Reading about ‘Wanderlust’ in Illyria’s press release, there’s a specific line that caught our attention. They speak of ‘chaos and harmony’ as the primary trait of the record. We agree, that’s something we picked up rather quickly. An eight-track album, ‘Wanderlust’ introduces itself with the soothing, textural piece ‘Armagedda’, a beatless, anthemic and cinematic track that’s rather ephemeral… ‘Yesteryear’ soon reveals the true nature of such a powerful album.
Gloomy black metal and furious, fierce drumming wrap the listeners into a hard-hitting, heart-shaking musical hug. Scream vocals are the perfect companions of such a sonic environment. ‘Pragma’ expands the narrative a fair bit, successfully bridging the gap between pure black metal and mellower melodic material.
That’s the script: ‘Wanderlust’ caresses us with one hand and slaps us with the other. Speaking about the inspiration behind it, Illyria’s vocalist Ilija Stajic explains: “This album is quite remarkably the darkest and most confronting collection of music I have written. Not necessarily always the heavy sections either, even the spacious and ambient sections have a grim undertone within”.
Recommended! Discover ‘Wanderlust’ on Spotify:
