LONE WANDERER - Exequiae CD HRR 985CD, slipcase Bruno Schotten - guitar & vocals Jonas Weber - guitar Simon Brooker - bass Jakob Zeblin - drums 01 To Rest Eternally 02 Existence Nullified 03 Life's Lost Vanity 04 Anhedonia 05 Epistemology of the Passed AVAILABLE

With their third album "Exequiae" (Latin for “funeral rites”), Lone Wanderer from Freiburg im Breisgau/Germany make a striking statement in the realm of Funeral Doom. The band’s High Roller debut continues the thematic line of its predecessor "The Faustian Winter" - from the end of Faustian culture to inner grief and existential despair. “Thematically and musically, we’ve never been closer to the core of Funeral Doom than with these five songs,” explains singer and guitarist Bruno Schotten. The tracks - including the nearly 25-minute centerpiece 'To Rest Eternally' – combine majestic slowness, dense harmonies, and overwhelming heaviness. “The extended length of this track wasn’t intentional - it was a logical necessity of the theme. At the end, we were glad it still fits on one side of vinyl - without compromise.” Musically, "Exequiae" marks a high point in the band’s development: “Despite the extensive excursions into elaborate harmonies, a red thread runs through the album. Alongside blasts and death-doom passages, it sounds darker and more cryptic than ever.” The artwork, in keeping with the quartet’s tradition, is by Romantic painter Ernst Ferdinand Oehme, whose 'Procession in the Fog' captures the grave stillness of the album. The back cover is also taken from his work. The band emphasized a fully hands-on production: “We oversaw every single step, from my songwriting and the first guitar note to the mixing process. This album is completely our work, and we only gave it away once we were 100% satisfied. Just like an underground release should be…” Lone Wanderer remains a distinct creative universe, separate from Schotten’s other project Kerrigan. “Kerrigan and Lone Wanderer are two completely sealed worlds. What unites us is friendship and the shared enthusiasm for music. While Kerrigan’s songwriting is a duo effort, the music of Lone Wanderer comes entirely from my hands. Whether and how a symbiosis emerges between the bands remains to be seen. The wide musical range between the two is not a challenge but a blessing, as it brings variation.” "Exequiae" is a funeral mass in slow motion - majestic, despairing, uncompromising - and the band’s most focused statement to date. It combines older and newer riffs, fully realized songwriting, and an unbroken vision of Funeral Doom. Andreas Schiffmann