Cover photo by Andrei Goncharenko.

When it comes to funeral doom, no band has become more legendary than pioneers Skepticism, who celebrate thirty years of career this year and are about to release their sixth album, «Companion». As has been established over the years, one should not expect a revolution in their sound, they know what they are about and how to go about capturing their peculiar liturgies. As if proving this statement, the songs that bookend the album two have been released as singles and their videos can be seen below. First, we have the opener «Calla», whose video was directed by Tuomas A. Laitinen and was released back in July.

Around month later, they released the beautiful album closer «The Swan and the Raven», whose video was directed by Anne-Mari Musturi and Tuomas A. Laitinen, scripted by Anne-Mari Musturi and Jani Kekarainen, filmed by Anne-Mari Musturi, Esa Valkeajärvi, and a drone operated by Hannu Väre, and produced by Blow Up That Gramophone and Esa Valkeajärvi.

Written by Skepticism between 2015 and 2020, «Companion» was recorded Ville Pelkonen and mixed by Nino Laurenne at the Sonic Pump Studios, and mastered by Svante Forsbäck at the Chartmakers.

«Companion» is set for release on September 24 via Svart Records on cd, digital, and vinyl formats. Pre-orders can be found here (digital) and here (cd and vinyl).