Official press release:
In the last few years, Pennsylvania has proven itself to be a hotbed of progressive death metal activity with rising stars Black Crown Initiate, Rivers Of Nihil, and Alustrium all converging towards separate yet similarly ambitious takes on the genre. Each of them capably melds different measures of technical minded fret wizardry, atmospheric tinged layers, a penchant for massive heavy grooves, and a desire to inject their music with outside-of-the-box progressive elements. Count Burial In The Sky in as yet another group from the state also pursuing a multi-faceted fresh spin on progressive death metal. In particular, Burial In The Sky further set themselves apart by choosing to cultivate a psychedelic bend to their craft that calls to mind defunct Australian psychedelic prog-death legends Alchemist (Relapse Records) among others. The group is proud to officially announce the release of their second album, Creatio Et Hominus. The album is set for release on Friday, June 1st and sees Burial In The Sky further exploring their atmospheric and psychedelic take on progressive death metal.
Active since 2013, the Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania-based act already proven their worth on 2016’s Persistence Of Thought, Burial In The Sky’s debut full-length that garnered praise worldwide and featured Decrepit Birth drummer Samus Paulicelli on session drums. After the release of that record, Burial In The Sky picked up drummer Sam Stewart who also plays piano on the group’s upcoming album. At the same time, the band added bassist and saxophonist Zach Strouse who contributed all of the highly praised saxophone playing found on River Of Nihil’s new album, Where Owls Know My Name. Zach adds those same saxophone talents throughout Creatio Et Hominus beyond his skilled bass guitar performance.
The recent last-minute addition of longtime Cognitive (Unique Leader Records) vocalist Jorel Hart rounds out the new album’s line-up which begins with founding member, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist James Tomedi. Like his multi-talented bandmates, James contributes much outside of his main guitar role, adding Slide Guitar, Keys, Mandolin, and Kalimba to the new album’s sonic arsenal. The album’s title track, “Creatio Et Hominus” features a stunning guest solo from Rivers Of Nihil guitarist Brody Uttley that furthers the two groups connection. Stay tuned for the album’s first single, set to air on Monday, April 9th.
Burial In The Sky’s James Tomedi comments on Creatio Et Hominus:
“We want people to feel certain things that sometimes can’t be as easily expressed with the extreme side of music. We focused a lot more on the psychedelic, progressive, and atmospheric sides to the band to help evoke those emotions. From the perspective of composition, we really wanted people to be able to just enjoy this record. We tried to make it a good balance of accessible yet sonically complex and intriguing.
Conceptually, it travels into the world of perception becoming the creation of all life. The thought process is the way we perceive things guides own personal reality. So in a sense, our world is our own. The way that you see it could be vastly different than me. With this record, we take the stories of great thinkers, mathematicians, inventors, activists, etc to try and paint an entire picture of life and all its small yet beautiful nuances through the way these people perceived it.
Creatio Et Hominus is a start to something more artistically. During the writing process of ‘Creatio Et Hominus’ the music started to drift deeper into an approach that we hadn’t touched on nearly as intensely. Songs like ‘The Pivotal Flame’, the title track ‘Creatio Et Hominus’, and ‘Nautilus’ Cage’ are at the apex of where we found ourselves. The sound within those songs specifically shows the natural progression of Burial In The Sky. It certainly shows where we will go on future releases as well.”
Creatio Et Hominus track listing:
1. “Nexus”
2. “Tesla”
3. “Nautilus’ Cage”
4. “The Pivotal Flame”
5. “Psalms Of The Deviant”
6. “5 Years”
7. “Creatio et Hominus” feat. Brody Uttley (Rivers Of Nihil)
Burial In The Sky – Creatio Et Hominus lineup:
James Tomedi – Guitars, Slide, Keys, Mandolin, Kalimba
Zach Strouse – Bass Guitar, Sax (All sax playing on the new Rivers Of Nihil)
Sam Stewart – Drums, Piano
Jorel Hart – Vocals (ex-Cognitive, live bass for Wormhole)
Jimmy Murphy – Vocals on “Tesla” only