Ephel Duath have a new bass player. Agonia Records introduced Kenji Tsunami in the same breath as the only other fact anyone wanted: the first album since 2013 arrives in 2027.
Thirteen years is long enough that the band had effectively stopped existing. Davide Tiso kept working elsewhere and the project stayed on the shelf, and a label announcing a bassist is the clearest signal available that the shelf has been emptied.
Who plays what matters more here than in most bands. This is a group whose records moved from progressive post black metal into something closer to avant garde jazz, where the bass carries melody and countermelody rather than the root, so naming the bassist first is not a formality.
Tsunami is not the only new name in the line up either. Ash Pearson, who has drummed for Revocation and Three Inches of Blood, is listed with them now, which means the rhythm section has been rebuilt rather than patched.
Nothing else was said. No title, no month, no first song, just a face, a name and a year, which from a project that has been silent since 2013 is still more than anyone had last week.