I’m starting to feel like 2020’s favorite words are ‘due next year,’ but that nonetheless applies to the second album from Belgium’s Splendidula, who have newly inked a deal to release what they’ll call Somnus through Argonauta Records in 2021. Fair enough. It’s a rough year for, well, everything. If you can stand waiting, probably better to do so. And in the meantime, there are still plenty who apparently can’t stand waiting; otherwise I wouldn’t be so behind on reviews.

Together with Athon and Deep River Acolytes, Splendidula make the third Argonauta signing announcement this month, so if there was any concern about how the Italian imprint would come through the pandemic, the answer would seem to be just fine, even taking into account all the “due next year” going on. Better 2021 than never, certainly.

From the PR wire:

Belgian Doom Juggernaut, SPLENDIDULA, Signs To Argonauta Records!

New album, “Somnus”, coming in early 2021!

Atmospheric doom collective, Splendidula, has announced the signing with Argonauta Records, who proudly welcomes the band to their eclectic artist roster!

Formed in 2008 and following their critically acclaimed, second album “Post Mortem” (2018), Splendidula serve a cocktail of traditional doom and blistering sludge, post-metal grooves and psychedelia drones. Big riffs meet pounding beats with atmospheric passages that will lead you into a wild, heavy and psychedelic wonderland, while the bewitched chants by vocalist Kristien and guitarist Pieter’s harsh screams create a unique vocal contrast.

Over the recent years, Splendidula played an impressive series of shows, supporting acts such as Wiegedood, Wolvennest, Haunted, Soul Grip, The Fifth Alliance, Famyne, Alunah, Mist, Marche Funèbre, Atomic Vulture, Ashtoreth, Grotto, Killer, Lugubrum, Paragon Impure or Kosmokrator to name just a few.

Says Gero Lucisano, owner of Argonauta Records: “I knew and followed the band since their previous album ‘Post Mortem’. I remember I was suddenly intrigued by their particular sound starting from atmospheric and psychedelic grooves to hit then even traditional doom with a sort of wild approach. I’m happy now that our paths have crossed to work together with their new album. Surely the band grew up a lot, also thanks to their intense live activity, showing us all its capacity to build something unique and original.”

“We’re extremely proud to announce our collaboration with Argonauta Records and All Noir.” The band comments. “Gero has a great reputation as label boss, and his varied album roster fits our music perfectly, while Mona from All Noir is a real promo veteran! Next to that they’re also just great people and we feel already at home in this new family. After finishing our previous album “Post Mortem”, we immediately started thinking about a concept for the next release. The contrast of dreamy soundscapes with bewitched vocals, followed by heavy riffs and aggressive screams, brought us towards the idea of spirituality… and thus “Somnus” was born! The compositions will tell the listener a story about dream shapes, nightmares and how this connects to the (un)real world.”

During the past months, the five-piece hailing from Genk, Belgium, has been hard at work for their third album, that will see the light of day in early 2021 via Argonauta Records. “Somnus” was mixed by Much Luv Studio and mastered by grammy award-winning mastering engineer Alan Douches at West West Side Music, a first teaser has just been unleashed.

www.facebook.com/Splendidula
www.splendidula.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords/
https://argonautarecords.bandcamp.com/
www.argonautarecords.com

Splendidula, Somnus teaser