Novarupta Sparks ‘Disillusioned Fire’
when the fire burns out.
Paint your future with ash.
There’s something extraordinary to me about one-man projects, whether we’re talking the singer-songwriter experience, a mastermind who assembles a crew to carry out his vision, or just one dude doing it all. Gothenburg-based creator Alex Stjernfeldt brings all three elements together in his project NOVARUPTA. Formerly of great Swedish post-metal behemoth The Moth Gatherer (which he co-founded), the new album ‘Disillusioned Fire’ (2019) features numerous collaborations, as well.
While his earlier work explored themes of striving for hope amidst darkness, Novarupta is unafraid to explore the depths of darkness itself. The band’s name in Latin means “newly erupted,” and may also bear reference to the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. It happened just a hair over 100 years ago in the Alaskan Peninsula and was far and away a fiercer blow than Mount St. Helens.
Certainly, the urgent sound Novarupta proffers is an eruption of sorts (song titles even reflect a volcanic event, see: “Pyroclastic Flows”), spewing pent-up toxic gas comprised of confusion, regret, and sorrow mingled with rage. This sludgy mix is juxtaposed with the post-metal tranquility of an unspoken sky above, an unforgiving wilderness below.
Each song in the six-track epic Disillusioned Fire ratchets up the intensity (“Ourang Medan”), torque upon torque (“Stones”) pulling the listener irresistibly into Novarupta’s paradigm of pain (“Mare Tranquillitatis”). Not that this is a torturous listen, but one that has a way of empathetically drawing you closer to the dimly lit flame to appreciate its linger warmth and protect its light against the howling winds of fate, fear, and self-doubt.
Given Novarupta’s backstory (see below), I couldn’t help but find affection for Alex’s project, as someone who often wrestles the bear of depression and frequently finds myself turning nihilistic in the face of a world gone mad.
Novarupta’s Disillusioned Fire will be released on April 29th on CD, vinyl, and digital format c/o Suicide Records (get it). Today, you can hear it all via Doomed & Stoned. Brace yourself and…
…give ear.
Some Buzz
“When the fire fades, the world is a canvas to paint with something new, using the ashes of what used to be.” (Novarupta)
The main constant in Novarupta is Alex Stjernfeldt. In his broken past he has played in bands like The Moth Gatherer and Mr. Death, which both have critical acclaim in the international press. He has also collaborated with Terra Tenebrosa on their album The Reverses. When he left The Moth Gatherer, Stjernfeldt stood disillusioned while facing an uncertain and bleak future. Fueled by depression and frustration and a need to explore a deeper and darker musical direction while also returning to the roots from which he came, the foundation of Novarupta was born.
Blurring the lines between band and project, collective and art, the composing of the debut was a cooperative effort between old and new friends, coming together in an open and creative forum, contributing to what was to become the fittingly titled 'Disillusioned Fire’ (2019).
The record features a host of notable vocalists including Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity), Jörgen Sandström (Krux, ex-Entombed, ex-Grave), Martin Wegeland (Domkraft), Tomas Liljedahl (ex-Breach, The Old Wind), Claudio Marino (Tid), Joel Segerstedt (The Open Up And Bleeds), Jonas A. Holmberg (This Gift Is A Curse), and Ossian Reynolds (Lola Zaza), each adding his own dark tinge to a record wrought with deep, dismal emotion.
Disillusioned Fire was mixed by Kristoffer Folin (Domkraft), mastered by Karl Daniel Lidén (Terra Tenebrosa, Greenleaf, Crippled Black Phoenix) and comes swathed in the cover renderings of Arjen Kunnen (Amenra).
Notes Stjernfeldt of the offering, “To me, this album is the painful beauty that shines through the prisms of imperfections of mankind in a world on the verge of collapse, a journey into the dark parts of the soul and mind, but also a journey of survival, realizing that it is ok to feel this way, that you are stronger than you think. The music is drawn from these places where the esoteric oppression thrives on your psyche. The world took me for a freak, so I used that to create a frequency.”