It’s fitting that rebranded Swedish outfit JIRM — formerly known as Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus — would make a video for the opening track of their forthcoming long-player, Surge ex Monumentis, because it doesn’t take any longer than that for the Stockholm foursome to make it readily apparent to their listeners that they’re on a way different trip than they’ve ever been before. With an underpinning of space metal, heavy progressive swirl and flourish of psychedelic reaching, the six-minute “Candle Eyes” begins Surge ex Monumentis with a feel that’s both classic and vital, owing precious little to the boogie-minded vintage-ism of the band’s prior work under their original name in 2014’s Spirit Knife (review here), their third album, and the preceding outings, 2011’s Bloom and 2009’s Elefanta.

Clearly, then, they’re aware of the signals they’re looking to send their audience. JIRM, as they make what’s more or less a second debut with more than a decade’s experience behind them, foster a number of grand statements of aesthetic throughout Surge ex Monumentis in extended tracks like “Dig” (12:07), “Isle of Solitude” (11:26), “Nature of the Damned” (10:35) and 11-minute closer “Tombs Arise,” and while the record boasts a more progressive bent overall, one might point to the rise of a band like Elder as a potential line of inspiration. That’s not really the case here. JIRM have their own agenda and their blend when it comes to bringing together heavy rock and prog, and by injecting a current of ’80s-style metal grandiosity — notice I didn’t say “glam-diosity”; that’s not what we’re talking about here — they find a niche for themselves and begin to dig into what will likely be a continuing process of forward creative growth.

So again, a second debut. And think of “Candle Eyes” as the leadoff moment of that debut. The video itself is somewhat grim looking, but don’t be fooled — there’s plenty of color to be found in what these guys are doing, whatever they might choose to call themselves.

Surge ex Monumentis is out March 16 on Small Stone Records. More info on the album follows the video premiere below, courtesy of the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

JIRM, “Candle Eyes” official video premiere

Official Music Video for the song Candle Eyes.
From the album Surge Ex Monumentis.
Release date: March 16, 2018
Small Stone Records.

For their first record as JIRM, the Stockholm-based four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Karl Apelmo, guitarist Micke Pettersson, bassist Viktor Källgren, and drummer Henke Persson cast off the shackles of expectation entirely. Their style is no less expansive, but it’s become entirely their own, a driving mind meld between psychedelia, classic metal, heavy rock, and individualized realms beyond. Surge Ex Monumentis brims with newfound energy at the same time it benefits from the lessons JIRM have learned since first getting together in 2004 and releasing albums like Elefanta (2009), Bloom (2011), and Spirit Knife (2014).

With as much progressive force as raw sweat behind them, JIRM has never been more themselves than they are on Surge Ex Monumentis, and even as they redefine who they are and what they do as a band, they remain singularly powerful in their delivery and completely unmistakable. The seven-track offering was captured at Puch Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, mixed by Oskar Lindberg at Svenska Grammofonstudion in Gothenburg, Sweden and mastered by Chris Gooseman at Baseline Audio Labs in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Surge Ex Monumentis will see release on CD, digital, and limited edition 2xLP formats via Small Stone on March 16th. Preorders are currently available at THIS LOCATION where you can also stream opening psalm, “Candle Eyes.”

Surge Ex Monumentis Track Listing:
1. Candle Eyes
2. Dig
3. Isle Of Solitude
4. The Cultist
5. Nature Of The Damned
6. Giza
7. Tombs Arise

JIRM on Thee Facebooks

JIRM on Instagram

JIRM website

Small Stone Records website

Small Stone Records on Thee Facebooks

Small Stone Records on Bandcamp

Tags: Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus, JIRM, JIRM Surge ex Monumentis, Small Stone Records, Stockholm, Surge ex Monumentis, Sweden

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