Photo by: Juuso Soinio
Official press release:
Helsinki-based Brymir make a strong case for melodic death metal with What We Leave Behind, coming October 2 via Napalm Records! In a darkening world full of existential dread, the Finnish band — singer Viktor Storm Gullichsen, guitarist Joona Björkroth, bassist Jarkko Niemi, and drummer Patrik Fält — takes a stand with their most sinister album yet. Again heavily influenced by their singer’s main job as a movie sound designer, Brymir create vast cinematic soundscapes around their sometimes bleak, sometimes hopeful, but always honest messages.
Along with the album announcement, Brymir share the title track as the first single. The keys-driven “What We Leave Behind” reveals the theme of the Finnish melodic death metal band’s darkest album to date: Between an ever-so-catchy chorus and aggressive high-speed verses, Brymir make a strong case against war and for humanity. Painting the world in flames, the four-piece takes a leap into outer space as a result in the accompanying music video while diving into existentialism on their way.
Brymir about “What We Leave Behind”:
“There are defining moments in our lives when we need to choose if we keep walking along the same trajectory or take a leap into the unknown. These choices, sometimes life-changing, often need to be made in an eyeblink, and the consequences can only be cherished or despised when viewed in retrospect. This is a song about our regrets—may these haunting melodies help you reflect on yours and hopefully show some solace in the beauty of the journey.
For this music video, we wanted to boldly go into the sci-fi aesthetic we’ve been hinting at for a while now. It may seem drastic to some of our fans, but the undercurrents have definitely been there for a long while already, and this video and lead single we feel is the final ripping off of the proverbial Band-Aid. We’re bending and breaking our boundaries and definitely any preconceptions of Brymir as just a ‘folk metal’ band. Thematically and musically, the title track, of course, is the summation of the whole of the very diverse upcoming album, stretching through epochs of time and the very core existential drive of humanity. What do we leave behind? What is the legacy we wish to leave for those who come after? Or is our obsession over legacy the poison pill for our present? Our blindness to make the progress that truly matters in the end, so very near us… We boldly engage the warp-drives, but maybe we leave the truly important things back home after all.”
Strongly tied to current societal developments, Brymir deliver an equally raw and fantastical album. Their darkest output yet, the band’s fifth album hits especially hard—and leaves absolutely no open questions behind. As introspective as it is outspoken, What We Leave Behind is an epic plea for humanity.
Get your copy of What We Leave Behind now.
Brymir about What We Leave Behind:
“Since our previous album, the world certainly hasn’t gotten any lighter—and as art reflects life, our fifth album, What We Leave Behind, is the darkest creation we’ve made so far. Both musically as well as thematically… ‘What We Leave Behind?’ is the core question explored from many perspectives: from personal hopes, dreams, and fears to societal developments to dark sci-fi and existential despair. Join us on this dark emotional journey, at times violent, at times beautiful, and always honest in baring the soul of what is Brymir – no compromise, everything raw and real.”
What We Leave Behind track listing:
- “Slaying Star”
- “Sleipnir”
- “Tempestbound”
- “What We Leave Behind”
- “True Darkness”
- “Moment Of Silence”
- “Buried Legion”
- “Thy Self The Highest Love”
- “The Roaring King”
- “Broken Dawn”
- “How Much Is The Fish”
