Nach den ersten internen Neuigkeiten wurden nun die ersten offiziellen Infos zum neuen Album der Epic/Progressive-Doomer WHILE HEAVEN WEPT bekannt gegeben. Es wird den Titel Suspended At Aphelion haben und Ende dieses Jahres via Nuclear Blast erscheinen. Aktuell ist die Band um Mastermind Tom Phillips im Studio, um das erste von zwei Alben einzuspielen.
Man wird wieder mit Kevin 131 aufnehmen, Engineer und Co-Produzent des 2003er Of Empires Forlorn-Album. Für das Artwork ist wieder Gustavo Sazes verantwortlich, der bereits das Cover für Fear Of Infinity entworfen hat. Neben dem Band-Lineup vom letzten Album werden Drummer Mark Zonder (FATES WARNING, WARLORD) sowie Klassik-Gitarrist Christopher Ladd zu hören sein, letzterer ein Freund von Tom seit Kindheitstagen.
Das sagt WHILE HEAVEN WEPT-Gründer und Hauptsongwriter Tom Phillips zum neuen Album:If Fear Of Infinity was our Caress Of Steel, Suspended At Aphelion is without question our 2112 – and anyone familiar with the stories behind those RUSH albums will understand that where we’re coming from is very similar both musically and circumstantially. Suspended At Aphelion is the culmination of 25 years and embodies everything that WHILE HEAVEN WEPT has ever represented – yet so much more; it’s everything we’ve got to give in our hearts and souls.
The album really is, quite simply, the greatest EPIC in our canon in that it is a single, 40+ minute monolith divided into 11 parts – in the tradition of the aforementioned 2112 and our own The Furthest Shore, Finality, and Thus With A Kiss I Die, amongst others. Yet, musically…while clearly this is WHILE HEAVEN WEPT …it’s very much beyond anything else we’ve ever done…VERY progressive, but in a harmonic sense more than the technical. The bottom line is, if you enjoyed those aforementioned mini-epics – or the Vast Oceans Lachrymose album for that matter – then this is the elevation and evolution several years beyond those. We’ve approached this one as if it were to be our last – so again, it’s everything we’ve got!
Tom weiter: The team we have assembled to realize this mammoth work is nothing short of incredible, and I cannot think of a better way to commemorate a quarter of a century of WHILE HEAVEN WEPT than to release the definitive statement of the band. Prepare yourselves for an epic journey far beyond anything you’ve ever known from us!”
Sänger Rain Irving ergänzt: Never before, have I been so proud to be associated with a musical endeavor. No disrespect to any of our works in the past, but this one is special and worth every ounce of excitement I feel inside. This is the kind of record that will allow me to rest peacefully if you will, the day I decide I’m done with my career.