Hiss From The Moat - the transcontinental black/death metal band founded by acclaimed drummer James Payne (Vital Remains, Hour Of Penance) - have unveiled a lyric video for the title track of their sophomore album, The Harrier, due out via M-Theory Audio on February 22nd. The clip can be seen below.

The song can also be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music and other digital platforms. In addition, the M-Theory webshop has launched the pre-order for The Harrier, which is available on CD and limited-edition moat-black vinyl (200 copies). Digital pre-orders via Bandcamp include an instant download of the title track.

“The song, ‘The Harrier,’ represents the identity of the album both for the instrumental part and the lyrics. The instrumental part is composed by many dynamic parts that create crescendos that then explode into more opened and epic parts, which is also how we composed the album itself -- powerful, but not only fast,” explains drummer James Payne. “The lyrics, instead, are composed from extracts of sacred and political texts (as it's indicated from the inscription in brackets) that, isolated and used in a more direct way, express and show how violent and brutal these books are, and sums up a good part of what the album itself talks about.

"The video is composed from the lyrics that are supported from some illustrations that represent what the lyrics are saying. We chose to do this as a reference to how the illustrations were used in the past, to explain to whoever couldn't read, what was written in the sacred texts. We wanted to do the same thing here since, nowadays, almost everybody can read, but everyone have their own interpretation of whatever is written, instead, since we have a specific and clear message to deliver, we've used the images to kind of have the same role that they had in the past -- to explain to whoever gets our message, the meaning of it, to avoid misinterpretations.”

The Harrier - which features cover artwork by Stefano Bonora - was recorded, mixed and mastered at Milan's SPVN Studio with Stefano Orkid Santi, who produced the latest Cripple Bastards album and previously worked as live engineer for bands such as Origin, Suffocation and Cattle Decapitation.

The US-based Payne formed Hiss From The Moat with two Italian friends - bassist/vocalist Carlo Cremascoli and guitarist Giacomo Poli - when he was just 18 years old. In 2009, the group self-released their debut EP, The Carved Flesh Message, which they supported by performing alongside the likes of Psycroptic, Skeletonwitch and The Black Dahlia Murder.

Four years later, Hiss From The Moat released their debut full-length, Misanthropy, via Lacerated Enemy/Nuclear Blast. The band's intense use of both extremes of death and black metal produced an album that stood alongside the delivery of acts such as Behemoth, Belphegor and Rotting Christ.

Following the release of the album, Hiss From The Moat embarked on an extensive tour across Russia, Europe and Asia, delivering aggressive and visually engaging performances backed by the blackened intensity of the band's new material. During this period, Payne left the legendary death metal act Vital Remains - a group he joined following a two-year stint with Italian death metal powerhouse Hour Of Penance - to focus full-time on Hiss From The Moat, and the band extended from a three-piece to a quartet with the addition of Max Cirelli (guitar/vocals).

Over the past two years, the band has toured extensively worldwide while working between the US and Italy to write The Harrier. Now, Hiss From The Moat aim to unleash another sonic onslaught that captures the band's range of death and black metal inspiration while creating a unique and intense presence in the world of extreme music.

Pre-order Hiss From The Moat’s The Harrier on CD or limited-edition vinyl, here.

Hiss From The Moat are:

Massimilano Cirelli - Guitar/Vocals
James Payne - Drums
Carlo Cremascoli - Bass/Vocals
Giacomo Poli - Guitar