track ‘Dying Earth‘. Vocalist Andy Walmsley says, “I’ve always been fascinated by the ways that different cultures have historically deified and worshipped the earth and the elements, and while I’m not advocating for a return to that form of primitivism, I do still wonder whether, in our endless pursuit of progress and personal gain, we haven’t lost something, our sense of our connection to the world around us. That’s what this song deals with, the realisation that we may have lost something important, and that it’s simply too late to get that back and undo all the damage done.”
Andy continues, “Our video is an abstract take on this theme, showing the band as survivors of some sort of environmental catastrophe that humankind allowed to happen through their negligence. The earth is dying, taking its inhabitants with it, and we are no exception...”
“As a band we are totally uninterested in the usual cliché of the group doing a playthrough in a warehouse or garage, with all the hackneyed fretboard shots and close-ups of the double kick pedal. So when the songs on Penance were written, we made the decision that we would present one of the songs as a short film instead. With the expanse of the Peak District on our doorstep and the prospect of wintery weather drawing in, we knew this gave us the perfect opportunity to portray one interpretation of the lyrics to ‘Dying Earth’, and this is the result.”
Penance will be available on CD and on all major download and streaming platforms and is available to pre-order here: https://twilightsembrace.bandcamp.com/
Tracklist
1. Dying Earth
2. Curtain Call
3. Penance
4. It’s Too Late (Paradise Lost Cover)