It is a mere twelve months since Nucleus Torn's ambitious trilogy consisting of "Nihil" (2006), "Knell" (2008), and "Andromeda Awaiting" (2011) was finished, and now the Swiss ensemble already presents its fourth full-length album, "Golden Age." Make no mistake, this is no musical rush job: Fredy Schnyder, the artistic authority behind Nucleus Torn, wrote this album already back in the spring of 2008, shortly after the release of "Knell", and together with 13 musicians worked for three years on its completion.
The result is an album that more than any of Nucleus Torn's previous works looks back to 1970's Progressive Rock, paying homage to masters of the form such as King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, and Änglagard. Still, it also contains the broadest stylistic diversity you have ever heard on an album by Nucleus Torn: on "Golden Age", the Swiss neither shy back from the catchiness of pop music ("Against") nor from the abysses of metal ("Death Triumphant"), and they underlay the record with a conceptional dramaturgy the listener can only shake off when the album is finished.
Yet still, "Golden Age" finds its conceptional place in the cosmos of Nucleus Torn. Fredy Schnyder considers his newest offering as a prequel to the trilogy, linking the new album to the concepts of his earlier recordings. The adept listener will even be able to recognise some musical motifs from songs from the "Silver" EP (2000) in a new context on "Golden Age."
Prominent contributors to "Golden Age" include Anna Murphy (Eluveitie) and Christian Kolf (Valborg, Woburn House, Island, etc.) who inform the album's character with their charismatic voices.
Tracklist:
1. Golden Age
2. Hunger
3. Silver
4. Against
5. Ash
6. Death Triumphant
