Spectral Lore - 11 Days - LP

"11 Days" is a very different album for SPECTRAL LORE, being the first album to feature a specifically political concept. Originally released as a digital album in March of 2023 with the aim to gather funds for refugee and migrant aiding collectives, it functions not just as a musical album with a fictional narrative based on real events, but also as a statement of protest against the policies of the European Union regarding refugees and migrants.

Over 28.087 people have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean Waters between 2014 and 2023 (Missing Migrants Project, [1]), and many of these deaths happened as a direct result of illegal practices carried by European States such as push-backs, violence, refusal or delay of rescue [2]. Only three months after the original release of the album, the deadliest naval tragedy in recent memory happened near the waters of Pylos, Greece, where a fish boat capsized killing more than 600 people, after an attempt by the Greek coastal guard to tow it with the intention of pushing it forward towards the waters of Italy [3], an event described as a state murder by many activists. At the same time, parallel to campaigns of denial of responsibility, rescue organizations that intervene are often targeted with false charges that are typically rejected by courts. [4]
These kinds of policies with the goal of violently curtailing immigration cause enormous death and suffering, as migrants are forced to take even more difficult and dangerous routes to avoid repression. The primary intention with this album is therefore to call out the xenophobic, nationalist and anti-immigrant ideologies that are still dominant today in Europe, under the veil of fake progressivism and pseudo-humanist rhetoric.

Narratively the album describes a fictional journey of survival through the Mediterranean sea using supernatural and mythic elements, in an attempt to tell such a story in a way consistent with black metal and ambient aesthetics. These two genres inform the structure of the album, as two atmospheric, but also violent and aggressive black metal tracks are followed by two electronic tracks of almost cinematic proportions, aided by the contributions of over five guest musicians. Although the album is described as a 40 minute EP (a distinction Ayloss uses to differentiate between this and the 70+ minute full length albums of SPECTRAL LORE) it nevertheless constitutes a full experience.
The recording was also slightly reworked and remastered for the physical edition, offering a significant improvement to the original.