Description

From Lithuania, once largest country in Europe, emerges Altar Shadows!
Folk/Pagan Metal blending electric and acoustic music, ambient soundscapes, original lyrics and classical Lithuanian poetry, male and female vocals to create a memorable work that summons the ancient spirit from the shadows of false temples.
In the vein of bands such as DRUDKH, EMPYRIUM, ANUBI, early OBTEST and should be sought out by fans of Kroda, Burzum, Arkona, Nokturnal Mortum, Temnozor, Velimor, et al. for the combination of folk, pagan and black metal. However always remaining an original and visionary brand of metal.

Altar Shadows is the dark aesthetic rising from endless yearning. Yearning the values, that now seem rejected and considered to be humdrum, “unpopular”. id est sensibility, tenderness, contemplation, love for one’s homeland, it’s nature, and particularly it’s past. The roots of this aesthetic are found in the shadows of foreign altars, where the old Baltic culture wasn’t crushed by the power of interloper religion.
It is not plainspoken glorification of the Baltic past by using folklore elements in music. True reality of the ancient pagan world is unlikely to be found in here. It is more looking for moments in the present, in which the old reality still echoes… It is living through the wind of spring, through the silence of summer nights, through the rustle of autumn leaves and through the stillness of forests buried with snow… It is encoded in paintings by M. K. Ciurlionis in the poetry of V. Macernis, V. M.-Putinas ir P.Širvys.

Reviews

…succeeds admirably in its goal of capturing the glories of nature and Lithuania’s pagan past through music. If you’re interested in trying some less-than-well-known pagan black metal, you should seriously consider this album. – Leviatan Magazine