Astrolabe Death: Started in El Salvador…..

Astrolabe states, «Astrolabe is, unbound by any formulaic approach to music writing and composition, a wholehearted endeavor devoted to inspire and share what we love».

Astrolabe started in El Salvador in 2018, founded by Victor Osorio Jule. On the first year they toured for 6 months with their first record Shock Of The New, after which it won Rock album of the year in El Salvador, being followed by a nomination by Subterranica Awards in Colombia 2018. On December 2018 they released The Hermit, The Fool And The Hanged Man EP, with Marco Minnemann on drums.  

A month ago Astolabe released the album Death – An Ode To Life.

Tracklist:

1. Invisible (7:39)

2. Loner (6:07)

3. Phantom (4:46)

4. Lie (4:44)

5. Topography Of Sadness (6:30)

6. The Cosmic Joke (5:03)

7. Through The Walls (5:41)

8. Death: An Ode To Life (6:44)

9. Coda (5:09)

Total Time 52:23

Line-up

Victor Osorio Jule: Guitars, Vocals, Synths, Orchestration

Jim Lopez: Bass

Marco Minnemann: Drums

Jorge Lara: Synth, Keys

Daniel Valladares: Orchestration

Death: An Ode To Life is composed of nine songs incorporating psychedelic, heavy tunes and calmer, melodic pieces, with lyrics toying around introspective and philosophical subjects such as reality, death, purpose, spirituality and transcendence.

The album title came to be after Victor Jule’s experience during the terrorist attacks in Strasbourg on December 2018, where he had to go past police to help his brother stuck inside a restaurant, right next to where the shooting took place. The dangerous encounter got him to reevaluate life and his gratitude towards existence.

This motivated him to write not only for himself anymore, hence the lyrics of the eponymous title Death and the albums closing piece Coda. Right after the attack the band began working on new experimental material, mainly focused on creating memorable and unusual song structures managing to hold both melodic and complex sections.

All without neglecting the need to push boundries implementing elements from jazz (Lie), arranging music mainly around piano (Through The walls) orchestration (Coda, Loner, Topography Of Sadness).

Death: An Ode To Life is the final result of such quest, one that is loyal to it’s prior prog sound: heavy distorted guitars, mellow passages, psychedelic synths and, now, featuring full blown orchestrations aswell as jazzy influences.

The album features Marco Minnemann playing drums on all songs, and Jorge Lara on keys (Lie, The Cosmic Joke). The record is available on 1st of November 2020 for physical distribution and digital platforms. Limited edition CDs and, for the first time, Vinyl. The vocals, guitars, keys and bass were recorded at Victor Jule’s home studio in Strasbourg, France and the drums at Marco Minnemann’s personal studio in San Diego, California.

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