New Jersey-based progressive metal quartet Etherius recently announced the release of their new instrumental progressive metal EP, entitled Thread Of Life, out August 24th. The new five track offering is available for pre-order via Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play. You can also stream select tracks now via Spotify.

Today, Etherius launched part one of a three-part behind the scenes video series detailing the making of Thread Of Life. Each part will highlight drums, bass and guitars individually. Part one, featuring drums, showcases recording and interview clips with drummer / producer Zaki Ali. Watch part one below:

In the video, Zaki Ali says, "When I start to analyze a song for any band or project I'm asked to play for, there's always this question of 'how much does the artist want me to play what they wanted?'. The coolest thing about this was that Jay was like 'do your thing', and really just gave me the freedom, so to speak, to interpret what I wanted to with the melodies... that's probably the best thing an artist can say to a drummer, because it really allows the drummer to translate the drum parts properly."

Stay tuned for parts two and three detailing the recording of guitars and bass on Thread of Life.

The concept of Thread Of Life and the album's artwork was inspired by ancient Greek mythology. "The Greeks believed that many aspects of a person's life were determined by the three fates, or Moirai (moy-ray) as they were called," says Tarantino. "The Moirai were three sister goddesses who "spun out" a child's destiny at birth. The sisters determined when life began, when it ended, and the events that occurred throughout one's life. The first sister, Clotho, or spinner, spun the thread, which was a person's life. The second sister, Lachesis, or unbending, measured the thread, which was the length of that life. The third sister, Atropos, meaning inevitable, chose the manner in which life ended, thus cutting the "Thread Of Life". The reason they are depicted as having no eyes on the album cover is because the ancient Greeks described the sisters as "cold" and "unmerciful."

Thread Of Life tracklisting:

"Thread Of Life"
"The Soothsayer"
"March And Defy"
"The Inevitable End"
"Lament"

"The Inevitable End" video:

Thread Of Life was produced and engineered by Jay Tarantino and Zaki Ali with Angel Vivaldi acting as co-producer, was recorded at Backroom Studios in Rockaway, New Jersey (owned by Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Kevin Antreassin), and was mixed/mastered by Mutiny Within vocalist Chris Clancy at Audioworks Productions. Additional tracking was completed with Angel Vivaldi at his home studio.

Tarantino says about the band's writing and recording process, "Whereas a lot of modern bands compose music in pieces, swapping ideas back and forth through email/Dropbox and using modern recording technology to cut and paste it, we write music together in our rehearsal space and arrange the parts as a band. This gives the music a more organic quality that doesn't sound as mechanical or sterile as it does with the former approach. We try to rely on technology as little as possible when composing songs."

With one listen to Thread Of Life it's clear that combined, the four extremely talented musicians of Etherius produce a clean, awe-inspiring sound merging powerful progressive elements that will appeal to not only the most discerning and critical metal fans, but to the heavy music-loving masses as well.