Canadian progressive power metal act Borealis have checked in with the following update:

"We're super excited to announce that we've teamed up with Vikram Shankar for our upcoming album release on AFM Records! After hearing everything Vik has done over the past few years (Silent Skies, Redemption) we felt he was the perfect fit to bring into this project to add his unique style and emotion. As you can hear, everything is coming together nicely. We hope everyone is excited as we are!"

Vikram Shankar: "Really happy to be handling keyboards, orchestration and sound design for the new record from the amazing Borealis! This is some really fantastic melodic/cinematic metal that definitely deserves to make some heads turn. Check out this keyboards-only teaser, and stay tuned for more release news via AFM Records to come soon!"

Borealis release their album The Offering in March 2018 via AFM Records. It marked the return of the five Canadians with an album full of new material. But it was also a premiere for the band in a different way. As vocalist Matt Marinelli explains, The Offering describes a story concept resulting from an interest in cults sparked by his fascination for horror movies. “The album follows the creation, rise and ultimate demise of a cult who practices human, more specifically child sacrifice. They believe this method of belief, sacrifice and devotion will bring an end to the suffering of humanity, as well as bring back the innocence of mankind that was lost to greed and industrialism. However, due to their lack of respect to powers greater than themselves, they unwittingly create a deity out of the sacrificed kid, whom ultimately delivers punishment due to their injustice. The men in the cult are too self-consumed with their righteous quest, they've completely overlooked the fact that children are the true key to restoring and preserving lost innocence.”

Underlined by this story concept the album again delivers forceful, sometimes progressive metal riffs which are accompanied by epic melodies and Matt Marinelli’s expressive voice which elegantly guides through the twelve songs. The dense atmosphere Borealis are creating with this mixture adds a depth to “The Offering” which only few others can achieve and which will amaze fans of bands like Evergrey, Kamelot or Nocturnal Rites.

The Offering was produced and mixed again by drummer Sean Dowell, who was also responsible for mastering this time.

Tracklisting:

“The Fire Between Us”
“Sign Of No Return”
“The Offering”
“River”
“The Second Son”
“The Devil’s Hand”
“Into The Light”
“Scarlet Angel”
“The Awakening”
“The Path”
“Forever Lost”
“The Ghosts Of Innocence”

"River" lyric video:

“Sign Of No Return” lyric video: