Pearl Hunting by Belle Morte

Just like pearl divers search for treasures in the deep sea, Belle Morte have explored different music traditions to create “Pearl hunting”. The second band’s album offers 11 songs, each crafted in collaboration with guest musicians from across the globe, blending symphonic metal with an array of ethnic instruments to produce a truly unique sound.

The concept for Pearl Hunting was born in 2020, as the band adapted to the challenges and opportunities of remote collaboration. This approach allowed them to work with talented artists from Belarus, Finland, Ukraine, Poland, Mongolia, Indonesia, Portugal, Germany, France, Peru, Japan, and Italy.

The album showcases a wide variety of traditional instruments, including the Celtic bouzouki, Germanic lyre, Belarusian duda, Ukrainian sopilka, jouhikko, morin khuur, duduk, Uilleann pipes, whistles, a replica of the Trinity College harp, pan pipes, ocarina, quena, suling, gamelan, lute, hurdy-gurdy, oud, saz, shamisen, koto, shakuhachi, and bandura.

While some tracks explore familiar combinations of symphonic metal and folk influences, like the Northern and Celtic sounds, others push the boundaries with more experimental and unconventional fusions, incorporating instruments such as the Armenian duduk and Indonesian suling and gamelan.

Lyrically, Pearl Hunting spans a wide array of themes, from love, lust, and personal struggles to tales of vampires and creatures from Japanese folklore, offering listeners an immersive and varied storytelling experience.

Tracklist

1.	Belle Morte, Max Kerner, Caterina Castiglioni, Yanina Yakshevich, Ada Rusinkiewicz - Pearl Hunting	1:46

2.	Belle Morte, Tero Kalliomäki - Fallen Idol	5:11

3.	Belle Morte, Ulziisaikhan Khoroldamba - Exorcism	5:30

4.	Belle Morte, Lernik Khachatrian - Blame me	4:35

5.	Belle Morte, Ella Zlotos, Marta Masciola - Wintersleep	5:18

6.	Belle Morte, Carlos Carty - Losing Faith	5:10

7.	Belle Morte, Maulana Malik Ibrahim - Black Waters	4:44

8.	Emma Spinelli, Rúben Monteiro - Willow	5:26

9.	Belle Morte, Ruben Monteiro - September	4:50

10.	Hisashi, Reigen Fujii, Souzan Kato - Jorōgumo	4:51

11.	Belle Morte, Yaroslav Dzhus, Alex Pilkevych, Ada Rusinkiewicz - Krew	4:45

Credits

released January 23, 2025

Belle Morte - vocalist, lyric/music author
Sergey Butovsky - bass guitar, arrangements, sound producing, backing vocals, vocals (2, 7, 10, 11), music author (11)
Maria Shumanskaya - keyboards, violin (5)
Ilya Rogovoy - guitars
Ilya Petrashkevich - guitars
Rostislav Golubnichiy - drums

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Guest musicians:
Max Kerner - Celtic bouzouki (1)
Caterina Castiglioni - Germanic lyre (1)
Yanina Yakshevich - Belarusian duda, Ukrainian sopilka (1)
Ada Rusinkiewicz - backing vocals (1), (9), vocals, Polish lyrics author (11)
Tero Kalliomäki - jouhikko (2)
Ulziisaikhan Khoroldamba - morin khuur (3)
Lernik Khachatrian - duduk (4)
Ella Zlotos - Uilleann pipes, tin whistle & low whistle (5)
Marta Masciola - Trinity College harp replica (5)
Carlos Carty - pan pipes, ocarina & quena (6)
Maulana Malik Ibrahim - suling, gamelan, vocals in Sundanese (7)
Emma Spinelli - lute (8)
Rúben Monteiro - hurdy-gurdy (8), oud & saz (9)
Hisashi - koto (10)
Reigen Fujii - shamisen (10)
Souzan Kato - shakuhachi (10)
Yaroslav Dzhus - bandura (11)
Alex Pilkevych - vocals, Ukrainian lyrics author (11)

Album recorded at Kuba Sawicki studio (Lodz), Blackline studio (Minsk), Ivory Records (Batumi)
Produced, mixed & mastered by Sergey Butovsky

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