Guest
Belarus’ WOE UNTO ME is no stranger to some as the group formed in 2008 by guitarists Artyom Serdyuk (also of Deathbringer) and Dzmitry Shchyhlinski and appeared on the scene with their 2014 debut album, ‘A Step Into The Waters Of Forgetfulness,’ on Solitude Productions and its 2017 follow-up, ‘Among The Lightened Skies the Voidness Flashed.’ Both equally revered by underground and European press and cementing their name as a band to watch for fans of all things doom. For several years supporting these albums WOE UNTO ME performed all over Eastern Europe on tours and festivals in Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania. Ukraine, Poland, Finland and Russia, sharing stages with Shape of Despair, Saturnus, Ereb Altor, Hate, Arkona, Mors Principium Est, Swallow The Sun, Ophis and more. Now signed to M-Theory Audio it’s time to expand their depression and mournfulness across Western Europe and North America with next year’s album release, ‘Along The Meandering Ordeals, Reshape the Pivot of Harmony,’ internationally early next spring. From that album comes the six-piece’s second single, “Blood-Black Nothingness Stops Spinning,” including a lyric video created by Raf Ortega of Ecliptic Visions (Ayreon, Subterranean Masquerade, Hecate Enthroned). “Imagine yourself running in the constant movement of life keeping its fast pace, but suddenly you stop to take a breath,” explains vocalist Igor Kovalyov regarding the song’s lyrical perspective. You find yourself far away from the wild streams of time. You are a lone observer. You see how everything around is changing rapidly. Nevertheless, you, your principles and hopes remain unchanged. You are in harmony with yourself in your solitude, while the fate of millions is being ground in the chaos of life. This song is about this condition – ‘Panta Rhei’ which means “everything flows,” a concept in the philosophy of Heraclitus.” “For Heraclitus, fire nourishes life which moves upwards in a path of creation. Then a downward path of destruction follows as life gives place to death in a circular path that never ceases. Sri Aurobindo, the Indian philosopher, found a lot of similarities between Heraclitus’ thought and various forms of Hindu mysticism. This is also one of the pivotal ideas in our album. Being and non-being are opposed to each other but also two sides of the same coin. Without the one, the other cannot be. Consequently, the upward and the downward path, although they appear different, are in fact the same, as both are becoming their opposite. The world flows and constantly changes. During this unending process of morphing, life becomes death, death life, and everything gives its place to something else,” further reveals guitarist Artyom Serdyuk. “The music is also both very soothing and quite soft but at the same time the general atmosphere is pretty dark and creates tension. The structure of the song depicts the same flow and circular path. The title of the song, in its turn, also reflects the whole spirality that we’re talking about but emphasizing the moment when the spiral movement stops for our main character. With a slight change it’s borrowed from the phrase in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel ‘Pale Fire.’ Many of you probably noticed the same quote also in Denis Villeneuve’s movie ‘Blade Runner 2049.’” For more information:
