Finnish metallers Decrowned will be releasing their brand of catchy and groovy melancholic metal with their debut full-length album “Persona Non Grata” on February 23rd, 2024, via Rockshots Records.
The album follows their two EPs “Hansel’s Nightmare” (2019) and debut “Weight of the Dark Sky” (2018), which garnered the “Newcomer of the Month” award from Finnish metal magazine Inferno.
Since its inception in 2017, Decrowned has been constantly evolving, progressing musically and its production both live and studio, especially with the aid of Tero “TeeCee” Kinnunen who has done a remarkable job of mixing the record. On “Persona Non Grata” fans will find a great number of variations, each song has its own identity but the themes of each are very relevant to one another.
“We hope the listeners will find their own personal ways to relate to the songs and also find the album interesting enough to keep finding new things and themes in it”, adds the band.
Every member brought something to the table for the album, but guitarist Jaakko Kauppinen (guitars) and Simo Puustinen composed most of the songs, along with drummer Antti Venäläinen writing two tracks. Musically, the band takes a turn into heavier waters from its predecessors, still keeping in mind the essence of Decrowned.
Lyrically “Persona Non Grata” is a very dark album, reflecting things that pass through the generations, consuming us from inside. It is a description of a haunted future and the past that took wrong turns on personal and universal levels. This undefined black matter that flows ignoring time and reason is the unwanted entity… Persona non grata.
The first single presented off “Persona Non Grata” is the track “Mouth Leaks Black”, which the band explains:
“Starting the album with a blast, ‘Mouth Leaks Black’ is a song that we mostly just wanted to have fun with, it’s kind of playful but still serious enough with fun dark occult themes in play. Having an almost ‘punk rockish’ theme in the chorus, some groovy riffing in the verse and maybe a bit of a chill mental trip on the later half of the song, this has become one of our favorites to perform live. This really gets us going on stage so we figured it’s the best way to get the album going, setting up the album with maybe a bit lighter tone than the rest of the album”.
Listen to “Mouth Leaks Black” below.
Recommended for fans of Amorphis, Insomnium, In Flames, and Katatonia, “Persona Non Grata” is due out on February 23rd, 2024.
Pre-order “Persona Non Grata” here.
Tracklist:
1. Folklore pt.1 (intro)
2. Mouth Leaks Black
3. Rainworld
4. Stonewing
5. Mindparasite
6. Scarred
7. Awaken
8. Faceless
9. The Bird and The Tree
10. The Vigorian Man
11. Persona Non Grata
12. Folklore pt.2 (outro)
Album credits:
Produced by Decrowned with help of Tero Kinnunen
Recorded at Crown Crusher studio/Joensuu
Kantele recordings at Guru studio/Joensuu
Engineered by Antti Venäläinen
Mixed by Tero “TeeCee” Kinnunen
Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox
Artwork and layout by Jukka Turunen
Band photography by Harri Säynevirta
Keyboards and synths by Jukka Turunen
Kantele by Sari Puustinen and Saila Kinnunen
Guitar solo on “Mindparasite” by Euge Valovirta
Finnish vocals on “Mindparasite” by Tuomo Huurre
Line-up:
Miikka Hulmi – Vocals and bass
Antti Venäläinen – Drums
Jaakko Kauppinen – Guitar
Simo Puustinen – Guitar
Weblinks:
facebook.com/decrownedtheband
instagram.com/decrownedtheband
