Irish epic metallers Terminus have signed with Cruz Del Sur Music for the release of their second studio album, A Single Point Of Light. Recorded at the home studio of instrumentalist David Gillespie and mixed and mastered by Richard Whittaker (Solstice), the album will see the light of day this November. The artwork was created by Anaïs Mulgrew.

The Terminus/Cruz Del Sur relationship stretches back to 2013 when both parties were tossing around the idea of releasing the band’s The Reaper’s Spiral debut. While the idea didn’t come to fruition then, there is no better time than the present — Gillespie says Cruz Del Sur is a “natural fit” for Terminus since their friends in Ravensire, Argus, Atlantean Kodex, Lethean, Gatekeeper and Lunar Shadow already call the label home.  

Terminus ceased to be a live entity in late 2017 after triumphant appearances at Keep It True, Up The Hammers, Pyrennean Warriors Open Air and Ultimate Revenge in Helsinki, enabling the band (now a two-piece featuring vocalist James Beattie and Gillespie on instruments) enough time to focus on new material. According to Gillespie, the goal with A Single Point Of Light was to “evolve enough so that a second album was not a redundant exercise while still remaining true to our core sound.” 

“As the principal songwriter, it was self-imposed pressure to prove — to myself — that I wasn’t a one-off and that I could write another record of equal or superior quality,” he continues. “Hence, we did not simply poop out an album in 18 months, but took our time.” 

Like its predecessor, A Single Point Of Light is a deep dive into the realms of epic and progressive metal, with bountiful guitar harmonies, complex song arrangements and the controlled, but emotive delivery of Beattie. It results in an album that is a comfortable step forward for Terminus while not reneging on the core tenets that initially brought the band together in 2012. 

“The obvious thing is that we haven’t turned into a Sisters Of Mercy tribute band or anything silly like that,” says Gillespie. “The new album is in the same vein and we have retained our ethos — which seems to have become strikingly popular of late — that the album should fit on one side of a 90-minute tape and should split evenly and sympathetically across both sides of a 12-inch LP. Some elements of the sound have been dropped, some have been focused on and there are a few new textures in there to keep things fresh.” 

A Single Point Of Light again finds Terminus exploring lyrical themes off the traditional heavy metal path. Instead, the band continues their approach of interpreting classic science-fiction tales alongside stories of their own telling.

“We have always been antithetical to the rest of the subgenre, lyrically,” wraps Gillespie. “Our songs are not about heroes and their deeds. They’re about cowards, deviants, deceivers — the scum of the universe, really. There are no heroics and no victories to be found in our world.”

Tracklisting:

“To Ash, To Dust”
“Harvest”
“As Through A Child’s Eyes”
“Flesh Falls From Steel”
“Mhira, Tell Me The Nature Of Your Existence”
“Cry Havoc”
“Spinning Webs, Catching Dreams”