Sacriversum releases "Before the Birth of Light"

SACRIVERSUM were formed in 1992 in Łódź (Poland), playing old school death metal with progressive elements and atmospheric sounds, making their complex mixture special and unique. Their debut album „The Shadow Of The Golden Fire“ was released in 1994, at a time when a lot of Death Metal bands started to push their boundaries and became more experimental. Their music was a perfect fit along with legendary bands like PESTILENCE, DEATH, GOREFEST, NOCTURNUS & ATHEIST. And this counts for SACRIVERSUM and their upcoming new album „Before The Birth Of Light“ even more. Welcome back to the future.

„When you're young, you feel like the sky's the limit. I remember those years as being full of extraordinary enthusiasm. We were all students, we had a lot of strength and energy, and we could devote a lot of time to the band“, remembers founding member and vocalist/bass player Remigiusz „Remo“ Mielczarek. „We have always appreciated the melodic and progressive elements of death metal. From the very beginning, Sacriversum was made up of people with minds very open to different types of music. For example, our keyboardist Baran - who is still in the band today - always valued classic rock inspirations the most.“ The hammond organ sound of Krzysztof „Baran“ Baranowicz added the most unique element to the sound of SACRIVERSUM. You can feel the old DEEP PURPLE spirit in his playing, being added perfectly within the Death Metal cosmos of the band. „We realized that the use of keyboards in Sacriversum is not typical for death metal, but with such an excellent keyboardist as Baran in the band, it would be a shame to waste his potential“, adds the singer.

Before their split in 2005, SACRIVERSUM released four more studio albums, incl. the successful „Soteria“ (1998) and „Beckettia“ (2000), released on Serenades Records, home of bands like HAGGARD, GRAVEWORM, SOULSEARCH and CEMETERY OF SCREAM. With new members joining, the band headed towards a more Doom/Gothic direction, often compared to dutch ORPHANAGE or the early works of TIAMAT, OPETH and PARADSISE LOST.

Since 2022, SACRIVERSUM are back and continue, where they ended up with their debut album, with old school death metal and an incredible atmosphere. Guitarist MacKozer is the man who kept the band alive after the time of its coma: he persuaded Remo to revive SACRIVERSUM when an offer came to reissue the band's first album. MacKozer's unique guitar playing can already be heard on the last albums before the band decided to keep stopping and his playing also largely determines the band's current musical identity.

„It's as if we removed the entire "middle period" from our history, and our new album “Before The Birth Of Light” was released as the second, right after “The Shadow...”. Now we are mature, even older gentlemen, Baran has returned to the band, so we can start again where we left off in 1994.“ Those nine new tracks are possibly the best songs SACRIVERSUM ever composed – once you got into it, they don’t let you go. It is a dark ride into another dimension, another time and another space. You are captured in their own world, in a time before the birth of light. „We put a metaphorical meaning into different stories of the Vikings, who swept unstoppably across Europe in the Middle Ages. Their story served as a backdrop for us to present what we feel today by ourselves.“

While the core of the band is in their 50s, the band gets a fresh input by their excellent drummer Janek Tracinski, who joinede in 2002 and also plays with another polish metal legend, DRAGON. „He gives us a great boost of energy at every rehearsal. He also loves our music and we are happy to observe his activities and progress, because he is an extremely talented man.“

The fantastic cover artwork was created by Maciek of Deathscape Design, who previously also played in SIRRAH. „He has an incredible imagination, not only musical but also visual. We showed him the direction we wanted to go in, and he proposed his own visions and illustrations. We are very happy with this choice.“

„Before The Birth Of Light“ will be released worldwide on May 8th by Fireflash Records (HOLY MOSES, WOLF, RUTHLESS and more), and is accompanied by a series of eight concerts through Poland, in cities where SACRIVERSUM have rarely or never played before. „We have invited bands that are our friends and well-known and respected names on the Polish scene to participate in this tour. Since the album will have an international reach, we also hope that in the second half of the year we will also be able to perform on stages outside Poland.“