LOVIATAR

Canadian quartet, Loviatar, return; embracing the notion of the difficult second album and diving headfirst into a whirlpool of oppressive imagery and existential dread to present their sophomore album Lightless.

Leaving behind the realms of mythology and fantasy writing as lyrical inspiration, on LightlessLoviatar turn to something altogether more terrifying as they channel the realities of life - what it means, how it envelops us, how we leave it behind. With a solipsistic worldview that poses many disturbing questions- Lightless is a claustrophobic and philosophical sonic voyage inspired in part by Germinal (Emile Zola) and The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror (Thomas Ligotti). How do you fill up the hole inside you?

That claustrophobic feeling is present in the music as well as the lyrics. The band has also embraced the idea of being a doom band, settling into the moniker. Writing took on a glacial pace as the band mutated and explored, ultimately distilling their sound into what we have before us on Lightless. With a heavy dose of post-metal and some gothic touches for good measure, Loviatar have created a sound that is distinctively theirs. The smothering density of foggy night is captured in the riffs and sludge of Lightless, encapsulating the feeling of existential dread and hopelessness that pervades.

Recorded by their bass player, Mike Bond at Wolf Lake Studios - the recording facility he co-owns with drummer, JP - in the forest of Lac-des-Loups, Quebec, Loviatar had the space to experiment and reshape as they went. With no time constraints or outside pressures, the pieces fell into place at their own pace. Mixing and mastering was also handled by Mike to put the finishing touches to this overcast missive.

The artwork for Lightless is a painting by Swiss artist, Lesley Oldaker. The evocative image is multilayered; the longer you look, the more you see - a dark path strewn with bodies leads the way toward the light. It’s the perfect visual accompaniment for an album that revels in oblique darkness as much as Lightlessdoes.