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Texas and NYC-based dark rockers Sabbath Assembly have been churning out murky, occult goodness for nearly a decade now, and the driving creativity behind the process remains an internal and mystical act all these years later. Following up 2017's exemplary LP Rites of Passage, the band have carved a deeper niche into the world of the occult as it relates to everyday experience with their latest single "Solve Et Coagula," from their forthcoming record A Letter of Red.
A titular nod to the medieval practice of alchemy in which lead becomes gold, the track is entrancing and fluid, a gorgeous flow of singer Jamie Myers' haunting voice in conjunction with a traditional metal sound that sheds a bit of the group's doomier side in lieu of something more immediate and confrontational. The resonant mood is straight out of an English folk horror film, fraught with anxiety and black magic before shifting lightly into a more relaxed pace for expansive, patient guitar solos and mad scientist synth lines. Swirling transitions and fervent emotion wrench the heart in a particularly celestial midsection before galloping riffs enter once more, a sobering wake-up call amid the lull of a waking dream.
Amid the brewing aural storm shines the lyrical story that recounts the origin of the Yazidi people, who Myers explains were "systematically exterminated and enslaved by ISIS in their siege on Mt. Sinjar in 2014," an action that spurred on U.S. involvement in the Syrian War. She elaborates, "The song reflects on the human ability to turn tragedy into usable experience ... 'Solve" addresses the question of what binds people together in the face of such devastation - in this case, a common myth."
Sabbath Assembly will release A Letter of Red on April 19th via Svart Records — pre-order the album here. Check out a gorgeous trailer for the album filmed and edited by Jamie Myers featuring her own projections below, along with the stunning cover art.
Track listing:
1.) Solve et Coagula
2.) The Serpent Uncoils
3.) Worthless
4.) Weighing of the Heart
5.) Ascend and Descend
6.) Hymn of the Pearl
7.) From the Beginning
8.) A Welcome Below
Sabbath Assembly 'A Letter Of Red'
