High Priest of Saturn Releasing Son of Earth and Sky Feb. 26
Norwegian four-piece High Priest of Saturn will issue their second LP, Son of Earth and Sky, on Feb. 26 through Svart Records. It’s the follow-up to the band’s 2013 self-titled debut, which was released as a trio, and was recorded in Aug. 2014. I know Svart has a pretty busy release schedule these days and everything anyone tries to press seems to be subject to the same delays, but that’s not a short stretch between the album being made and getting out to the public. Still, better late than never, and I guess there’s if there’s no real deadline — not like a release date had been set before — then it can’t actually be late. So fair enough. Bands are known for being super-patient about that kind of stuff anyway.
The PR wire fills us, you and me, in on the particulars:
HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN set release date for second SVART album
In 2013, an unexpected creature fell from the sky and landed in Trondheim, Norway where it took possession of three locals and gathered them under the High Priest of Saturn moniker to chant to the stars and praise the beyond. The then-trio’s self-titled debut was stoner/doom at its gloomiest and most spellbinding, with the echo-drenched vocals of Merethe Heggeset battling over layers of sweet Hammond organ and pounding drums, making Acid King and Blood Ceremony meet somewhere far away in the cosmos.
Now, two years and a half later and with now a full keyboard player in tow and a looser and more vintage prog and psychedelic approach, they’re back with Son of Earth and Sky. Set for international release on February 26th via Svart Records, Son of Earth and Sky is one monster of an album that will prove once and for all that High Priest of Saturn have already exceeded their early stoner/doom tag for something far more organic and less rigid. Recorded and mixed in only five days at Trondheim’s own Brygga Lydstudio in August 2014, like with many of the “classic rock” albums the band take inspiration from, these five new songs were mostly performed live in the studio with very little overdubs, as the members themselves point out: “The songwriting has been more of a collaborative effort this time, with everybody in the band participating to some extent. This, in addition to recording the tracks live and being able to play off each other and improvise some parts, has given the whole thing a more dynamic feel than the debut.”
And indeed, while they haven’t lost their taste for the epic with three out of those five songs clocking at over or almost nine minutes, Son of Earth and Sky is the vivid snapshot of a band fully revitalized and aiming at something more freer and more connected to all those late ’60s and early ’70s artists that serve as inspiration in the first place. Rounded up by a superb and evocative artwork that seems to evoke a forlorn monolith on some forgotten planet, this is the sound of High Priest of Saturn reaching for the stars and arriving at their destination. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for High Priest of Saturn’s Son of Earth and Sky
1. Aeolian Dunes
2. Ages Move The Earth
3. Son Of Earth And Sky
4. The Warming Moon
5. The Flood Of Waters
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