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Petricor's "Terra" Exalts the Chilean Patagonia (Full Album Stream)


I’m a big supporter of vocal presence in metal music specifically, to the point where instrumental metal and I don’t really… get along. That being said, I’m an adult and can be proven wrong. These things happen, and Chilean solo project Petricor are the latest in doing just that. Having been formed in 2017, Petricor multi-instrumentalist Ermitaño has quietly released a full-length album, various singles, and most recently, a split with the prolific Crown of Asteria before culminating in his brand new album, Terra, which is streaming in ful; ahead of its Friday release date below.

Meaning “the smell of rain,” Petricor’s naturalistic black metal looks to celebrate and exalt the Patagonia which Ermitaño calls home. As a result, Terra (which translates to “land”) itself is beautiful, a harmonic extension of the great rock formations and snowy landscapes in the Chilean portion of the great Southern expanse, but it isn’t just desolation and landscapes (even if Ermitaño might prefer it that way). There is an innate warmth found within Terra which is undeniably human, a connection between humankind’s indomitable spirit and the Earth’s pseudo-permanence, or at least the insignificance looking at the Patagonia truly makes humankind feel. This is black metal, sure, but far from the genre’s Satanic fare–it’s gorgeous, lush, and well-orchestrated. I honestly don’t even miss the traditional vocal element; there is so much going on that Petricor doesn’t really need vocals. How about that.

Terra releases October 7th via Fiadh Productions and Vita Detestabilis Records.