Divination

With such an impressive and emotive body of work behind them in the form of the debut full-length, "Matriarch,” and an MLP, "En to Pan,” Chicago's Vukari have tapped into a very prolific strand of creativity since their 2013 inception. Dense atmosphere meets an airy and often-frantic form of black dominant metal, with post and mystical elements that also arise from the band's focused and adventurous core.

Vukari's debut for Bindrune Recordings is "Divination,” a twisting monolith of dense sound eager to be witnessed as the band burrows deep within the core of human experience. With a new lead guitarist (Rich Stancato of Valley Of Hinnom) adding a fresh layer of creativity, the album cultivates an ever-changing,  yet always profound series of emotions to arrive at what could be considered an enlightened form of black metal ascension. Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Marek Cimochowicz describes "Divination" as a historical fiction concept record following a lowly patrician during ancient Roman times, and his thirst for power. Through a series of dreams he encounters a symbol that guides him. By using this symbol at the forefront of his campaign, he gains a substantial amount of political and military support. Soon following, his immense power distorts his reality and all his supporters will suffer the consequences of putting their trust into one man.

All aspects of the album's production were handled by the band itself, except for mastering by Justin Weis at Trakworx in San Francisco (Agalloch, Pallbearer, Ludicra, Slough Feg, Vhol). Divination was recorded and mixed entirely by the band's bassist and sound engineer Spenser Morris (Panopticon, Saor, Fuath, Grift). Attentive tracking in three different professional studios in Chicago, IL lead to a lush mix of aggressive yet natural sounding acoustic drums, dense layers of guitars, and powerful bass guitar. The album layout and design was handled by drummer Mike DeStefano, excellently accompanying the dark, dense atmosphere of the album and its lyrical theme.