French progressive metal act Mantra set to release "Celestial: Spring" on March 20 via Vlad Productions!

Mantra are set to unveil Celestial: Spring on March 20, 2025, via Vlad Productions, marking the next chapter in their evolving seasonal journey. Leaving behind the weight of Winter, this new installment embraces a more introspective and organic direction, weaving together piano, oud, shamanic percussion, and choral arrangements. With Home, a single 16-minute piece, the band reflects on renewal, human connection, and the search for a different path that learns from past mistakes while embracing the promise of change.

A single 16-minute track, a piano, an oud, some shamanic percussion, and a mysterious choir. This home that Mantra is erecting has nothing in common with the world in which Celestial began six months ago. After the progressive metal onslaught of Winter, released at the December solstice, the time has now come for a form of serenity, both a return to their roots and an exploration. The band is returning to the themes that are dear to them: the return to the soil, frugality, and spirituality.

This shift is also reflected in the music. Home introduces a soundscape built on piano, oud, shamanic percussion, and choral elements, reshaping the world Celestial has been constructing since last September. It carries a sense of return, a connection to the soil and the essential, both musically and thematically. "This is a song about attempting to create a different world," explains Pierre Junod. "It's about trying to live together more harmoniously and not making the same mistakes we made in the past. It's a bit like being given a second chance."

The band embraced new instruments to challenge themselves creatively, letting them guide the composition in unexpected directions. "We wanted to explore new instruments and let them take us down unknown paths," says Simon Saint-Georges. "It was about rediscovering the core of Mantra’s music through different textures, taking themes from the previous seasons and reshaping them on piano and oud."

Celestial: Spring also features guest musicians, with Niqolah Seeva on oud and Juliette and Matthis Lemonnier adding choral vocals, enhancing the immersive quality of the piece.

Following Celestial: Fall and Celestial: Winter, this latest chapter deepens Mantra’s conceptual vision, balancing freshness and gravity, serenity and tension. The seasonal cycle will reach its conclusion with Celestial: Summer in June, bringing the full vision to life.