photos by Maj Music
“…there’s an intense heaviness in their drop-tuned riff work… a moody plea for mercy for Planet Earth.” – Decibel Magazine
Decibel Magazine is hosting a video premiere for “The Forgotten Part I,” by European progressive metal quintet, PHILOSOPHOBIA, formed by former and current members of Kamelot, Paul Di’Anno, Wastefall, and more. The song marks the second single to drop ahead of the band’s incoming second album, The Constant Void, nearing its July release on Sensory Records.
As with their acclaimed eponymous debut, PHILOSOPHOBIA returned to Phil Hillen at SU2 Studios in Germany (Powerwolf, Kamelot) who engineered, recorded, mixed, and mastered The Constant Void. The fascinating cover artwork was again handled by Björn Gooßes at Killustrations in close cooperation with PHILOSOPHOBIA mastermind Andreas Ballnus, and photography was handled by Maj Music. The song “F 40.8” features a guest keyboard solo by Vikram Shankar, and the epic twenty-minute closing track “The Forgotten Part Il” features a spoken word passage by Rob Leland.
With the new single, guitarist Andreas Ballnus reveals, “‘The Forgotten Part I’ tells the story of Gaia’s view on how humans have treated her. In Greek mythology, Gaia stands for Mother Earth, known as the first to arise from the primal chaos. As a reaction to all the things humans have done to Mother Earth, she strikes back in the form of tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires, and so on. After the humans realize how wrong they treated the planet and that the final hour is near, they regret their selfish behavior and actions from the past and try to convince Gaia by trying to take refuge in religion. But all the prayers remain unheard, and all the praise is ignored.”
“As much as I wish that the lyrics were fictional, I truly believe that we have messed up this planet big time,” he continues. “Like the lyrics say: ‘She witnessed the birth of a dying race’ – from a philosophical point of view humankind probably was supposed to behave like that and are part of a divine plan. Whatever that divinity might be.”
“‘The Forgotten’ is a song divided into three chapters. Part I and Part II can be found on The Constant Void.”
With their premiere of the song, Decibel writes, “you can definitely hear the prog metal side of their sound—complete with keyboard flourishes and strong, clear melodic vocals—but there’s an intense heaviness in their drop-tuned riff work, as well… a moody plea for mercy for Planet Earth.”
Watch PHILOSOPHOBIA’s video for “The Forgotten Part I” first at Decibel Magazine RIGHT HERE.
The Constant Void will be released July 11th on CD and through all digital services. Find preorders at The Lasers Edge label webshop HERE and Bandcamp – standard audio HERE and the hi-res audio HERE, and watch the video for the lead single “King Of Fools” HERE.
Expect a plethora of additional video content to be issued surrounding the album’s release.
PHILOSOPHOBIA was formed in 2020, with its members spread across Europe, in Germany, The Netherlands, and Greece. 2022 saw the release of their eponymous debut album, which left a huge impact in the international prog metal scene. Numerous journalists gave the album 10/10-rated reviews, as well as Album Of The Month in the French Magazine Rock Hard, multiple Album Of The Year rankings, and more.
PHILOSOPHOBIA now arrives with The Constant Void, which takes the band’s musical vision to the next level. With most of the lineup returning from the first album – guitarist Andreas Ballnus, drummer Alexander Landenburg, vocalist Domenik Papaemmanouil, and keyboardist Tobias Wergerber – the new album sees original bassist Kristoffer Gildenlöw replaced with virtuoso bass player Sebastian Heuckmann, who has been playing live with the band since 2024. With nine magnetizing tracks clocking in at almost sixty-five minutes, The Constant Void is a white-knuckled ride between progressive metal and emotional and melancholic tunes, combining the strength of the debut album with a more modern and heavier twist.
On the first album, Man Of Much Metal wrote how the band “put themselves in a very strong position to become one of the most talked about new bands within the progressive metal sphere. And rightly so!” Now, The Constant Void is the band’s proof for this statement; PHILOSOPHOBIA has come to stay in the sphere of progressive metal. Fans of Kamelot, Dream Theater, Pain Of Salvation, Threshold, Control Denied, Pharaoh, and Nevermore should have PHILOSOPHOBIA on their priority list.
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