VIPASSI have been carefully unlocking a mystery. The Australian quartet's new album, Lightless, explores all sorts of twisted phenomena, from the hooded ritual of "Phainesthai", the distorted maze of "Labyrinthine Hex" to the star-gazing mastery on "Morningstar".
Lightless comes out this Friday, January 26. But you can get a sneak peek at the whole album today by visiting our YouTube channel.
Listen to the full album below.
Pre-order: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/vipassi-lightless
Early praise for Lightless:
"Vipassi have managed to take the prior achievements of their debut and interlaced them with fresh ideas and approaches that show a massive development in their sound" - Distorted Sound (9/10)
"What makes Lightless truly stand out is its genuine sense of personality...a chemistry that cannot be imitated or manufactured. I'll take that kind of real vision and know-how over noodle salad any day of the week" - Metal Sucks (4/5)
"A superb follow-up...a fine example of why Vipassi is among the best up-and-coming instrumental progressive metal acts" - Metal Injection (8/10)
As a purely instrumental band, Vipassi are blessed with a telepathic chemistry. No wonder they can spin epic stories without uttering a word.
Watch as they weave as one through a full band play through of "Labyrinthine Hex", then conjure spirits deep in the dark, twisted woods of "Phainesthai" before venturing off into the mind-bending space caves of "Morningstar".
Photo by Joe Ritson
In Buddhist tradition, VIPASSI is the twenty-second of the twenty-eight Buddhas. Etymologically, the name has its roots in clear vision – a being of extreme contemplation. The band of the same name is a world-spnning instrumental extreme metal band from the lands of Australia, France and the UK.
With members of acts such as Ne Obliviscaris, Black Lava, Hadal Maw & Virvum, their work on the 2017 debut album ‘Sunyata’, which has a loose signification of Emptiness or Void, set the grounds for a technically impressive and fully instrumental exploration of sonic textures in what can best be described as – a divine experience reaching the depths of the human soul.
Originally made as a project between Daniel Presland (Drums) and Ben Boyle (Guitars) as far back as 2007 to explore new concepts and sounds not currently engaged by their projects at the time, the band has since then grown and expanded to an international connection of like-minded musicians and virtuosos with Arran McSporran (Fretless Bass) and Benjamin Baret (Guitars).
Further exploring their labyrinthine textures and layers of sounds, Vipassi is back with their sophomore album ‘Lightless’. The album shifts from the realm of the void towards a clash of light and dark – and sees the band expanding into even more technical and experimental realms, pushing the limits of their own ideas and abilities to heights unimagined when the band began all those years ago.
Lineup
Daniel Presland - Drums
Ben Boyle - Guitars & Synths
Arran McSporran - Fretless Bass
Benjamin Baret - Guitar Solos
Recording
Bushido Studios, Melbourne, Australia with additional recording in Gandia, Spain & Bordeaux, France.
Production
Sound Engineer - Troy Mccosker
Mixing & Mastering Engineer - Mark Lewis
Cover Art
Xenoyr - https://www.xenoyr.com/
Bio
Sébastien Gamez
Pre-order: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/vipassi-lightless
Available formats:
CD Digipak
Digital Download
12" Vinyl Gatefold - Black
12" Coloured Vinyl Gatefold - Black & White Splatters
Links
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/vipassi/1082297817
Bandcamp: https://vipassi.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vipassiband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vipassiband/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GWniL0LcVnR9Ptiaa5J1