Simply referring to themselves as “epic black metal from Cagliari” does a bit of disservice to Shardana. Indeed, the quintet hail from Cagliari, the capital city of the Italian island of Sardinia. And yes, they play something akin to black metal. But they temper things with the sounds of thrash/death/power/traditional heavy metal backed by a fantastical storytelling bent inspired by all the page turning greats of the past while maintaining applications to the modern day often sung in their native tongue. Today we’re running a premiere of the band’s forthcoming — like, tomorrow! — third full-length The Monarch, to be released by Rude Awakening Records.
Says the band about their latest album (their first since 2020’s Milli Annos): “The Monarch is not a concept [album], although there are several songs that share a common theme: the passing of time and the struggle of humans to avoid their inescapable fate. The Monarch is time itself, imagined as a deaf giant that won’t listen to your prayers or insults, just stand still while you’re trying to overcome it, until the bitter end. This premise intertwines with our focus on using our native language. The lyrics to ‘S’Inferru,’ ‘Is Cerbus’ and ‘Rei de Sonnu’ are in Sardinian. We’ve always used our native language in our songs. We keep sharing our culture and keep alive our language, not just talking about the past or folklore but also pop culture and contemporaneity. ‘Self of Righteous’ is inspired by Michael Moorcock’s novel series The Silver Hand Trilogy. ‘S’Inferru” (Hell) is inspired by the movie of the same name by Daniele Atzeni, about the struggles of the miners of Sulcis Iglesiente in the 20th Century. When we started playing together, we never wanted to follow a specific sub-genre. Merging our personal influences, we found an ‘area’ where we could build our sound, year by year. This is the result of this journey, and we hope you like it!”
*photo credit: Valeria Spiga Photography
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The post Album Premiere: Duo-Lingual Epic Storytelling with Shardana’s <em>The Monarch</em> appeared first on Decibel Magazine.