Invisible Oranges is now streaming the eponymous debut LP by Cascadian synth-driven funeral doom outfit VOUNA. The album will see release this Friday through Artemisia Records, the label forged by Aaron and Nathan Weaver of Wolves In The Throne Room. VOUNA is also currently embarked on a West Coast US tour supporting the album this week.
All music on VOUNA‘s self-titled debut was composed and all instruments performed by front-person and native to the Pacific Northwest, Yianna Bekris, formerly of Vradiazei, Eigenlicht, and Sadhaka. The album was recorded entirely at Wolves In The Throne Room’s studio, Owl Lodge, which is located at the edge of an ancient forest in Olympia, Washington. Nathan Weaver of WITTR collaborated with Yianna to create the artwork, which mixes archaic Hellenic mythic images with Cascadian atmospheres.
With their advance stream of Vouna, Invisible Oranges offers in part, “Beauty, in the traditional basking-at-nature sense, works well as a concept to describe VOUNA as a whole: carried on the smooth wavelengths of Bekris’s voice, listeners are immediately transported to more ephemeral headspaces. Yet this type of beauty doesn’t fully encompass the darkness and raw sadness imbued into this microcosmic sprawl of an album. The tremolo-picked guitars, fuzzy distortion, and dense layering all play their respective roles, musically, but the combination’s sum exceeds its constituencies. What’s present is a human yearning which, in the hands of a less apt musician/artist, ends up masked by outright aggression or simply obliterated by trying too hard. Here, Bekris is nearly effortless, but downright sincere.”
Stream VOUNA’s epic debut at THIS LOCATION.
Vouna will see release through Artemisia Records on CD, LP, and all digital platforms this Friday, November 9th. Find digital preorders at Bandcamp HERE and physical preorders via Artemisia’s label webshop HERE.
On stage, the VOUNA live lineup is fronted by Yianna Bekris on guitar and lead vocals, with Lord Hoelzel on drums, Autumn Kassel on synth, Caitlin Fate on lead guitar, and Marrow handling bass and backing vocals. VOUNA is currently out on the road in support of their album’s release. The band embarked on their ongoing West Coast US tour in Oakland last night, with shows booked all along the coast through November 17th, ending in Port Townsend. Along the trek, they will share the stage with the likes of Atriarch, Statiqbloom, and many others.
VOUNA Live:
11/05/2018 Elbo Room Jack London — Oakland, CA w/ Common Eider King Eider, Byagtor
11/06/2018 Blue Lagoon — Santa Cruz, CA w/ Docent
11/08/2018 Cans Deli – Tucson, AZ w/ Suicide Forest, Shadows Of Algol, Azfarat [info]
11/09/2018 Cricket Pavilion – Olympia, WA w/ Λ∅n, more TBA [info]
11/11/2018 5 Star Bar – Los Angeles, CA w/ Atriarch, Statiqbloom, Cursed Moon [info]
11/12/2018 Cooper’s – Nevada City, CA w/ Atriarch
11/13/2018 The Bamboo Room at King Wah’s – Medford, OR w/ Atriarch, Exulansis [info]
11/14/2018 Old Nick’s Pub – Eugene, OR w/ Atriarch, Felled [info]
11/15/2018 High Water Mark — Portland, OR w/ Solace, Hail
11/16/2018 The Black Lodge – Seattle, WA w/ SwampheavY, Serpentent, Searching For Reason [info]
11/17/2018 forest show – Port Townsend, WA
VOUNA‘s debut evokes the devastating and beautiful journey of becoming the last person on Earth. Razor sharp tremolo picked guitars cut through the heart like a knife. Mournfully sung vocals and cinematic melodies are combined with crushing doom drumming, while layers of primitive ’90s digital synths conjure a lush and rugged soundscape. The music is inspired and influenced by Finnish funeral doom, Eastern European black metal, and Greek folk music, a must-hear for fans of My Dying Bride, Skepticism, Shape Of Despair, and similar acts.
https://www.facebook.com/VOUNAMETAL
https://vouna.bandcamp.com
https://artemisiarecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArtemisiaRecords
https://artemisiarecords.bandcamp.com