Gaerea arrived shrouded in mystery. The masked sensations emerged from pandemic limbo with a vision for black metal that was guided not by myths or pagan beliefs but a purging of emotion. Existential dread still pulses through the Portuguese band’s blood, but their upcoming fourth album signals a shift in psychology.
With “Coma”, Gaerea are no longer strictly a black metal band. Instead, they’re breaking to the forefront of extreme metal.
Though their new studio album was produced by trusted confidant Miguel Tereso, it broadens the band’s signature sound by taking it in two seemingly opposed directions. There are more moments of intense beauty, but they only heighten the ensuing blows.
The world may be as hopeless as the album’s lead single declares. But with “Coma”, Gaerea have returned to prove that they are only the band who can guide us into the darkness.
Watch the video for “Hope Shatters” below. The video was produced by Grupa 13 and directed by Dariusz Szermanowicz. With “Hope Shatters”, Gaerea deliver an anthem for our dying era.
When Gaerea secretly gave everyone a sneak peek at their new album back in April, they set the world ablaze. Now, with the first official single off “Coma”, they’re ushering in the immediate aftermath. “Hope Shatters” opens with a lone guitar that wails like a siren before a whirl of blast beats sucks the world back into the band’s vortex.
“Welcome to the urban abyss”, their unnamed vocalist pronounces. “Where dreams turn to rust”.
Gaerea aren’t afraid to embrace harsh realities. There’s clean singing on Coma, but the swarming darkness of “Hope Shatters” is only punctured by cries of agony. Even when the song collapses under its blistering heaviness, the melody hangs perilously in the air, like a swaying chandelier, before it’s smashed to pieces by hammering bass and concussive drum fills.
Still, perhaps Gaerea have uncovered a shred of hope from beneath the blackened wreckage. As “Hope Shatters” meets its end, the band push ahead through the ashes with a triumphant, headbanging riff. “Enter the maze through the never-ending haze”.
“Coma” comes out on October 25th, 2024, via Season of Mist.
Available Formats:
• Digital Download
• CD Digipack
• CD Mediabook
• 2X12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Black)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Solid White)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Crystal Clear)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Solid Gold)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Snowy White)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Safari)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Dracula)
• 2X12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Cool Blue)
Pre-order & pre-save “Coma” here.
Tracklist
1. The Poet’s Ballet (7:39)
2. Hope Shatters (4:05)
3. Suspended (5:02)
4. World Ablaze (3:29)
5. Coma (5:19)
6. Wilted Flower (5:50)
7. Reborn (3:51)
8. Shapeshifter (6:24)
9. Unknown (4:24)
10. Kingdom of Thorns (4:45)
To usher in this new era, Gaerea are touring behind “Coma” later this year when they come to North America with Zeal & Ardor and Zetra.
The band will also be performing “World Ablaze”, “Hope Shatters” and other songs from their new album at several European summer festivals, along with two special dates with Behemoth and Testament.
North American Tour Dates 2024:
November 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
November 24 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
November 25 – Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
November 27 – Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD
November 28 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
November 29 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic
November 30 – Milvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
December 2 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
December 3 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
December 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre
December 6 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
December 7 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
December 9 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
December 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
December 11 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
December 13 – Berkeley, CA @ US Theatre
December 14 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
December 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
December 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
December 18 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory
European Summer Live Shows 2024:
July 21 – Warsaw, PL @ Progresja Summer Stage*
July 23 – Kosice, SK @ Kulturapark*
July 20 – Fridek – Mistek, CZ @ Dark Session Fest
July 25 – Ljubljana, SI @ Tolminator
August 1 – Rasnov, ROU @ Rockstadt Extreme Fest
August 8 – Kotka, FI @ Dark River Festival
August 30 – Volos, GR @ Golden R Festival
* (w/ Behemoth & Testament)
Behind black shrouds of obscurity and desolation, the performers of Gaerea deliver their odes in cascading maelstroms of aggression and beauty. Emerging from the age of pandemic to whatever awaits humanity next, the dark horde remains on the frontlines of the next generation of extreme metal. With an EP and three albums to their name, Gaerea has rapidly distinguished themselves from the thousands of bands toiling away in the underground. Brewing their cauldron of sound from a recipe of pounding black-metal blast mixed with a touch of harrowed, reflective longing, many devotees of the darkened arts have flocked to their banner. With the emergence of third full-length album “Mirage”, those numbers certainly grew.
Gaerea met a challenge when releasing their second album during the pandemic, the aptly titled Limbo, to excellent world reception. In the meantime, they found the total suspension of interactive life as it was previously known to be the perfect breeding ground for further creation and making.
Sizzling with ambition from day one, Gaerea may present one unique face to their audience, masked and enshrouded, but the truth is they have not remained changeless.
As their previous album name “Mirage” suggests, the inability to trust what our senses are telling us could be construed as one of the album’s central themes. Rather than constrict their art to mythological references or anti-religious tropes, Gaerea instead plumb the depths of the human experiences of isolation and suffering.
Just two years since “Mirage” was released, Gaerea is here, erupting with intensity, casting forth black ashes over the world yet again.
Their latest release, “Coma”, has finally surfaced, marking a pivotal shift. From this point forward, everything changes. It’s time for Gaerea to bridge the gap between underground metal and the elevated realm they’ve attained. With “Coma”, Gaerea emerges from the underground scene, ascending towards a permanently lasting position at the head of the table.
An emotional gateway to a dark black metal scene, a guide to salvation, pain, despair and letting go. Moving up, into the blackness that is above. Gaerea is the answer, the only answer.
Within “Coma”s’ ten tracks lies an individual narrative, each with its own tale to unveil. Collectively, they blend nuances of aggression, tranquility, solitude, and fervor.
Boasting a superior production that threads the needle between caustic and clarity, Gaerea yet again admit their loyalty to producer Miguel Tereso of Demigod Recordings for the production of “Coma”. Together they created the birth of “Coma”, the new era for metal mankind. Distinguishing themselves ever more so, the Vortex handpicked their artist Nathan Lorenzana with a clear assignment to create their mesmerizing cover artwork. Months of hand drawing the image with a ballpen lead to this masterpiece which dipped his name into “Coma”.
The beauty of Gaerea lies in the directness and simplicity found within their florid tapestry of extremity and aggression. Whether it is in the less-polished aural dynamite of “Mirage”, or in the lustrous textures of Coma, Gaerea is building a mighty edifice of metal. With talons dipped in the inky blood of black metal and scraped across the flesh of human suffering, Gaerea is leading a charge into the future of darkness, and all those who find beauty and power in the dark side of existence would do well to take heed.
Recording Studio:
Demigod Studios at Redbox Studios
Production Credits:
Produced by Gaerea
Recorded by Miguel Tereso at Redbox Studios
Mixed and Mastered by Miguel Tereso at Demigod Studios
Artwork:
Nathan Lorenzana
Photography:
Chantik Photography
Biography:
Gaerea
Weblinks:
www.gaerea.com
www.facebook.com/gaerea
