Dark electro titans Project Pitchfork have finally released their long-awaited album, Elysium. It’s the German band’s first full-length in six years.
Elysium follows a pair of albums—Akkretion and Fragment—that Pitchfork released in 2018. All three albums form part of “an interstellar trilogy.” The unmistakeable voice of Peter Spilles connects the three releases, yet the world has changed entirely since the trilogy began, beset by a global pandemic and war.
Here’s what the press notes say about Elysium:
The Peter Spilles we meet in Elysium is—and has to be—a very different Peter Spilles. Even if the final act of his trilogy promises the crossing to the island of the blessed, the journey there is fraught with danger. To say the very least, Project Pitchfork sound scarred on this album, worn down by the trials we’ve all endured over the past five years.
Despite that world-weariness, the music remains intense, urgent, and uplifting. In fact, it seems as if Peter Spilles has weaponized the experience, channeling it all into the sheer power of Elysium. This is pure catharsis in electronic form, a glowing monolith which effortlessly transcends time and space, pulsating through towering gothic anthems for a broken world.
Elysium was preceded by three singles
Prior to the album’s releases, Project Pitchfork released a handful of singles.
“Der Tanz,” which translates to “the dance,” arrived in February. The track features a roiling house beat and Peter Spilles’ trademark gravelly vocals singing in German.
The ballad “Learning to Live” and a club track called “Unity” quickly followed, demonstrating the diversity you can expect from Elysium. Project Pitchfork also released an official music video for the song “Melancholia,” though it was not released as an advance single.
Elysium arrives in multiple formats, including a limited edition collector’s CD. The standard edition of the album contains 12 tracks. Four additional tracks, including a trio of remixes, appear on the deluxe edition.