Afterlife Romance Costin Chioreanu & Sofia Sarri

• 1The Gardenian Night Shift06:37
• 2Sulphur Promenade04:52
• 3Dance on the Clouds Floor05:08
• 4A Blooming Moonflower04:53
• 5Dreadwatch05:55
• 6Thanatoguards06:06
• 7The Glow Made Us Go04:19
• 8Classified at Dawn03:40
• 9Kermes05:48
• Total Runtime47:18

Info for Afterlife Romance

The debut of this project by Romanian avant-garde devotee Costin Chioreanu and unearthly Greek singer Sofia Sarri is a sheer instance of the unexpected. From the first listen, “Afterlife Romance” opens the mind towards the nostalgia of a time which never actually happened. Seemingly mimicing a lo-fi rendition, this record takes the touchiness and the spookiness resembling horror soundtracks of the ’70s and ’80s, and places them in a newly created realm between a cult peculiarity and enchanted experiments.

The vision which led to the creation of “Afterlife Romance” came to life while Chioreanu was enjoying an evening in the sunset hues at the huge and impressive Central Cemetery in Vienna. He felt that certain tunes must be written, eerie pieces to tell the story of two ghosts falling in love while going out of their graves during one night, together with all the other neighbouring dead. The narrative in this concept makes use of shivery sensations, creepy scenes, a surrealist imagery and an intense pace, including a particular type of drums found mostly in the wildest kinds of jazz and blues.

Through his art, Chioreanu has explored various corners of the musical underground, ranging from melodic crust punk to black metal to avant-garde – and his solo projects have shown a marked leaning towards the magical, atmospheric side, interwoven with waves of light and darkness, which have led to collaborations with the likes of David Tibet and Attila Csihar. Sofia Sarri has also shown a penchant for metal and avant-garde, but the breadth of her artistic vision and talent means that she has never had to remain wedded to any one particular style. She has ranged far and wide, recording with artists associated with free jazz, improvisation and polyphonic choirs before beginning a solo career with her 2017 album “Euphoria”.

"Afterlife Romance” is the album in which all the musical and conceptual experiences I have so far built came together, and I am beyond excited with the result. However, without Sofia’s gorgeous vocals and her fabulous talent in arranging lyrics and metrics, the result would have been just half of what you will hear. Since I started working with her, and with engineer and producer George Bokos, a new, amazing dimension of magic opened in my life. The final result of our collaboration is very consistent and coherent on all levels, yet extremely complex in terms of musical approach." (Costin Chioreanu)

"We had an amazing time during the entire process, while exchanging ideas and working on the material, and of course during the actual recordings at Grindhouse Studios in Athens, and it is with great excitement that we are finally ready to present this album to the world thanks to Dark Essence Records. Being a fan of the Norwegian avant-garde/metal/dark music scene since a very tender age, I am more than thrilled to be part of the roster of a label that nourishes and represents this kind of sound." (Sofia Sarri)

"Metal hidden in songs with an ambient-jazz flavor, with a common thread that leads straight to the soundtracks of the horror films of the 80s and the previous decade: twisted riffs, absolutely superlative and progressive (not to say jazzy!) Drumming, rhythmic patterns unstable, voice, effects and sounds that depict the grisly and mysterious scene where the facts take place with dramatic realism, where this love develops that claims - rightly - the true and definitive immortality!" (metalhead.it 9.5 / 10)

Costin Chioreanu, guitars, production
Sofia Sarri, vocals

Sofia Sarri
Cretan artist Sofia Sarri started her music endeavors as the lead vocalist for the post rock/trip-hop band Night On Earth in 2005, with whom she released two albums (Night on Earth, Outlandish 2006 & Second Hand, SONY BMG 2008). NOE’s breathtaking live shows became a trademark for the Greek indie scene influencing numerous bands with their long melancholic improvisations. Based in Athens she continued to perform and tour with the most accomplished local folk Singer/Songwriters , while while exploring her vocal and stylistic abilities , embarking in numerous side projects, such as recording for rock band Borderline Syndrome and collaborating with the avant-garde collective of Luup among others. In 2017 she released her solo debut album "Euphoria" under the label "Inner Ear Records", combing instruments such as the Cretan lyra and the vibraphone, bringing out her own unique perspective on melody and songwriting.

The music of Sofia Sarri is personal, pagan and magical. A universe where uncompromised resolutions are welcome allowing the Cretan lyra, a distinct folk instrument from the mountains of her home island Crete, to feel at ease when placed together with the analog synth, the vibraphone and some wicked double bass drumming.

“Every track has a story to tell” says Sofia, “a sacred bind to nature, as if a totem lies in the spirit of every song”. The moon, the cuckoo, the wolf and the strings alongside with electronic micro beats seem to merge perfectly with Sofia’s both delicate and powerful vocals, manifesting the omnipotence of nature.

This time the urge was to set and meticulously narrate the musical paths that she had so far explored. To handle her voice as an equal instrument among other instruments and belt out her mystical parallel universe. She is experimenting with both traditional forms and the contemporary while sticking to her generation’s fusion of massive sonic and music information.

Labelling Sofia’s music can be tricky: avant rock with a pinch of Scandinavian black metal, urban ambient, dark-hop…The moment you are about to categorise her she manages to slip away. As it is expected from an artist who’s influences spread out all around the world of sounds, manifested by the higher and innermost need of everything human: communication.

Costin Chioreanu
Born on the 13th of March, 1982, Costin Chioreanu is a Romanian graphic designer, illustrator and video artist. His passion for drawing and his interest in heavy metal music were juxtaposed in the mid 90’s, when he realized that the artworks found in his own collection of bootleg cassettes released in the post-communist era, had to be improved.

Not long after, Costin discovered the urge to play heavy metal music so this is how he got into a deeper level of illustrating music, starting with his own releases. His first official works in terms of illustrations and designs related to the metal music are actually the cassette covers and logos created for his bands’ demos between 1997 and 1999.

Specializing in Graphic Design, with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at the National University of Arts, in Bucharest, he started his graphic studio in 2003, under the name of TWILIGHT 13 MEDIA. Since then, he has been covering all types of expression regarding music illustration, from covers, posters, merchandise design to filmed or animated videos, live DVD’s, or full concert screenings. Some of his more renowned collaborators are At the Gates, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Darkthrone, Napalm Death, Arcturus, Ulver, Enslaved, Triptykon, Decide, Mayhem, My Dying Bride, Wardruna, Paradise Lost, Sigh, Necrophagia and many others.

Despite his pretty powerful visual identity, his style is still volatile, ranging easily from decorative touches to abstract principles, from traditional black ink illustrations or watercolour paintings to photo manipulations and collages. Many’s the time that he simply intertwines all these visual mediums in order to produce something really particular and visionary. Costin Chioreanu takes the realm of the heavy metal artwork to a deeper level and keeps doing exhibitions featuring personal projects, in which the themes and concepts emerging from the metal music interlace with a complex philosophical analysis.

This album contains no booklet.