July 22, 2024

Fátima to Release New Album "Eerie" in September

Fátima is a supremely creative, genre-bending band from Paris, France who has been releasing music since 2015. The band is gearing up to drop their fourth full-length album, Eerie, on September 6, 2024 via Black Robes Records/Season of Mist).

Fátima's eclectic sound is impossible to pin down to a specific style. To get a proper feel for it, you first have to familiarize yourself with the band's interests: Oriental melodies, doom metal, 60s monster movies, gross cartoons from the 90s, dinosaurs, and Paul Verhoeven's films to name a few. At face value, this makes no cohesive sense, but I promise, you can hear every one of these in Fátima's music, and/or see them in the band's handcrafted promotional and artistic works (more on that later). Furthermore, the vocals are (amazing) melodic and grungy, and have been compared to the late Kurt Cobain (something that's particularly apparent in the more powerful, emotive vocalizations). Knowing this, it goes without saying that each one of Fátima's songs is incredibly different. Case in point: the two captivating singles released from Eerie so far...

First, the bright and soaring Miracle of the Sun, in which the band's Oriental and grunge/alternative influences work together in beautiful harmony. Ethereal and dreamlike in tone, the song's lyrics pertain to the Miracle of the Sun (Milagre do Sol), an event that took place in Fátima, Portugal (the band's namesake) on October 13, 1917. Three shepherd children prophesied that the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Fátima) would perform miracles on that date. The large crowd that gathered reported uncanny solar activity; the sun seeming to "dance" in the sky, hurtle toward Earth, and change colors, for a span of about ten minutes.

...and most recently, the powerful, heavy, and haunting Ceremonies. Here, Fátima's doom metal proclivities and love for sci-fi and the fantastical shine through brilliantly. Not in a space rock or psychedelic way (perhaps what you may expect after a glance at the album cover), but in an artfully dark, apprehensive, progressive manner. This reminds me slightly of Tool in regard to methodology and dark tone, but I enjoy Fátima's slightly softer yet immersive approach and vocal style much more; the way they work together is absolutely spellbinding.

Check out this amazing live Studioblow performance of Ceremonies:

As touched upon earlier, Fátima, like many bands in the heavy underground, are no strangers to utilizing the art of DIY. They create everything from their music to their artwork to their website with their own "little hands", but my favorite DIY project from the band has to be the incredibly dapper Pochette, who adorns the album cover of Eerie:

Check out the impressive making of Pochette here.

Hearing the single Ceremonies on 666MrDoom's YouTube channel (one we all know and love around here!) was my first time hearing Fátima, and I immediately fell in love with their sound. I mean, all my favorite things are here: grunge, doom, a fascination with Oriental music, kooky space creatures, and an immersive heavy sound skillfully balanced with soaring melodies. Fátima really just fell out of the sky and into my lap on a stormy Monday in July, but this awesome surprise quickly led to Eerie becoming one of my most anticipated albums of 2024!