EMISSARY
s/t CD

Dying Victims Productions, jewelcase, sticker, obi, The planetary grid is riddled with unsteady and weak sonic occurrences, leaving a gap in the terrestrial soundscape. A planet-side distress signal originates from the northern hemisphere. Three trackers have joined forces in a mission to seal the aperture for good. They are known as EMISSARY. The tale of Finland’s EMISSARY began in October 2019, just moments before a Cirith Ungol gig in Helsinki. Dimi (Ranger) and Iiro’s idea of a band, which had already been around for years, got the fire it needed when they were chatting before the show with an old acquaintance, Joel (ex-Chevalier), and it turned out that his conceptions and ideas about music matched perfectly with the duo. Already at the first jam session, everything fell into place, and the trio focused immediately on writing their own songs. A shared vision crystallized week by week as sci-fi and fantasy fueled the ideas for the material. Even in the very beginning, the unrelenting power of old-school US power metal and the challenging structures of prog rock were the centerpieces of the music. The epidemic slowed down the trio's activities in spring 2020, but EMISSARY continued to actively rehearse whenever possible. In less than a year’s time after founding, the band began to record their debut five-track mini-album in cooperation with producer/engineer Anselmi Ahopalo. Using precise state-of-the-art tech and stalwart sonic equipment from eras bygone, they have devised heavier-than-sun frequencies that would secure the breach and they would devote themselves as the Guardians of the Seal. Indeed, EMISSARYs list of influences is vast and idiosyncratic. From the cult likes of Helstar, Sacred Blade, Camel, Virgin Steele, and Chastain to the big likes of Iron Maiden, Rush, Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, and Yes to films like Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, the first two Predator movies, the Star Trek franchise, and many, MANY more, EMISSARY’s pool of textures and sensations is nigh overwhelming, if not for the bravado in which they pursue their own sound and the resultant compositional mastery they so freely flex across Emissary. Truly, the record’s five primary songs – the aptly titled “Galactic Overture” sets the stage as an intro – burst and bristle with so many dazzling shapes, it’s almost an afterthought that the power-trio make these sonic sci-fi castles catchy. So, chops for days and also hooks just as long, EMISSARY here deliver a half-hour of infinite possibilities in what’s bound to be a classically brazen first statement – and now, under the auspices of DYING VICTIMS. Stand by to receive auricular surge of earth-shattering heavy metal.