Psychonaut and SÂVER Team for Emerald Split LP
Two bands, two sides, two songs. Don’t mind me, but I’m just kind of over here wondering if we’re seeing Pelagic Records chart the way forward for post-metal? The German label founded by The Ocean‘s Robin Staps seems to be doing an awful lot of pivotal work these days, including releases by both Psychonaut and SÂVER, who are the two bands sharing a side apiece on this Emerald split LP. The Belgian troupe lead off with the 16-minute “The Great Realisation,” bringing progressive textures and patient melodic build en route to a satisfying onslaught, volume trades not necessarily unpredictable but welcome nonetheless, as Norway’s SÂVER follow with the 19-minute “Dimensions Lost, Obscured by Aeons,” dedicating its opening stretch to surprising drone atmospherics before making its way into their sludgy-but-not-dumb crunch and a confident increase in melodic reach.
All told, it’s a 35-minute LP sampler platter of two deeply creative acts in stylistic bloom. There’s no audio public yet ahead of the May 14 release date (fair, since it’s two songs), but if you’ve not yet dug into Psychonaut‘s Unfold the God Man or SÂVER‘s rightly-ballyhooed 2019 debut, They Came with Sunlight (review here), both are at the bottom of this post. You’ll not regret taking the time.
Split info comes from the PR wire, of course:
Announcing: PSYCHONAUT / SÂVER ‘Emerald’ (Split Release)
‘Emerald’ will be released on May 14 and is available for pre-order on April 6!
PSYCHONAUT and SÂVER are akin in many ways: both artists embody and explore corporal, physical heaviness in their sound as much as spirituality and philosophy, both artists often stretch their compositions close to the 20 minutes mark, and both artists redefine the concept of the classic power trio within a context of genre-bending, modern heavy music: where SÂVER plea for calculated minimalism, PSYCHONAUT employ an arsenal of percussion instruments on their recordings, and it is even more so astonishing how well they manage to reduce the polyphonic assault to the trio in a live setting.
PSYCHONAUT literally came from out of nowhere, Mechelen, Belgium, to be precise. Their 2020 album Unfold The God Man showcases excellent musicianship and songwriting abilities, heavily influenced by 70’s bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, but also drawing inspiration from contemporary heavy artists like Tool or Amenra.
“This release is by far the most elaborate production we have ever done. We let go of all boundaries and gave ourselves complete freedom in terms of songwriting and arranging. This massive track represents a process of both personal and collective change that is conveyed through five chapters which are based on a psychedelic experience.”
SÂVER from Oslo, Norway delivered an equally astounding debut album of sublime heaviness, shimmering moogs, abrasive vocals and a devastating, gnarly bass tone. Their jaw-dropping performance at the renowned Oya Festival in Oslo in the summer before the pandemic, accompanied by mesmerizing visuals on a huge screen, was a foreboding of what to expect from this band in the future.
“As a band , we try to write music we would love to listen to ourself and we believe this 20-ish minute song really sets the path for what we want SÂVER to sound like. Atmospheric, brutal, yet beautiful and heavy as the sun itself. We love the way this release turned out and we hope you will too.”
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