We are proud to announce that we have just signed a deal with ARS MUNDI – a small, independent Polish label that has been relasing some high quality progressive/rock/metal/alternative music for more than a decade. We are also talking to a few major christian metal distros at the moment. Come back for more info – album tracklist and cover will be published in the not-so-distant future. 
Take care!
We’ve been silent for a loooong time – sorry we kept you waiting for any news for so long. We’ve been realy busy with the new album and our day jobs. Anyway, we have good news to share with you!
First of all, all instruments (drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, violin and cello) and vocals have been recorded. After Radek’s departure, all growls were re-recorded by Paweł “Troy” Treutler who is also going to help us live – at least for the moment. Pawel has a fairly low-pitched and very powerful growling voice – we were blown away by his performance and so should be you!
Paweł and me (Jan) are not the only vocalists on the album – we also invited our good friend and ex-Illuminandi member Bogdan “Boolba” Czernia to contribute his vocals on one of the songs (“Get on/Zacchaeus”). Other guest musicians that helped us with their amazing skills were Paweł Iwaszkiewicz of the legendary band Open Folk (the pioneers of Celtic music in Poland) and Robert Jaworski of the well-known Polish folk group Żywiołak. Paweł Iwaszkiewicz played the recorder and the shawm on “Illumina Tenebras Meas” and the recorder on “a Blessing”; Robert Jaworski played the hurdy-gurdy on the track “W drodze” (“On the way”).
I guess we can say now that the songs on the album have turned out quite varied – there a few folkish tracks, one pretty slow song (I guess you could call it a folk-doom ballad), a couple of faster, more death/trash metal oriented songs and some hardcore influenced tracks (of course arranged in our own way). Should keep the listener interested throughout the album.
What yet remains to be done is to finish the mixing process and then master the album. This would normally take about two weeks, but since Krzysztof Godycki – the owner of Chinook Studio – is now busy working with other bands we have to wait until April to put final touches to the album. This, however, should help us get a new perspective on this album and approach the songs with renewed energy. The album should be ready for pressing on 20th April. The release date is yet unknown, but we are hoping for a May release.
The new CD will be entitled “In Via” (Latin for “on the way”) and will consist of 9 tracks + intro + a short instrumental interlude.
Keep us in your prayers and come back for more info!
Take care!
May the new-born Jesus fill our hearts with new hope, strength, and joy. Merry Christmas everyone!
Illuminandi
Radosław „Radii” Sołek (also known as the guitarist/vocalist of Malchus) is no longer a part of Illuminandi. This decision was made solely for musical reasons; after the band heard the growling parts he recorded for the upcoming album we almost unanimously decided that the album required a different kind of aggressive vocals which Radek simply couldn’t provide. The decision to part ways was really difficult and painful for both sides since for the past two years Radek had become an important part of the band as well as a friend, but we simply couldn’t compromise our artistic vision. In that situation finding a replacement for Radek seemed the only solution. We wish Radek all the best and hope he will be successful with his band MALCHUS (which, by the way, is about to release their new album on Soundmass). We don’t know who will record growling parts for our new album, but we are considering a few options. The results should not disappoint you. Also, as you have probably noticed, the new album will be finished later than we had expected. This is due partly to some technical/organizational issues that we are dealing with and partly to the fact that we want to give you something special, something we could be really proud of. Please come back regularly for more information, a new studio report will be posted soon! God bless!
Jan & Illuminandi
Ok, 95% of my rhythm guitar tracks are done! I only have to record two more riffs for one song. Alek also almost finished his tracks and has only two songs to record tomorrow. Friday will be the day for recording my guitar melodies (I wouldn’t dare to call them solos) and on Saturday we are planning to record clean parts… Lets hope we’ll manage to stick to this schedule…
