PURE WRATH Premiere New Track ‘Presages From A Restless Soul’
January 17th, 2022
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Indonesian one-man black metal project Pure Wrath, spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist Januaryo Hardy, have made the track ‘Presages From A Restless Soul’ available for streaming, which can be accessed below.
“I remember the day I had met and talked to an old lady selling handmade bags in the middle of the busiest city in my country,” stated Januaryo Hardy. “Very skeptical thoughts and doomed opinions came out of her tired lips, since she spent the whole day calling people to check her bags. It turned out she witnessed her husband being kidnapped during the dark time I am generally talking about on this album. He never came back. She told me that this truth will remain hidden and will never be told to the newer generations, since she seemingly had lived her life as ‘a wife of the country’s enemy’, even though this had not been true. There is no justice to be found anymore. She just stopped being optimistic ever since. It really breaks my heart… I decided to tell this story in this song to make sure that I am doing the right thing by spreading knowledge about these events to my generation.
“‘Presages From A Restless Soul’ is the second song I wrote for this album and originally it was meant to be merged with the title track. But in the end, I decided to separate them because I did not believe it will be helpful for the dynamics of the album if they are merged into one track. I actually had a hard time figuring out how to arrange the best position for each composition. They sound very different, but the feelings present on each track are the same and form a unity. This song ended up as the third one because it grants the listener a rebound from ‘Years Of Silence’ which sounds way more pessimistic and has a sad ending.”
Pure Wrath issue third full-length studio album Hymn To The Woeful Hearts on February 18th, 2022 through Debemur Morti Productions.
“The record serves as a dedication to a mother and survivor of the 1965 Indonesian genocide whose son was kidnapped, tortured and brutally beheaded,” commented Januaryo Hardy. “For more than fifty years she had to pretend everything was normal through every second of her sorrow, living under the shadow of the still-powerful perpetrators.”
Synth, guitars and bass for Hymn To The Woeful Hearts were recorded by Januaryo Hardy in April 2021 at Insidious Soundlab, Indonesia, while drums were recorded by Alexey Nargonykh in May 2021 at H. Art California Studio, Ukraine. Additional guitar elements were recorded by Nick Kushnir in June 2021 at Kushnir’s home studio, Ukraine.
In addition, piano, cello and additional elements were recorded by Dice Midyanti in May 2021 at Midyanti’s home studio, Indonesia. Finally, vocals were recorded by Je Aljufri in June 2021 at Apache Studio, Indonesia.
Hymn To The Woeful Hearts was mixed and mastered in August 2021 by Januaryo Hardy at Insidious Soundlab, Indonesia.
Cover artwork was designed by Aghy Purakusuma.
“Losing loved ones is painful, especially if they died tragically,” stated Januaryo Hardy. “For more than fifty years, a mother has to fight all the urges of revenge while being left behind with endless questions. Once again, cover artist Aghy Purakusuma perfectly translates the story in a heart-wrenching way, portraying the mother’s struggle during years of living dangerously under the shadows of the tyrant. To stand on her weak legs and walk through the rest of the darkest years in her life, letting all the memories of a home she called ‘family’ burn down to ashes.
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“This album portrays one of hundreds of tragic stories that may have never been told or brought to the surface, with hope for the recent generation to open their eyes and look for justice.”
The track listing is as follows:
01. ‘The Cloak Of Disquiet’
02. ‘Years Of Silence’
03. ‘Presages From A Restless Soul’
04. ‘Footprints Of The Lost Child’
05. ‘Those Who Stand Still’
06. ‘Hymn To The Woeful Hearts’
Hymn To The Woeful Hearts’ recording line-up was as follows:
Januaryo Hardy (vocals, guitars, bass and synth)
Yurii Kononov (guest drums, ex-White Ward)
Dice Midyanti (guest piano, cello and additional elements)
Nick Kushnir (guest additional guitar elements on track ‘Hymn to the Woeful Hearts’)
The track ‘The Cloak Of Disquiet’ can be streamed below. “All of the songs from Hymn To The Woeful Hearts were written on the acoustic guitar,” Januaryo Hardy shares. “Normally, I record all structured material roughly on my phone before I start the pre-production process. Then I create the whole distorted rhythms, fills and leads with programmed drum parts. They were really basic though. After all the drafts were done, Yurii composed his own drum lines. I wanted to unleash this song first, because it has this straightforward feeling, a stable dynamic and it feels like it has no end. It is as if the whole album is summarized in one song!”
Second studio record Sempiternal Wisdom was released in October 2018 via Pest Productions.
