Israeli progressive metallers Scardust have announced the follow-up to their 2017 debut, Sands of Time, with Strangers will be released on October 30th via M-Theory Audio. The record will be a concept album circling around the subject of being estranged. Mixed by Yonatan Kossov (Orphaned Land, Amorphis) and mastered by Jens Borgen (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Arch Enemy), the band was faced with a number of challenges to complete this record due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The recording sessions began in early 2020 and once the coronavirus pandemic hit, the group’s recording plans were more or less destroyed as they were forced to continue with the recording process while in isolation, being estranged from one another and working in their individual home studios.
Vocalist Noa Gruman explains:
“’Strangers’ deals with the concept of being estranged. Written from multiple perspectives, it explores the ways in which people can be estranged from one another, from themselves, from society, from their loved ones and even from their own subconscious. After the overture, which introduces musical themes, the album separates into two parts. Every song from the second part is a mirror image of a parallel song in the first. Each pair of songs tells the story of a pair of strangers. They can be played together as a standalone piece, as individual songs or as part of the album, whatever the listener’s heart desires.”
The band’s upcoming sophomore full-length effort will include a few guest musicians including the German folk musician Patty Gurdy as well as vocals by the Hellscore choir, and England’s prestigious Westbrook Hay Prep school Chamber Choir.
Gruman adds:
“Recording the Westbrook Hay Prep School Chamber Choir led by Chris Wagstaff was one of the highlights of the recording process for me, and delivered a magical moment on the album. I flew to the UK especially to conduct and record them with Tony Wilson. The choir, made up of about 40 kids between the ages of 8 and 11, had prepared with great diligence and dedication, and their wonderful voices add magic to the song ‘Huts,’ which speaks about the wish to return to a simpler way of life.”
Listen to the album teaser below and pre-order the record at this location:
Track List:
Overture for the Estranged
Break The Ice
Tantibus II
Stranger
Concrete Cages (feat. Patty Gurdy)
Over
Under
Huts
Gone
Addicted
Mist
