Romanian industrial rocker TAURIAN releases “intense & powerful” eponymously-titled debut LP today + also reveals video for new single “GUILT”

Taurian, who came to England to study sound engineering in Manchester, fuses industrial & hard rock influences with trip-hop & electronica atmospherics to create a thrillingly original sound.

“Guilt is a track about the overwhelm felt when circumstances both inner and outer become unbearable,” comments Taurian of the new single. “The video tells the story of a man who lost his wife. As he can’t cope with reality anymore, he leaves town to run away from the world and hide away from the pain. He ends up in a seedy motel, being alone he is forced to confront all his emotions and demons. Catharsis can be painful sometimes but it’s the only way to let things go.”

Taurian also contains previous singles “Scream”, which builds from sinister Prodigy-style menace to a huge cathartic chorus, and “Mirrored”, a beautiful sad banger that resembles a dream collaboration between Disclosure and Trent Reznor and comes accompanied by a powerful video.

Taurian is a record that makes you stare into the abyss before encouraging you into the light, often within the same song. The album’s 10 tracks Taurian prowl from Portishead to Pantera via the visceral thrills of Twenty One Pilots, Four Tet and Jon Hopkins’ atmospherics. It’s far from easy listening, yet it’s frequently joyful and has a musical breadth to match his all-encompassing lyrical landscape.

Born Radu Constantin, Taurian has kept the nickname he was given by his girlfriend while studying at The School Of Sound Recording in Manchester, in honour of his star sign. “Being Taurus means you have single-mindedness and the ability to really focus on something,” says Taurian. “We don’t give up on something until we’ve achieved it.”

That’s certainly been the case for Taurian, ever since he came to England from his home “between two mountains” in Romania, where he grew up on the music his Rammstein-loving father introduced him to while working as a hard rock DJ at a radio station. He relished the multi-cultural, cosmopolitan nature of life in Manchester, as well as the diversity of its music scene.

“I learned my guitar chops to Pantera, and The Doors is music perfect for the mountains back in Romania,” he explains of the music which has shaped him as an artist. “Going through depression as a teenager, it was important to have music which spoke to me. From extreme metal, it’s been grunge, progressive bands, jazz and everything in between, before I discovered trip-hop and dance music in Manchester.”

Taurian is an album born from break-ups – from his girlfriend and from The Night Suns, his hard rock band who split just as they were getting established on the live circuit. If an album about recovering from heartache doesn’t sound a recipe for optimism, don’t be fooled. There’s as much beauty as bleakness here. “It’s important not to depress anyone,” emphasises Taurian. “I don’t want to offer just one side of life’s coin. If the album is sometimes dark, it’s because my own fight is on these songs, but I’ve ended up coming through it.”

It took emotional trauma and the grandeur of great art to get here, but there’s little doubt Taurian is an album that will establish its maker as a compelling musician, capable of creating anything. His success is written in the stars.