Finnish progressive death metal trio SOLAR CROSS, featuring former members of Omnium Gatherum, will release their Echoes Of The Eternal Word debut full-length on November 19th via Transcending Records.
Since prehistoric times, a cross within a circle has been a symbol for wholeness. It represents the great cycle of being, the mythic Eternal Return. This powerful primordial symbolism can be heard in the music of SOLAR CROSS: straightforward yet nuanced metal with lyrics that draw inspiration from Finnish folklore and personal ritual relationship with natural cycles.
Formed by a triumvirate of the brothers Harri Pikka, Lauri Pikka, and Jarmo Pikka, the archetypal quaternity is completed by the lyricist, author Matti Rautaniemi. The band’s impending debut album, Echoes Of The Eternal Word, crosses the boundaries between ancient and modern. It strikes deep into the most primal layers of its listener’s soul.
In advance of the record’s release, today the band unleashes first single, “Bloodstreams.”
Comments guitarist Harri Pikka of the track, ” ‘Bloodstreams’ is the first ever song written, recorded, and mixed for SOLAR CROSS so it’s justified to go out first. Vocalist Lauri [Pikka] did some experimental percussive breathing exercises throughout the song creating this saw-like rhythm. The song leans on a steady shamanic groove of the beginning and the end, the adventurous thrash middle section ups the ante. The visualizer video goes well with the mood of the song.”
Adds lyricist Matti Rautaniemi, “The idea for ‘Bloodstreams’ came from participating in a shamanic workshop, during which I experienced these lines of ancestral blood as an infinite rhizome of red streams — like a network of veins but extending far beyond my body. The song is about the fact that each one of us is connected to this vast network of ancestors. If we acknowledge this, and cultivate a reciprocal relationship with our roots, we can receive nourishment and support from these living streams which run through us and extend beyond us.”
