Prophecy Productions’ artists are known for their deep, thought provoking and heavily based on atmospheric structures pieces of music, coming up with hauntingly beautiful artworks to represent their music. The label itself has done a marvelous job gathering such artists from the day one, and the Swedish duo NOÊTA fit that bill.
NOÊTA released their debut EP Psykhē back in 2015, a touching collection of four pieces of dark neofolk music including a Sibylle Baier cover song. Psykhē revolved around heavy usage of classic guitar and other traditional instruments, concentrating on making dark and melancholic scenes which is heard by many acts such as Of the Wand & the Moon, Neun Welten, Vàli, Tenhi among many others.
Psykhē wasn’t bringing something new to the scene, but Êlea’s captivating ethereal voice took the feelings and spirit of the music to a level of beauty. At that time NOÊTA were trying to use the term ‘black ambient’ to describe their music.
A couple of years later NOÊTA have put a new record on the counter which is a whole new experience for both the band and the listeners and is more proper and fitting to the term ‘black ambient.’ Beyond Life and Death, NOÊTA’s debut album is [a bit] different than the EP.
Beyond Life and Death brings a darker and gloomier side of NOÊTA’s music, with songs which are lesser built on melodic parts and musical variations. They are mostly focused on droning atmospheric landscape which reverberates and reflects back from a total darkness NOÊTA’s music stands upon, leading the listeners to a more emotional and deeper journey to their heart of the music.
Also, the minor appearance of some instruments NOÊTA had used on their EP has given Êlea’s voice a major role on Beyond Life… to complete the music imagery, transcending it to a more narrative opus. This collision of Ândris’ music and Êlea’s voice prepares a challenging introspection upon the band’s music, making it as a strong point of view to Beyond Life and Death.
(released February 17, 2017 on Prophecy Productions)
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Watch NOETA – “Beyond Life” Video
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