UNVERKALT, the Germany by way of Greece post-metal band, have released a music video for “Ænæ Lithi”, a highlight from their recently released third album Héréditaire. Dedicated in memory to the victims of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the song transforms historical trauma into a monument for grief.
Watch the video for “Ænæ Lithi”:
Translating roughly to “Eternal Oblivion” in English, “Ænæ Lithi” mourns the years between 1914 and 1923, when Greek communities across Pontus, Ionia and Eastern Thrace were subjected to persecution, forced deportations, death marches and mass killings during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Creeping dissonance and a slow pounding of toms intertwine with clarinet and qanun, hand drums, strings and lyrics sung in Greek. “We are the source”, vocalist Dimitra Kalavrezou intones, her voice rising with the band into a swell that carries the full weight of what was lost.
The accompanying music video, which incorporates historical photographs from the catastrophe, was directed and edited by guitarist Themis Ioannou. “It is a great honor for me to create and share this video”, Ioannou says. “The story behind our song ‘Ænæ Lithi’ is deeply personal to me, as it is part of my own family’s history. I dedicate it to my beloved grandmother and my father, who are no longer with us. This video is for them, and for the millions of people who lost their lives or were forced to abandon their ancestral homes during and after the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922.”
“Ænæ Lithi” appears on Héréditaire, out now via Season of Mist. The album was recorded and engineered by UNVERKALT, with drums tracked by Christian Eggers at Noir Surge Studios in Berlin. Musically, Héréditaire traces the transmission of memory, trauma and suffering across generations—a concept the band describes as asking one central question: “What do we carry that was never ours?”
Order & stream: https://orcd.co/unverkalthereditaire
