"Emerald" by Psychonaut & Sâver

Psychonaut and Sâver have joined forces to release an excellent split LP on Pelagic Records on May 14th. The result of their collaboration is called "Emerald" - I've already had a listen.

The collaboration of the two bands delivers some exciting friction. Both projects are combining spirituality with heaviness in their songs. Both like to let their tracks escalate into operas - 20 minutes seems to be the standard.

Psychonaut - "The Great Realisation

While Sâver stand for minimalism, Psychonaut explore their limits and the diversity of instruments and techniques in their tracks. Both bands could be described as perfectly working classical trios – each of them working like clockwork – in their personal way.

Psychonaut are a musical phenomenon that suddenly appeared. The band from Mechelen, Belgium, already proved with their debut album "Unfold The God Man" from 2020 that they know how to handle their instruments. According to their own statement, the members' influences are bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Amenra and Tool – you can hear all these different progressive projects. This is how the three comment on "Emerald":

"This release is by far the most elaborate production we have ever done. We let go of all boundaries and gave ourselves complete freedom in terms of songwriting and arranging. This massive track represents a process of both personal and collective change that is conveyed through five chapters which are based on a psychedelic experience."

What sounds exciting is exciting. The song "The Great Realisation" flirts with ghosts from another era and does so in a pleasantly relaxed, not at all patchouli-soaked way, as one might assume at first glance with this kind of music. With its total of 16:31, it is a fabulous trip. The track is a journey into the land of owls and fairytales – the dark side of an emerald, completed by Sâver from Oslo.

Sâver - "Dimensions Lost, Obscured By Aeons"

Sâver contributed 19:06 to the split LP. Their song "Dimensions Lost, Obscured By Aeons" winds its way into the auditory canals and, from there, immediately wanders into the fantasy centre of the brain without any detours.

The Norwegians have also built up a lot of anticipation with their debut album. At their legendary performance at the Oha Festival in Oslo shortly before Pandemic began, they finally became a legend with their interplay of music and audiovisual art. They comment on the split LP like this:

"As a band, we try to write music we would love to listen to ourselves, and we believe this 20-ish minute song really sets the path for what we want SÂVER to sound like. Atmospheric, brutal, yet beautiful and heavy as the sun itself. We love the way this release turned out, and we hope you will too."

Sâver is the new project by Ole Christian Helstad, Ole Ulvik Rokseth and Markus Støle from Tombstones and Hymn.

"For us, founding Sâver was the consequence of having finished something else",

Christian comments.

Sâver recorded their first album, "They Came With Sunlight", in May 2018 during a camping trip near Norrköping in the Swedish forests.

They've put a good portion of this place's mysticism and darkness into their song on the split LP. "Dimensions Lost, Obscured By Aeons" begins dreamily and darkly. Almost a bit kinetic, the sound gradually builds up to something magical, the emerald shimmering beautifully on this site as well.

Emerald will be released on May 14th. You can place your pre-order for your emerald green vinyl here.