2021 release. Melancholy is a delicate matter. This haunting emotion can in one moment sting unbearably painful yet at other times even deliver a bittersweet pleasure to the afflicted. Yet there can be no doubt that this feeling permeates all of the songs on de Arma's sophomore full-length Strayed in Shadows in one way or the other. And while the Swedes shift musically in and out and between melancholic metal, gothic rock, shoegaze, and even post-punk, melancholy remains the duo's anchor point. Although geography is often overrated in the interpretation of music, there is no denying that long winters' darkness high up North has left a mark on this duo. On Strayed in Shadows the line-up has undergone a significant change. In the place of Fen and Fellwarden mastermind Frank The Watcher Allain, who sang on the album debut Lost, Alien & Forlorn (2013), guitarist and bass-player Andreas Pettersson, who founded de Arma in 2009, took over vocal duties as he already does in Stilla among other bands. This decision was partly caused by the extremely personal nature of his lyrics for Strayed in Shadows.