Belgian doom metal band WYATT E. has joined forces with Iranian vocalist NINA SAEIDI of British metal band LOWEN for a collaborative album titled Armour of Surrender, scheduled for release on January 29, 2027, through Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The announcement arrives alongside the release of the album’s first track, “The Branch That Yields Peace Has Been Cut For The Oil Of Its Fruit.”
Discussing the song’s meaning, Saeidi explains:
“The Branch That Yields Peace Has Been Cut For The Oil Of Its Fruit is a song of mourning over the destruction of innocence and nature at the hands of warmongers and despots. The ash that is armour against the living is surrender to death, and escape from ethnic and cultural classification.”
Three years in the making, Armour of Surrender expands upon the musicians’ previous collaboration on “The Diviner’s Prayer to the Gods of the Night,” which appeared on WYATT E.’s 2025 album zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu Part 1. The new record continues their exploration of ritualistic music, ancient poetic traditions, spirituality, and mythology.
Featuring four compositions performed in English, Farsi, and Akkadian, Armour of Surrender examines themes of grief, disappearance, memory, and surrender. The lyrics combine contemporary writing with Persian mystical poetry and ancient Mesopotamian mythology.
The album also incorporates adaptations of historical texts, including a ghazal by Persian Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attâr and a passage from Ishtar’s Descent to the Netherworld, the Mesopotamian narrative of a goddess who enters the realm of the dead and gradually loses the symbols of her power.
Throughout the record, imagery involving the sea, destruction, and the loss of identity connects its four compositions. The project explores surrender not simply as defeat but as a process of transformation, drawing parallels between ancient narratives and contemporary experiences.
WYATT E. formed its musical identity around atmospheric doom compositions influenced by ancient Middle Eastern traditions. Following the release of its debut EP, Mount Sinai/Aswan, in 2015, the band signed with Jerusalem-based label Shalosh Cult, which released its debut full-length, Exile to Beyn Neharot, in 2017.
The group’s second album, āl bēlūti dārû (The Eternal City), was mixed by Billy Anderson, known for his work with SLEEP, OM, and MELVINS. The release was followed by an extensive touring schedule that included 95 performances across Europe and the Middle East.
Additional projects included contributions to the soundtrack of the film Bowling Saturne and a Roadburn-commissioned collaboration with FIVE THE HIEROPHANT and vocalist Tomer Damsky under the name ATONIA.
In 2025, WYATT E. signed with Heavy Psych Sounds Records for the release of zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu Part 1. The band has also performed at festivals including Roadburn, Mystic Festival, Desertfest, ArcTanGent, Duna Jam, and Stoned From The Underground.
Armour of Surrender will be released on January 29, 2027, through Heavy Psych Sounds Records.