''Onyx'' is the fourth studio album of

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band,

Ava Inferi Ava Inferi was a musical group formed in Almada, Portugal, by Norwegian guitarist and songwriter Rune Eriksen (a.k.a. Blasphemer, Mayhem (band), Mayhem). Their debut album, ''Burdens (Ava Inferi album), Burdens'', was released in January 2006. ...

. It was released on

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

in 2011.

Description

The album was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö. “The onyx stone has been attributed with many meanings over the ages”, states guitarist and composer

Rune Eriksen Rune Eriksen (born 13 January 1975) is a Norwegian Spellemann award-winning musician and composer. He is best known as the former guitarist in the black metal band Mayhem under the stage name Blasphemer, which he took from a Sodom song. He jo ...

. “An ancient tale relates how a crooked cupid cut the fingernails of the sleeping Venus. Coming from a goddess these were transformed into the gem known on earth as

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

. An amusing and inspiring tale, yet we aimed for the metaphysical properties of this peculiar stone as it is believed to increase happiness, intuition and developing one’s instincts. In magical lore it has a darker side as well. An imprisoned demon spreads terror and nightmares to the ones within the gems reach at night and it might cause clairvoyance for its bearer. All these attributes concern our new album both on its lyrical side as well as inspiring our music.”

Track listing

# "Onyx" – 4:49 # "The Living End" – 6:49 # "A Portal" – 4:56 # "((Ghostlights))" – 6:57 # "Majesty" – 5:56 # "The Heathen Island" – 9:19 # "By Candlelight and Mirrors" – 5:48 # "Venice in Fog" – 5:59

Personnel

Carmen Susana Simões Carmen Susana Simões (born 8 March 1973, in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese singer and lyricist of darkwave and gothic music, characterized by a melancholic mezzo-soprano voice. Carmen began her musical career in local Gothic rock bands know ...

— vocals *

- electric and clean

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, effects, vocals in "The Living End" * André Sobral -

* Joana Messias - bass * João Samora -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

References

Ava Inferi albums 2011 albums Season of Mist albums {{2000s-doom-metal-album-stub