Bio

Canadian melodic metallers BOREALIS are returning with their fifth studio album called “Illusions”. Arguably the bands most complete album to date, the band states “We are so excited to release this new record, considering how long it’s been and what the world has been through over the last 2 years! With the extra time we had with this one, we feel like these are some of the best songs we’ve ever written. Some of the songs were written way back in 2019 so we’ve had time to really perfect them”.

After self-releasing their debut album in 2008 the five-piece opened for several metal greats (Kamelot, Epica and Sonata Arctica) in Canada. With 2011’s “Fall From Grace”, the well received follow up, Borealis were able to attract even more attention which led to invitations from festivals in the US (f. ex. ProgPower, Atlanta), Europe (f. ex. PPM fest, Belgium) and a North America tour with mighty Saxon, making the band known to a bigger audience. The release of Purgatory (2015) and a tour supporting Evergrey throughout North America marked a preliminary climax for the bands discography so far.

2017 saw the re-recording of Borealis’ debut album “World Of Silence” and “Fall From Grace” in revised and fresh sounding editions, released by current label AFM Records. 2018’s “The Offering” took Borealis to the next level adding more orchestral elements and darker themes. 

After more than 4 years, ”Illusions” marks the anticipated return. As singer Matt Marinelli explains, “Illusions” is a continuation of the story from The Offering, but takes place years later through the eyes of the children and how the traumatic events they experienced has shaped their lives.

With “Illusions” we are also introduced to a new element: Composer and multi-instrumentalist Vikram Shankar (Silent Skies, Redemption, Lux Terminus) was brought in to compose all of the orchestra and synth elements for the album. “We had been fans of Vik’s music and content for years and with this album, we really wanted to bring it to another level” explains guitarist Ken Fobert. “We didn’t want to do the same old thing this time around with just adding strings and orchestra. We did do that, but we also wanted to incorporate more synth elements and weird futuristic sounds to give these songs a bit of a different vibe and character than what you would typically expect from us. I think with the phenomenal composing that Vik did for these songs, we were able to achieve that.”

“Illusions” was produced by Borealis, engineered & mixed by the bands Drummer, Sean Dowell, and Mastered by Thomas “Plec “ Johansson.

Matt Marinelli - Guitars & Vocals
Ken Fobert - Guitars
Sean Dowell - Drums
Aiden Watkinson - Bass