Skyward by Evergreen Refuge

Also available from A Moment of Clarity Recordings
https://amomentofclarityrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/skyward

Many nights I have spent under the stars. I often dream about a world completely outside of civilization--its values, its beliefs, its stories. The stars make me dream of a world in which we have our own stories. One in which we look to the heavens not as that which has yet to be exploited, but rather in awe and wonder. We look to the stars for guidance. We look to the stars to look within.

It has become somewhat of a cliché to claim that the stars are our origin, yet it is still wholly true. And indeed the cosmos are a macrocosm of many of the systems we see on this small place we call home. It is no wonder the stars have been at the heart of many culture's creation stories throughout the world.

The universe is endless, which can make us feel insignificant. But to me it makes me feel significant. It allows me to understand the beauty of our existence and our ability to stargaze. It allows me to think about how amazing it is that I am here--that these trees, animals, water, fungi are all here. Yet I am overcome with the feeling that civilization itself is insignificant. Humanity has not been here all that long--civilization even less so--especially when you consider the vastness of that which is in the skies.

The vastness of the stars can inspire us. It can humble us.

---

Reviews:
"Skyward is gratuitous and resplendent in the way that the wild is; everywhere you look there is something to explore, something to wonder at. Like nature, however, this is frequently delivered in an understated way. Depth and substance is achieved through minimalism and textured performance, rather than ostentatious complexity or busy composition for the sake of it."
-Wonderbox Metal

"There will be not one wasted or superfluous note in this entire monolithic composition. It’s all designed to slowly captivate and entrance, gently easing you into a meditative state over time as the ebbs and flows of the music wash over you and soak into your synapses."
-Black Metal Daily

"More flashes of intensity and vehemence, more extraordinary mellowness and even more atmospheric heaviness continues to make Skyward required listening. It might be over an hour long but it doesn’t feel it at all."
-Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life

"There is plenty of material to meditate and reflect upon, and in that aspect 'Skyward' succeeds in gently guiding your eyes towards the cosmos above."
-Thomas Horner (dungeonswill)

"The ambient sounds are sometimes crafted to create a sense of tension, and the sounds of what might be deep harsh wordless emanations from a human throat enhance an ominous feeling of peril. And as all these changes unfold, folk-like picking and strumming and tribal drum patterns reconnect us to the wilderness of our own home, while grand waves of music remind us of the natural majesty of everything around us when we lower our eyes from the skies."
-No Clean Singing

Seeking wildness and solitude in a self-destructive world

Evergreen Refuge was a project by Evergreen (she/her)

A Moment of Clarity Recordings
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