MMXX To Release Debut Studio Album ‘Sacred Cargo’ In November
August 5th, 2022
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International doom metal band MMXX issue debut full-length studio album Sacred Cargo on November 11th, 2022 through Candlelight Records.
“Sacred Cargo started during one of the darkest moments of lockdown,” commented guitarist Andrea Chiodetti, formerly of The Foreshadowing. “It was a creative expression, processing what was happening to the world around us. What makes this project unique is that every piece and its lyrics (provided by each singer), all composed during the height of the pandemic, is able to give voice to a deeply intimate part of all of us. They’re lyrics that belong to every person who lived through and shared that collective experience.”
Drummer Jesse Haff (also of Daylight Dies and Gökböri) added: “It’s amazing to me that the grand vision of this album — one in which we had different vocalists from around the world contributing their own lockdown experience — was actually achieved. Andrea and I imagined our ideal end result and just went for it but underestimated how much coordination would be required by everyone to truly pull it off. I’m amazed that so many talented people connected with the intent behind the project and agreed to participate. I’m deeply grateful for that. We didn’t have to describe some foreign science fiction concept — unfortunately it is a directly understood reality experienced by all. I think the idea of directly channeling our unique perspectives into a collective expression resonated with everyone, as an obvious way to mark this era of our lives.”
Guest vocalists appearing on Sacred Cargo include Dan Swanö of Edge Of Sanity and of Nightingale, Yann Ligner of Klone, Mick Moss of Antimatter and of Sleeping Pulse, Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow The Sun, Carmelo Orlando of Novembre, Marco Benevento of The Foreshadowing, Chris Cannella of Autumns End, and Egan O’Rourke of Daylight Dies (who also plays bass on the entirety of effort).
The track listing is as follows:
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01. ‘This Breath Is Not My Breath’ (ft. Mikko Kotamaki and Egan O’Rourke)
02. ‘Perdition Mirror’ (ft. Mick Moss)
03. ‘The New Forgotten Ones’ (ft. Yann Ligner)
04. ‘Faint Flickering Light’ (ft. Egan O’Rourke)
05. ‘The Tower’ (ft. Mick Moss)
06. ‘Unavailing’ (ft. Marco Benevento and Chris Cannella)
07. ‘Der Nukleus’ (ft. Carmelo Orlando)
08. ‘Sacred Cargo’ (ft. Aaron Stainthorpe)
09. ‘Espirare’
10. ‘Shadow Haven’ (ft. Dan Swanö)
MMXX’s line-up is as follows:
Andrea Chiodetti (guitars and keyboards, ex-The Foreshadowing)
Egan O’Rourke (bass, Daylight Dies)
Jesse Haff (drums, Daylight Dies and Gökböri)
A music video was filmed for the track ‘Perdition Mirror’.
“‘Perdition Mirror’ was one of the last songs written for the album,” Haff commented. “In fact its working title was ‘Final’. Almost from the first chord the slow fuse is lit towards the tension and momentum that erupts at the end of the song. Because the journey to that point is plodding and calculated, we knew an exceptionally strong vocal performance would make or break the song. Thankfully, the deeply talented Mick Moss stepped in and everything perfectly crystallized into place. As a musician, it really feels like luck when all the elements come together to deliver a simple yet powerful song where you wouldn’t change a thing.”
Guest vocalist Mick Moss added: “For the lyrics of ‘Perdition Mirror’, I wanted to reflect on what our role, as a species, has been in the unleashing of the recent pandemic as we outstrip our environment and cut into the wildlife with catastrophic results. Two articles, one in the Boston Globe, another in the New York Times, gave me so much clarity during the writing. To quote David Quammen in the latter article, “We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”’ Alan Wiesman, in the former, elaborates: “‘Humankind’s presence on Earth is now so lopsided that growing and grazing our food supply requires nearly half the world’s ice-free land, literally pushing other species off the planet. As we invade their habitats, and poach remaining wildlife for market, their resident viruses and bacteria jump to the handiest species left: us.’ That’s how nearly 75 percent of new infectious diseases this century originated. As temperatures rise, even more will spawn.”
In addition, an official lyric video was created for the track ‘This Breath Is Not My Breath’, featuring Swallow The Sun frontman Mikko Kotamäki.
“Essentially ‘This Breath Is Not My Breath’ is trying to tell the story of the hellscape that was January to March 2020 from the perspective of someone who first viewed COVID as a disease that is only really an abstraction and has zero impact and poses zero threat,” the band stated. “[He] then gets sick and spreads the disease to everyone around him. The idea in the chorus is that your breath literally and metaphorically is owned by and only shared at the discretion of the disease. Your blood (body) is now a harbinger of others suffering.”
Both clips can be viewed below.
