La Suspendia is an acclaimed Jazz Metal Opera that has earned rave reviews from the music community. Ghost Cult covered one of the debut performances and it was wild! The project will release its self-titled debut album on March 15th, via the respected Silent Pendulum Records. Today they team up with Ghost Cult to share their new music video, “Laudes Mortuorum and Roll Call Of The Newly Dead!” Pre-order the album at the links below and watch the video now!

Pre-order:
https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/kilter
https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/la-suspendida

La Suspendida
A Jazz Metal Opera

“Laudes Mortuorum,” literally “Praises of the Dead”, (the name recalls the Laudes, [“Lauds” in English], early morning prayers of the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours). Here, the chorus of the dead call forth those who died overnight in the Western Hemisphere, imagined as shades gathered along the Atlantic shore awaiting their marching orders to the eternal void. The names that are called are people of various ages, dead by various means, from the coastal and adjacent areas… the first to have gathered.

Music by Kilter
Lyrics by William Berger|
Produced by Laurent David

Kilter, Andromeda Anarchia, Growlers Choir And Seven)Suns are preparing to release in full their complete experimental and collaborative opera, La Suspendida on March 15th, 2024. La Suspendida is a monodrama that explores the liminal space between life and death where the protagonist, Maria Elena Milagros, finds herself suspended after passing away. The opera features a combination of jazz, new music, metal, and contemporary music, and it tells the story of Maria Elena’s quest for self-discovery and empowerment through a series of encounters with the dead. Late 2023 saw KITLER and ANDROMEDA ANARCHIA provide a glimpse of the opera contained with the EP, The Suspended Woman.

Librettist WILLIAM BERGER comments on La Suspendida: 

“La Suspendida is an opera in jazz and metal. In telling its story of a relationship that extends beyond death, it extends what we mean by opera, jazz, and metal, even while honoring and reveling in those traditions. 

The drama is based on a notorious incident in history: a doctor whose obsession with a beautiful young patient of his was so great that he kept her body as his lover after her untimely death. The originality of La Suspendida is in seeing this gruesome tale from a more sympathetic point of view – it is told from the perspective of the woman, María Elena, and dares to speculate on her journey after death not as a victim but as an expression of self-determination. What if María Elena wanted it all this way? 

To explore this, the opera is composed for a remarkable ensemble […] versed in classical and non-traditional genres. The emerging project is proving to be a symbiotic composite of traditional and trailblazing that is traversing linguistic, artistic, political, and even existential boundaries.”

Led by progressive jazz metal trio Kilter’s bassist Laurent David, La Suspendida is a collaboration between musicians and artists, including Kilter’s own Kenny Grohowski (Imperial Triumphant), and Ed Rosenberg III, Andromeda Anarchia (soprano), the string quartet Seven)Suns, and The Growlers Choir (comprised of metal vocalists), as well as the librettist Will Berger. The musicality of the opera traverses multiple realms ranging from the atonal melodies of new music to the aggressive rhythms of metal.

Read our review of the live performance:

CONCERT REVIEW: Kilter Performs William Berger’s “La Suspendida” Live at Culture Lab 

Pre-order the La Suspendida double album and The Suspended Woman EP here:  https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/kilter

KILTER is:
Laurent David: Bass
Kenny Grohowski (IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT): Drums
Ed Rosenberg III: Bass Saxophone

SEVEN)SUNS is:
Earl Maneein: violin
Adda Kridler: violin
Fung Chern Hwei: viola
Jennifer DeVore: cello

Credits:
Libretto by WILLIAM BERGER
Music by KILTER: Ed Rosenberg III, Laurent David, Kenny Grohowski
Produced by Laurent David
Maria Elena: ANDROMEDA ANARCHIA
The Choir Of The Dead: GROWLERS CHOIR
String Quartet: SEVEN)SUNS

Release Details:
Run time 81 minutes
Available in CD and Gatefold Double Vinyl Record

Tour Dates – KILTER The Suspended Woman:
January 22nd – FÜRTH, DE – Kofferfabrik
January 23rd – WÜRZBURG, DE – Immerhin
January 25th – BERLIN, DE – Urban Space
January 26th – DRESDEN, DE – Die Tonne
January 27th – JENA, DE – KuBa