Ulthima have released Midnight's Call, the title track of their second album and the last song out before it arrives on 27 November. There is a video, directed by Hector Estrada and Ricardo Escobar.
Escobar, who writes the music, says it was the final composition written for the record and that its place was obvious the moment it was finished. He describes it as the band in one song: heavy but melodic intros, hard verses, choruses that stick. A title track written last and promoted first is a small thing, but it tells you the band found what it was looking for at the end rather than at the start.
The lyric uses ambition as its metaphor and asks a sharper question than melodic death metal usually bothers with. It follows the pursuit of success, power and fame to the point where principles become collateral damage, and asks whether arriving is worth it if the journey costs you your sense of self.
The band's own route is part of that. Formed in Monterrey in 2010, stalled, then restarted in Helsinki in 2018, which is a long way to travel for a second album.