From Rush to Voivod, the science-fantasy album has long been an integral part of the heavy metal cannon; now; carrying this proud tradition into the 21st century is Xael.

Founded by Nassaru of Rapheumets Well/Enthean as well as Sorgiem “Daniel Presnell,” Tuurm “Alex Rush” from Enthean, and Xolotl “Fernando Ortega” and featuring various guest artists, Xael is influenced by Septic Flesh, Iron Maiden, Augury, Wardruna and Fleshgod Apocalypse, vocalist / guitarist / studio drummer Nassaru describes the band's music as “a thought provoking metal journey.”

Making their mark with the premiere of their debut video "Apathy Of The Immortal", the band offers a visually capturing representation of their extreme music and sci-fi storytelling.

The band comments: "This is the first in our series of videos to come that take place on this foreign planet. This was a community effort, with an artist from our local scene coming together to make this video happen. We are wanting to both represent musically as well as visually our story, which is both science fantasy based as well as relatable to our journey to understand ourselves. Apathy of the Immortal takes place a bit into the story. The immortal wayfarer, after venturing to this hostile planet finds himself burdened by his past and the degrading endeavors of sentient life. Accompanied by the "Watchers Of Xan" a resistance group on Tymeer, he finds that his body regenerates time after time, but his mental capacity for coping with this lengthen life span is diminishing, causing him to have disassociation and hallucinations. One such hallucination is seeing a demonic apparition of "Time" and its acolyte "Decay". For time cannot touch the wayfarer, it taunts him with its ability to take away the world around him. This song is a reflection of the fear of what the future holds and our control over such events."

Recently signing to Vancouver, BC's Test Your Metal Records, Xael and the record label will be unleashing the band's music in a unique approach to debut their music in 2018.

Vocalist / guitarist / studio drummer Nassaru explains: “We will have eight songs standard and two instrumental tracks. Instead of releasing an album upfront, we want fans to share in our progress in a musical series, releasing two songs a month to allow more time for fans to appreciate the work and for us to best represent the songs in some form of art to convey the entirety of our vision…The album series is called The Last Arbiter, referring to the protagonist’s mission in the story and his pursuit of an unattainable purpose in pacifying the destructive nature of the sentient world."

Nassaru adds. “It will be different and very diverse, but at its core it is extreme metal, melodies in abundance, and storytelling bard style! So I believe it will be refreshing…something different combining symphonic and folk elements with brutal metal…We want to paint a soundscape, a myriad of imaginative and diverse environments while exploring the complications of being sentient and self-aware.”

Xael's first single "Apathy Of The Immortal" is also being offered as a free download via Bandcamp here.

(Photo - Shannon Wells)