Gearing up to release their fifth studio album, Apotheosis, this Friday, November 5, Hungarian black/pagan metal outfit, Bornholm, showcase a powerful asset in the void between pagan and black metal with new single, “Black Shining Cloaks", featuring a virtuosic solo from King Diamond/Mercyful Fate guitarist Mike Wead. Dark, almost doomy influences merge with background vocals in their trademark vocal spectrum of somber growls and ear-splitting screams and heavy, irascible guitar lines.

Bornholm on “Black Shining Cloaks”:"'Black Shining Cloaks' is one of the earliest songs from this album. It is from the time when our previous album was released. We felt from the very beginning that this song is perfect for a music video. We decided that as the song was born, but this is quite different from the other songs on the album. The tempo, the structure is simpler, but the atmosphere is very strong.

The solo at the end of the song was originally written and played by Mike Wead from King Diamond/Mercyful Fate. I felt that this song needed something unique at the end part, and I asked him what he thinks about it, and he recorded this really outstanding solo part that is the highlight of the song. We are so thankful for it because he is one of my most honoured guitarists. This is a huge honour for us. We worked with Johan Baath again at the beautiful Van der Nootska Palace in Stockholm. The milieu of the building was perfectly suited to our imaginations.
 
The lyrics of the song take us behind the thick curtains of the world of secret societies. A small group of enlightened people, who since the birth of mankind, have controlled and formed the human world; creating ages, cultures, and history from the beginning. They drive humanity through the ages to the very end, the deification of man. As the light splits into colours by the prism, they split knowledge into a thousand pieces, creating ideologies, cults and religions all around the world. You cannot find the original divine light among those colours, nor the truth among the religions or philosophies… you have to unify them to see it. There is only one light and the infinite darkness, the origin of everything, which allows for this light to shine.”

Apotheosis not only showcases Bornholm's tonal development, but also goes back to the origins of the band’s history and the heavy, often almost doomy influences mixed with indispensable atmospherically dark and raw flavor. Accompanied by sinister sacral sounds of historic proportions and a hypnotizing, incantatory chant, intro track "I Divine" heralds the dark ride to nowhere. It is precisely in the void between pagan and black metal that the sound finds its home, with tracks like “Spiritual Warfare” and “Black Shining Cloaks” - the latter of which featuring a magnificent guitar solo by Mike Wead (Mercyful Fate/King Diamond) - including its diabolic, atmospheric intro, “The Key to the Shaft of the Abyss”, representing the mellowness and extremes of the band. Along with the almost melodic borrowings and acoustic guitar inserts in combination with the pure rawness of “To the Fallen”, the record highlights the band’s variety and sonic progression. The title track “Apotheosis” is a slow, howling homage mixing aggressive, shrieking vocals and melodiously grim anecdotes. Album closer “Enthronement” closes the metaphorical and musical bracket and provides the 52-minute piece with a venerable, instrumental conclusion.

Bornholm add: “So the day has come, the new album is coming! Its title is Apotheosis, which is a Greek originated word meaning deification, divinization and the glorification of a human to a divine level. It contains 11 tracks and drives deeper into our musical world and soul than ever before. We had to deal with a lot of difficulties both in the studio and in our private life during the making, but somehow something was always guarding the birth of the record. Nothing stopped, not even for a single moment, no matter what happened. It was a great experience to go through this uprising while the world is going into another direction. We didn't lack anything; fate was with us - so the birth of the record was a sort of magical experience. Step by step, everything was in place in time and, without tolerating the outside world, we built another one for ourselves.”

On Apotheosis, the band has built a flowing, epochal sound concept that combines explosive guitar/bass lines with thunder-fast drums, spiced with choral elements and leading into a heavy blend, which Bornholm present successfully in all kinds of variations from track 1 to 11.

Recording and mixing took place at SuperSize Recording Studio in Hungary with the contribution of Viktor Scheer, with mastering completed by Maor Appelbaum, who has worked with bands like Dream Theater, Annihilator, Mayhem, Abbath and many more.

Apotheosis will be available in the following formats:

- CD Digipak
- 1LP Gatefold Black
- Digital Album

Pre-order here.

Apotheosis tracklisting:

"I Divine"
"My Evangelium"
"Sky Serpents"
"The Key To The Shaft Of The Abyss"
"Black Shining Cloaks"
"Spiritual Warfare"
"Darkened Grove"
"To The Fallen"
"I Am War God"
"Apotheosis"
"Enthronement"

“Spiritual Warfare” video:

"I Am War God" video:

Lineup:

Sahsnot – Guitar/Vocals
Charun – Bass
D – Drums

(Photo - Krisztina Máté)