This month, Immortal Guardian released what is surely to become an album of the year contender in Psychosomatic. The level of musicianship and technical proficiency is breathtaking. Now, the power metal wizards release pandemic themed new single Phobia off said album, complete with music video.
The video for Phobia features a guest guitar solo by Angra‘s Marcelo Barbosa. It is the band’s latest examination of the events that changed the world in 2020. Driving the overall creative process and production of Psychosomatic. The super catchy chorus in Phobia shows that it’s not just the technical prowess these guys can nail.
Keyboardist/guitarist (often simultaneously) Gabriel Guardian commented:
“As the pandemic first began, one thing that we saw happening to everyone – including ourselves – was an introduction of new phobias,”
“I started becoming scared of things that I used to like or not be scared of. Even just the thought of being in a crowd has a whole new meaning and feeling to it. Is it a phobia? Will we have to learn to deal with them, or will they go away when the pandemic is over? This song touches on the topics of these new phobias.”
Notably, the filming of Phobia was affected by the very real events of the outside world, as bassist/engineer Joshua Lopez and his wife contracted COVID-19 in January. Lopez recorded his parts for the music video while he was still in quarantine inside his home in the band’s native Texas. Luckily, both Joshua and his wife were able to recover after suffering only mild symptoms.
The video also saw drummer Justin Piedimonte contributing from his home in Montreal, Canada, and Gabriel Guardian recording his parts in his new home of Las Vegas alongside vocalist Carlos Zema, who recently relocated from his native Brazil after staying in lockdown for many months.
Phobia showcases Zema’s high-flying vocals and Gabriel Guardian’s dizzying abilities to play guitar and keyboard simultaneously. Guardian has shown off this unbelievable dexterity on MTV’s “Amazingness”, and his unique dual-instrument covers of classics by the likes of Iron Maiden, Pantera and Guns N’ Roses have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
Psychosomatic is out now and available on BandCamp. Merch and more available at https://www.immortalguardian.net/shop.
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