PRESS RELEASE:
Kings Must Die
by Pantheïst
Tracklist:
1.Kings Must Die (featuring Jake Harding)
2.1000 Years (Performed at Organic Doom Vol I)
3.O Solitude (Performed at Organic Doom Vol I) 09:52
4.Strange Times (Performed at Organic Doom Vol I)
5.Pantheïst at Organic Doom Vol I (full performance)
THE UNLIKELY MARRIAGE OF A DOOM METAL BAND WITH A LIVE PIPE ORGANIST
Since our ‘1000 years’ demo, pipe organ sounds have been central to the vibe of Pantheïst. I remember how back in 2001, in a letter correspondence with a German fan (yes, we are that old) he suggested that we should continue using ‘church organ sounds like the godfathers of funeral doom, Skepticism’.
This is exactly what we did in the years that followed, and pipe organs remained integral to the band’s sound, inspired by Skepticism as well as baroque composers such as J.S. Bach. 22 years later, we finally got the first opportunity to perform some of these tracks with an actual
pipe organ! It all started with a local drive to promote Huddersfield Town Hall’s pipe organ as a versatile instrument which can give depth and volume to many musical genres, of which doom metal is naturally one due to its slow tempo and emphasis on heaviness. Mark Deeks
from Northumbrian monastic doomsters Arð invited us as support to the event and the rest, as they say, is history.
Preparing for the gig was an interesting experience. To start with, I had to write scores of the pipe organ parts for the organist, something I’m not accustomed to. Then we rehearsed while ‘imagining’ the organ parts, as the organist David Pipe (what’s in a name…) was based
four hours away and naturally couldn’t join us for rehearsals.
The gig took place on a Monday evening- most unusual day for an event in a town not renowned for doom metal performances. We arrived Monday morning at Huddersfield Town Hall and were greeted by a loud buzzing sound of the monitoring system, with Mark Mynett (Professor at Huddersfield Uni, formerly of Kill II This and producer of the last two My Dying Bride albums) trying to tame the different aspects of such a massive enterprise: marrying up the electric sound of two doom metal bands with a pipe organ! Due to all the details that had to be taken care of as part of this monumental task, Pantheïst could only manage a 10-
minute soundcheck, which took place 10 minutes before the opening of the doors to 300 people, among which the legendary Arthur Brown (no pressure there…) We managed to practice half a track by that point, keeping in mind we still hadn’t heard all of the parts due
to be performed by the organist!
Kostas, November 2023
(Excerpt from the CD liner notes).
releases March 8, 2024
Track 1 recorded at various locations during the year 2023. Engineered and mixed by Jeremy Lewis. Mastered by Mark Mynett.
Drums recorded by Timothy Vincent at Longwave.
Atanas Kyurkchiev- guitar
Fanel Lefterache- drums
Jeremy Lewis- guitar
Kostas Panagiotou- brutal vocals, keyboards
Matthew Strangis- bass
Lead vocals performed by Jake Harding
Operatic vocals performed by Linda Dumitru.
Tracks 2-4 recorded at Huddersfield Town Hall in June 2023. Engineered, mixed and mastered by Mark Mynett.
Atanas Kyurkchiev- guitar
Fanel Lefterache- drums
Kostas Panagiotou- vocals, keyboards
Matthew Strangis- bass
Pipe organ performed live by David Pipe
CD Live photo captured by Abbie Jennings Photography
Cover Artwork by Cheryl Panagiotou. CD Visual Design by Francesco Gemelli.
(C) 2023 Melancholic Realm Productions
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