Loss (Indie Exclusive Red Smoke Vinyl)

Gaerea is nothing short of a beautiful enigma rooted in musical extremity and utter passion. In under a decade, the masked collective, born in the Portuguese town of Porto, has navigated countless darkened shades of metal to arrive at their fifth album and Century Media debut, Loss. “We’ve done what we’ve always done, which is follow our instincts,” says Gaerea's anonymous vocalist. “Yet, something tells me that on this new record, there’s elements that both our new and old fans will love, but it’s not exactly what they’ll expect us to do.” 

Loss is the sound of Gaerea continuing to define and redefine itself, incorporating elements of the band’s post-black metal past with the sharpened sonics and haunting melodies. It finds Gaerea emerging from creative chrysalis and bursting into something as engaging as it is unexpected: There’s singing. There are choruses as catchy and passionate as the best rock and metal songs. Yet, through the emotionally charged din, it’s unmistakably Gaerea.

The band’s masked and ritualistic live presence has become not just part of the show, but an integral part of Gaerea that pushes their musical extremity into the philosophical avant-garde. Their uniform was designed to provide a faceless, androgynous shield that allows for them to freely launch into a performance often defined by its own physicality. While the band has long stood on the edges of darkness, their message has always had a sense of transcendence and positivity. With Loss Gaerea have fused the aesthetics of extreme metal, the openness of post-rock and an exposed, emotional nerve to achieve a new musical paradigm.