On April 7th internationally, Antiq is proud to present the second album of France’s Tarask, Sitra Ahra.
To explain the concept of Sitra Ahra, there is a link with Tarask’s debut album, Pharus Morti… On the cover, there was a protagonist discovering a Lovecraftian, industrial port city filled with horrors. Throughout the album, he casts a cynical and disgusted eye on the city, its decadence and futility; it forms an almost-living entity that tries to absorb and corrupt him throughout the album. In the end, it succeeds, and then our protagonist begins his descent into madness, where he seeks salvation in the occult in the last track.
Tarask’s second album, Sitra Ahra, deals with consumerism, modern society, and a critique of a world where the individual is forcibly subjected to conformity, leaving them alone with their demons. The new album continues this story, following the same protagonist, who this time, after having barely escaped the cursed city, finds himself alone searching for answers. He therefore decides to delve into the occult and Satanism, in a desperate attempt to conquer his inner demons. It’s therefore a more introspective album, even though the lyrics deal a lot with Goetia, qliphoth, etc… In the band’s estimation, Tarask are still quite far from classic black metal, with many atmospheric, even depressive passages, and that’s also reflected in the lyrics. The cover art has been painted by French artist Sözö Tözö.
Antiq is a label dedicated to the fully coherent concept of making music through sound, image, video, and attitude. They have been putting their entire existence into it since 2009. Over the years, Antiq have been identified as producers of not only perfectly coherent lyrics and themes through music, but also conceptual art and, of course, the manufacturing of beautiful objects. The label tries as much as it can to work with French creators, and if possible, with the smallest and most serious structures.
