Panopticon

Panopticon releasing double album next week, playing fests

Louisville black/folk metal band Panopticon will follow 2015’s excellent Autumn Eternal with a double album, The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness, next week (4/6) via Bindrune Recordings (North America) and Nordvis (Europe). Here’s what the band says about the album:

“The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness” is a two part album that musically explores the two separate musical sides of Panopticon. Part 1 harkens back to melodic Black and Death Metal influences and part 2 focuses entirely on Americana, Folk and Country music from North America.

The lyrical concept of the album deals with two sides of the same coin: the effects of our natural environment on quality of life and mental health and the effects of urban life and industry on our quality of life and mental health. The album is largely inspired by some of Sigurd Olson’s writing and also inspired by the struggle to preserve Minnesota’s northwoods.

Part 1 of the 2 part album is entirely focused on exploring melodic, aggressive and atmospheric metal with lyrics about time spent in nature, questions and fears about the consequences of environmental destruction and seeking inspiration in the woods.

Part 2 takes a more somber, lonesome tone, lyrically focusing on the consequences of urban life, industry, global warming and environmental detriment. Part 2 is absolutely NOT a metal record and those who are disinterested in folk, americana and country music might not favor it.

Clocking in at about 2 hours, this collection is intended to be heard as a body of work, but as always thats up to the listener to decide.

The two parts of the album will be sold both together and separately. That’s the artwork for the combined release above, and you can see the individual artworks for parts one and two, along with the tracklist, below.

Panopticon don’t seem to do a whole lot of touring, and right now their schedule includes just a few festival appearances: two sets at the J-Bannon curated edition of Roadburn in the Netherlands this April, Seattle’s Northwest Terror Fest in May/June, Wyoming’s just-announced Fire In the Mountains in June/July, and Pittsburgh’s Migration Fest in July.

Fire In the Mountains‘ lineup is still in the initial stages of being revealed, but so far it also includes Wayfarer, Aerial Ruin and Krallice, with many more to come. It goes down 6/30 – 7/1 at Heart Six Ranch in Moran, Wyoming. Ticket info TBA.

Migration Fest (7/27 – 7/29 at Smalls Theatre) also includes Bongripper, Couch Slut, False, Forn, Khemmis, Krallice, Mutilation Rites, Pelican, Spirit Adrift, Thou, Zombi, and more. Tickets are on sale. Full lineup here:

MIGRATION FEST 2018 LINEUP
Abyss
Bongripper
The Cancer Conspiracy
Cloud Rat
Couch Slut
Daeva
Deadbird
Derkéta
False
Fórn
Hell (US)
Khemmis
Krallice
Mizmor
Mournful Congregation
Mutilation Rites
The Ominous Circle
Panopticon
Pelican
Pyrolatrous
Scorched
Spirit Adrift
Thou
Tomb Mold
Yellow Eyes
Zombi

Panopticon
Panopticon – The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness Part I artwork
Panopticon
Panopticon – The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness Part II artwork

Panopticon – The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness
Tracklist Part 1:
1. Watch the Lights Fade
2. En Hvit Ravns Død
3. Blåtimen
4. Sheep in Wolves Clothing
5. A Ridge Where the Tall Pines Once Stood
6. En Generell Avsky
7. The Singing Wilderness 8. Snow Burdened Branches

Tracklist Part 2:
1. The Moss Beneath The Snow
2. The Wandering Ghost
3. Four Walls of Bone
4. A Cross Abandoned
5. Beast Rider
6. Not Much Will Change When I’m Gone
7. Echoes in the Snow
8. The Itch
9. At the Foot of the Mountain
10. The Devil Walked the Woods