Incoming Russian death dealers SAPHATH will infiltrate the global metal scene this spring with the release of their debut, full-length album, Ascension of the Dark Prophet on April 8th. The band has revealed the record’s first single via a lyric video for “The Raven.”
Commenting on the single, vocalist Alexey Duraev states: “The song is a reflection on ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe, that began from the questioning of why the main hero stays home alone? What if there was a plague wreaking havoc on the streets of his city? Today’s world can relate to it. The song is half Poe’s lyrics and half mine, written in the same meter, with amazing music by the band and a stylish animated video by Alexey (Miran) Razorenov and Alexey Popov.”
Hailing from the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on the Sakhalin Island in far east Russia, SAPHATH‘s interpretation of death metal is influenced by metallic predecessors MOONSPELL, DARK TRANQUILLITY, SEPTICFLESH, BEHEMOTH and CRADLE OF FILTH and melds elements of death, black and gothic metal with dark symphonic ensembles. Death defies boundaries, and so do SAPHATH.
SAPHATH was formed at the end of 2019 by Alexey Duraev (vocals) and Dmitriy Badulin (guitar, back vocals) in the far eastern Russian city Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Shortly after, they were joined by guitarist Nikita Tetetin and released demo records based on music Alexey had been accumulating since 2013. greatly influenced by such bands as MOONSPELL, DARK TRANQUILLITY and CRADLE OF FILTH.
The band would later add bass player Alexander Klimkov and the drummer known only as Sega or The Faceless One, who joined them for another round of demos, which bore a touch of SEPTICFLESH and BEHEMOTH. Eventually the five-piece began recording their debut record Ascension of the Dark Prophet, and recruited the talented choir director Alexandra Balenko to join the band to oversee orchestral arrangements and female vocal parts.
