THE BLACK SEASON IS THE DEBUT STUDIO ALBUM BY WAKE ARKANE. THE PRODUCER AND MUSICIAN DAN SWANÖ CALLED IT “A MASSIVE, EPIC MASTERPIECE”

THE BLACK SEASON BOASTS THE COLLABORATION OF TWO OUTSTANDING ARTISTS SUCH AS DAN SWANÖ AND SETH SIRO ANTON. WAKE ARKANE RELEASED THEIR DEATH METAL PROGRESSIVE WORK ON MAY 5TH 2012 AT METALITALIA FESTIVAL, WHERE THEY SHARED THE STAGE WITH MOONSPELL AND LORDI.


The Black Season has begun


Wake Arkane recorded their album in five months, in 2011, at Marbona, Noise Factory and Unisound studios. The album has been mastered at Unisound studios by Dan Swanö, lead singer, guitarist, keyboards player and producer of Edge of Sanity and Nightingale, who also produced the first two Opeth albums, Orchid and Morningrise, and who played the drums in Katatonia’s Tonight’s Decision. Moreover, Dan Swanö lent his voice to additional vocals on The Black Season song The Numb Experience.
The artwork development was commissioned to Seth Siro Anton, graphic designer of album covers of Septic Flesh, Paradise Lost, Moonspell and Kamelot.

Wake Arkane music combines death metal charge with progressive virtuosity, emphasized by a marked and emotional melodic line. Helios’ voice swings among clean, raspy and growl all through the album, matching with any change of rhythm or sound. The Black Season is a gloomy painting full of pathos, depicting the smallness and the miserable condition of Man in the face of a Nature that defeats and overwhelms him in spite of his efforts.
The Black Season’s substance is enhanced by the richness of sounds and inspirations that run through the tracks. One can find Paradise Lost and Moonspell atmospheres, Opeth, Edge of Sanity and Dream Theater prog sounds, Septic Flesh intense orchestral vibrancy, Meshuggah and Tool surprisingly complex rhythms, Alice in Chains rock tunings and Swallow the Sun Northern melancholy.
The themes of human frailty and death are given a special emphasis by the disturbing and captivating Oriental touch of the recurring Arabic and harmonic minor scales. The songs are all sung in English and enriched by electronic samplings that add a taste of archaic and exotic, also including a snatch of a speech in Japanese. Historical, literary and film suggestions contribute to give body to the whole work; Greek and Egyptian mythology, Edgar Allan Poe’s tales, sci-fi sceneries and dialogues, as well as movies and cartoons reminiscences all put the dominant bleak motif of disillusionment into a frame.
Wake Arkane used an 8 strings guitar on the tracks Diluvio and Human Dust Debris, a 6 strings on The Numb Experience and Swallowed by the Afterglow and a 7 strings in the rest of the record. In addition, Luca employed a talk box on Berenice and Diluvio. All the string parts have been composed by Matteo with keyboards, afterwards arranged by Luca and recorded by the string quartet Gli Archimisti. Drums, bass, piano and strings have been recorded at Noise Factory, additional female vocals by Barbara Schera Vanoli on Berenice at Moonhouse Studios and all the remaining parts at Marbona Studios. Finally, Dan Swanö recorded his vocals, mixed and mastered the album at Unisound Studios, in Sweden. He offered three versions of his production with three slightly different tone colours among which Wake Arkane chose the one with the most balanced compromise between aggressive metal and progressive sounds, in line with their aptitude.