Today we have the privilege of sharing an early stream of “Petroglyph” a colossus’ ominous glide through the dissonance of the netherworld from multi-national funeral death/doom metal band MESMUR. In keeping with their tradition of classic funeral doom influences, majestic death metal aggression and a knack for captivating longform pieces the fourth full-length from these folks, ‘Chthonic‘, releases Friday, April 14th on Digipak CD and digitally by way of cult U.K. label Aesthetic Death and Russian doom leadership Solitude Productions.

With “Petroglyph” Mesmur present the steady reveal of the void’s dissonance, the crest that reveals the view of the world below as the band close out the first half of the record. Expect a fine showcase of their adept use of synth to present an ethereal, melodic and (eventually) dissonant form which is at once built with the bones of funeral doom while also representing their own personal ideation of it which avoid neither the heaviness of death metal nor the chance to experiment with different gloom-tones and the surreal tension inherent to the funeral doom sub-genre proper. It is a key piece from what is arguably the finest work from the band to date, and of course I say this as a huge fan who has followed band’s progress since their first release back in 2014.

Guitarist Jeremy Lewis provides some context for the song choice: “It was difficult to choose any of the three longer songs from Chthonic to take out of the context of the album for a preview, but we felt like “Petroglyph” is the right choice to introduce the record and give listeners a taste of what to expect. It’s the first piece we wrote when we started working on this project, back before we knew what the overall concept was going to be, so it makes sense to me that it be the first thing people hear ahead of the album’s release.”

Thanks goes out to the artist, their label and representation for the opportunity to share this song early. Scroll down to the YouTube embed below to finalize your descent. As always do your best to support the extreme doom metal underground and grab a physical copy from Solitude Productions or Aesthetic Death on April 14th:

• Solitude Productions – solitude-prod.com/
• Aesthetic Death – aestheticdeath.com/
• Mesmur Bandcamp – mesmur.bandcamp.com

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Per the Press Release:

A haunting journey through the doom underworld

International death/funeral doom metal act MESMUR have returned to release their fourth album, entitled “Chthonic”. The title is based on the Greek word for “underworld”, and where the band’s previous albums have explored themes of cosmic entropy and earthly apocalypse, “Chthonic” looks to the spirit world for its inspiration. Formed as a collection of paranormal horror tales, it speaks of fabled entities making contact through the veil of sleep, summoning prey to subterranean depths, or haunting a post apocalyptic landscape.

Musically, the album continues the trajectory that MESMUR have established through previous works. Featuring viola and cello performances from Brianne Vieira and guest organ from Kostas Panagiotou of UK funeral doom act Pantheist (for whom Jeremy and John of Mesmur recently contributed guitars and drums on their 2021 record “Closer to God”), “Chthonic” strikes a careful balance between melody and dissonance as it displays its haunted imagery. Crushing doom riffs are overlain with ethereal synths and cavernous vocals to build a dark and vivid atmosphere, and the intricate compositions utilize a narrative approach influenced as much by 70’s progressive rock as by extreme doom metal. Like the band’s previous two releases, the album features beautifully eerie and vibrant cover art from Ukrainian painter Vladislav Cadaversky.

Working in collaboration with Solitude Prod. (RUS) and Aesthetic Death (UK), “Chthonic” will be released initially on digi CD on 14th April 2023, with plans for a vinyl release to follow later.

Tracklist:

01. Chthonic (Prelude)
02. Refraction
03. Petroglyph
04. Passage
05. Chthonic (Coda)

Initially started in 2013 as a side project of Jeremy Lewis and John Devos (of progressive black metal act Dalla Nebbia), MESMUR is an international collection of musicians with a shared artistic goal to create immersive and unpredictable death/funeral doom metal. Dense, with vivid atmosphere that carries a constant sense of foreboding and unease, and with riffs and melodies that straddle the line between accessibility and obscurity, MESMUR‘s music draws inspiration from a diverse set of influences ranging from Esoteric and Ea to King Crimson and Univers Zero.

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