UK Instrumental Progressive Metal 4-Piece’s Latest Album ‘Complete The Connection’ Out Now
“Persea Americana” (titled after the Latin name for avocado) is the latest release from UK instrumental proggers ALTOSTRATUS. The 7-minute prog-metal masterpiece explores the emotional rollercoaster of an “avocado man” coming to terms with his inevitable death.
Speaking about video, bassist Andrew Smith says: “Persea Americana” and the preceding short film, “Holy Guacamole (The Consummation)” tell the story of the conception, birth, life and death of the aptly named, Avocado Man. The original story for the video was originally intended as a framework to match the dynamics of the track but as we started creating the video and the ideas started flowing, themes of death and acceptance started weaving their way into it. The short film shows the power of will and love, and what lengths we’ll go to for the people we love. The music video, on the other hand, is about the inevitability of death, and the anxiety that comes with realizing your own mortality. Avocado Man was never meant to be, and once he and the people he loves come to terms with this, only then can they find peace. Ultimately though, it’s about an Avocado that works in the fast food industry and the spooky spells that were conjured to bring him to life.”
This is the third single from Altostratus’ debut album ‘Complete the Connection‘, copies can be purchased from www.altostratusband.com.
Regarding Altostratus’ affected tour plans that have been postponed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Smith says, “Like all musicians in the industry we have seen all our plans for touring and playing shows not coming into fruition with the health and safety of the people coming before public events, and rightly so. Along with our headline tour being cancelled, so has our beloved UK Tech-Fest. We were really looking forward to playing it for the second time, and becoming immersed in riffs, blast beats, beers and laughs with friends for another glorious UK Summer Weekend. We look very much forward to playing UK Tech Fest next year when hopefully life can get back to normal. You can help Simon and the Tech Fest Team by buying some merch from their site or checking out the ‘Tech Fam 4 Tech Fest 2021’ fundraiser on Gofundme.com. See you in the fields next year. x”
Inspired by the northern skies, the UK-based band was born in 2015 and is influenced by each members’ love for riffs, groove, and technical guitar music. Originally founded by childhood friends Jack Thomas (drums) and Alexander Hek (guitar), the pair had nurtured a musical chemistry over many years that developed into a powerful collaborative force. After taking inspiration from modern progressive metal bands such as Intervals, Periphery, and Tesseract, the duo based in the North-East of England began working on demos in 2014.
With the addition of Andrew Smith on bass, these demos became what is the Altitude EP (2015). The very talented Jordan Harris (guitar) was then recruited after being headhunted through his popular YouTube channel that features guitar covers, gear reviews, and much of his own music. Since then, the band have been great friends working together and have shared the stage with the likes of Skyharbour, Sarah Longfield, Sithu Aye, Modern Day Babylon; as well as performing at UK Tech-Fest in 2016 and 2017.
Altostratus’ latest release, ‘Complete the Connection,’ is the result of several years of work and effort; their creation has undergone much self-scrutiny and is their most interesting piece of music to date. Not only has it been meticulously crafted, but it has also been worked on and mastered by Forrester Savell (who has produced/mixed/mastered Twelve Foot Ninja, Animals as Leaders, Make Them Suffer, as well as producing and mixing Karnivool’s album “Sound Awake”). All of these factors have accumulated to create a very nuanced, dynamic, and epic piece of music.
Official teaser movie “Holy Guacamole (The Consummation)”:https://youtu.be/iTr8jZzdkcQ
Stream Altostratus’ new album ‘Complete the Connection’ here:https://ampl.ink/nDGb1
Photo: Michael Jordan Lee Photography // Simon A Visuals
Website: https://altostratusband.com
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