Alkaloid, the quartet featuring drummer Hannes Grossmann (Triptykon, ex-Obscura), guitarist and vocalist Morean (Noneuclid, ex-Dark Fortress), guitarist Christian Münzner (Eternity's End, Obscura), and bassist Linus Klausenitzer (Noneuclid, Obsidious, ex-Obscura), is back for the first time since 2018 with a new single "Clusterfuck" and a new record Numen due out September 15.
"It's one of our shorter and more moderate tracks – maybe uncharacteristically so, once you see the whole album," said Alkaloid of the new single. "But 'Clusterfuck' still covers the classic Alkaloid spectrum between groove, hooks, brutality and complexity. The lyrics address the question of why we as a species should aspire to greatness at all, when we know that in all probability, we're going to fail anyway."
"We've all been around the block a few times by now as metal musicians," added Morean on the new album. "The feeling that we've outgrown the narrow niche of pure extreme metal was a main motivator to start this band in the first place, ten years ago. The ‘prog' tag is handy for us because, per definition, it already encompasses a wider range of possible styles and influences we can get away with than any one specific metal genre.
"This means we could ensure from the beginning that we'll always be able to write whatever we want, no matter how crazy our ideas become. The heart of this band is always the songwriting, and we all like complex and virtuosic music in all its diverse manifestations. However, we do share a love for death metal as the smallest common denominator in the band, and we wanted to make sure no one thinks that just because we include melodies, clean guitars, and influences from other genres, we'd automatically sacrifice the brutality and relentless esthetic of extreme metal."
Pre-orders for Numen are available here.
