Czech Prague-based band Porcelain Shards released their new album Halcyon’s Dream on May 24, 2024. You can immerse yourself in the dream for a full 42 minutes and 17 seconds, which is 12 minutes more music than on the debut Perfect Storm. The album can already be found on all streaming platforms, Bandcamp, Bandzone and YouTube. You’ll have to wait a few more weeks for the physical CD, but the band promises all physical media lovers that the graphics will be worth it. You can download the album for free on the band’s Bandcamp. Album contains a total of ten songs, the first nine can be considered serious rock-metal blasts, followed by the last indie rock track Little Fox. Little Fox closes the whole album in softer tones, confirming with its distinctive sound that Porcelain Shards can do well even without distorted guitars.
“Little Fox was written very spontaneously and it’s a very intimate song for me. The lyrics capture the transience of time and the questioning of the meaning of my musical journey, but there is also a kind of defiance that won’t let me fall. At first I didn’t know what it should sound like, but I trusted the process and I think it worked out tremendously. I like the solo going into the fade-out at the end, I wanted to evoke the atmosphere of the old The Brian Jonestown Massacre songs in that part,” says frontman and writer of all the lyrics and music, Martin Schwarz, about the song. An engaging music video for the song has also been released and is available on YouTube. “It was filmed under the baton of Lubomir Novohradsky of Zábavné Média in the rehearsal room of the Teatr Novogo Fronta theater company in Prague’s Bubeneč – and on its roof. Our roof presence was definitely unsanctioned by the authorities. Unfortunately the company doesn’t have the rehearsal room anymore, but it used to be a beautiful place with a great atmosphere. We were filming in autumn and we wanted to capture the sunrise, which would symbolize that despite all the depression, it’s going to be fine one day. But it was cloudy and you couldn’t see the sunrise at all. We were pretty cold in our short black thin t-shirts at 5am on the roof of an industrial building, but I’d say we had a good time even without the main planned solar highlight. Luckily the security didn’t notice us.”
Video for Little Fox is available on YouTube: youtu.be/5Db2TDoevrk?si=8M2Q4so1PbuFIttl
However, much more attention should be paid to the metal songs of this album. The layered, natural-sounding vocals against a backdrop of double bass drum metal accompanied by distorted guitars speaks volumes about how much of a technical shift the band has made since their debut album Perfect Storm. The mix and master was done by Artem Efimov from Red Ghost Studio, who is also known as the songwriter for the band Go_A. “Artem’s input on the songs is what cements the whole album together and takes it to a new level. It’s been a fruitful collaboration and we will continue to do so in the future. Expect fast and technical musicianship. The lyrics deal with personal and natural themes with an emphasis on the struggle with self.”
Metal songs can be divided into other subgroups: Rebars, Halcyon’s Dream, Nature Of Man, With Headphones and Constellations In Mud are heavy / power metal. Wings Of Night is a tribute to classic stadium hard rock, while Voices tends to the NWOBHM subgenre. Punk Princess is, as the name suggests, a pop punk hit in a heavy coat. It is also the only song that is not in the standard guitar tuning. “I wrote it unsuitable for my singing, so we had to move it lower.” laughs Martin when asked if there was any artistic intent behind it. The songs feature only clean vocals, with no growls or screams present. The verses of With Headphones are dominated by a very specific bass guitar sound, reminiscent of the gothic The Cure. A music video for the song Solstice is also in the works. Stepan Eidenzon, who already proved himself with the Porcelain Faith video from the first album, is in charge of directing.
The inspiration for the new album came from many different genres. As the band themselves state, besides power metal from the early 2000-2010s, they were influenced by artists such as Agalloch, Enter Shikari, Kreyson, Iron Maiden and pop punk classics The Offspring, Blink 182 and Avril Lavigne.
Recording of the album was Financially supported by OSA – Ochranný svaz autorský pro práva k dílům hudebním, z.s. (OSA – Collective rights management society for musical works).
Tracklist:
1 With Headphones 4:17
2 Rebars 5:01
3 Solstice 4:23
4 Halcyon’s Dream 4:29
5 Voices 3:53
6 Wings Of Night 3:43
7 Punk Princess 3:27
8 Constellations In Mud 4:20
9 Nature Of Man 4:01
10 Little Fox 4:39
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Martin Schwarz
Martin Schwarz. Czechia. Welcome, wanderer! Browse cheerfully the songs I write after (and sometimes during) work hours to get my mind off things. It´s mostly metal, mostly melodic. More music to come.
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Martin Schwarz
Martin Schwarz. Czechia. Welcome, wanderer! Browse cheerfully the songs I write after (and sometimes during) work hours to get my mind off things. It´s mostly metal, mostly melodic. More music to come.
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