Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns, one of the long-standing creators of Finnish heavy metal, is now taking the next step in his career and releasing his first solo single, In Glorious Black and White. This is the first completely new solo song, and at the same time the first cut from his upcoming full-length solo album. The song was released with music video. The publisher is Stormbound Records. Collectors are offered a very limited edition of signed Beatjaxx™ audio cards, which will be sold in the record label’s online store.
In Glorious Black and White brings a new sound palette to Lillmåns’s characteristically dark production and a different perspective on the entire writing process, which was done with an external producer. The end result is a unique combination of raw black metal and electronic sound worlds. Lyrically, the song is personal and reflective, according to Lillmåns:
“I’ve always been quite introspective as a lyricist. In Glorious Black and White is a very existential song. It was born in a kind of rift between my own perception and something unnamed in moments that eventually became real sources of inspiration.”
The collaboration with Stormbound Records began to take shape through discussions. At first, however, Lillmåns was wary of the idea of an outside producer.
“The idea of working with an outside producer felt contradictory to how I had worked before,” he says.
It was first agreed that the work would take place at Mathias’ own pace and with full creative control. Lillmåns says that his working method is different from the traditional way of making a metal album:
“I’ve always recorded albums traditionally, meaning that I first finish all the instruments on the album in a certain order. However, we’re building this album from start to finish, song by song, and we’re even using different session musicians depending on what the different songs need.”
The drums on the track are played by Tommi Tuhkala. Daniel Strang and Marco Luponero were in charge of production, and Grammy-winning Henkka Niemistö was in charge of mixing and mastering.
Last year, Lillmåns released a retrospective collection, Remains – a 17-track cross-section of material he’d recorded with different bands over three decades. However, the release, which was warmly received by fans, did something unexpected: while he was going through his old archives, the idea of making solo material began to seem possible.
“I never really intended to start a solo project, but when I was going through old material for the Remains release, I realized that I had a lot of unfinished ideas that could really be used to build something new,” he recalls.