Indie Recordings recently announced the signing of ALTAAR, and the release of their new self-titled album, on February 26th in Europe and February 22nd in Germany and Austria.

The album artwork, designed by Sverre Malling, can be seen below:

Check out album teaser #2, as well as the first teaser, below:

Altaar is an exceptional outlet with an avant-garde approach to the musical expression by attacking conventional doom metal (CORRUPTED, BLACK SABBATH, NORTT) with references stemming from the classicpPsychedelic era (LES FLEUR DE LYS, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, PINK FLOYD).

The journey began back in 2007. After the dissolution of JR Ewing, Andreas Tylden (also known from One Tail, One Head) established the solo-project Altaar. In the shadows of Vår Frelsers graveyard in Oslo, the cassette Dødsønske was recorded. The result was a brooding mixture of black metal, doom, noise, ambient and drone.

"I had the need to create music with a broad emotional register, to break from the conventions of earlier methods I used to employ." – Tylden

Soon after, the art-academy graduate and noise-musician Sten Ove Toft (RYFYLKE, FAUX PAS) was initiated into the project and the second pressing of Dødsønske was released on Tofts label Roggbif. Already then the International community started to take note, and both pressings sold out in a matter of days.

2009 saw the band once again adding new members to the fold in the shape of Espen T. Hangård (KILLL, NOPLACETOHIDE), Kenneth Lamond (JR EWING) and Didrik Telle (OBLITERATION). In the proceeding months the quintet toured the US and Europe, performed a commissioned piece at the Henie Onstad Art Museum as well as showcasing their music at respected festivals such as SXSW, Øya, Incubate and by:Larm. Due to the bands backgrounds in metal, punk/hardcore, noise and indie, Altaar’s live shows became an almost ritualistic experience. With concerts played either in perpetual darkness, stages bathed in candlelight or illuminated by projections of handpicked films, the results drew the audience into a place where they had to acquiesce, or react. Which made the music all the more poignant and central.

More on Altaar at this location.