From Martin Mendez, bassist of the ubiquitous OPETH comes WHITE STONES, a solo death metal project.Recently, they announced that their debut album named  “Kuarahy”  (pronounced Kwa-Ra-Hee) will be released on March 13th and today, Martin Mendez  reveals more about the band’s background and how it all came to be in a detailed statement.

“The name WHITE STONES is taken from the place where I grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay,” Martin explains. “I lived there until I moved to Sweden in 1996, when I was 17 years old. During that period of time, at that young age, you kind of form a base for yourself as an individual. A foundation for the person you will be the rest of your life. So I have many important moments and memories from my life that happened in this place. Now, having been away and living in completely different places for almost 24 years, forming my life and my family far away from there, I can still feel the connection and the weight this place has in my soul. It was there where I discovered heavy music, something that I remember making an impact in my life. I loved music already, ever since I was a kid, I grew up in a place where the radio was on all day. But the first time I heard metal it was special, I was around 11 years old.. it was like I’d been possessed by the sound and at that time I knew It would be part of me the rest of my life. It was there where I started playing the bass, around the same age. I’d spend hours and hours in a room practising and dreaming about how great it would be to record an album one day or something…

My goal was never to became a rockstar or be in a famous band at all. To be part of a record was absolutely the most extravagant idea I could dream about.  But I do remember how much I did enjoy playing music, I had it inside me. Like a major force that I couldn’t control. When I started playing music I kind of lost interest in everything else that I was doing at the moment. Specially 2 or 3 years later, when I started playing in bands, the first of which I started with my cousins. We used to rehearse inside my grandfather’s workplace which was next to our house, it was a carpenters workshop.

I was working there too, until I moved, 4 hours every morning. So I’d spend lots of hours surrounded by the smell of wood during those years. It’s a place that’s full of memories for me, and this is a nostalgic record. That’s why I named the band WHITE STONES. A tribute to my memories. To the place where I learned the most important of my values. The next album might be different, but this is something that I feel like I needed and wanted to do, and I feel very privileged to be able to reflect on those times in this way.”

Recently, WHITE STONES also kicked off the pre-order for “Kuarahy”. The album will be available on CD, LP and digitally. Pre-order your copy here.

The tracklist of “Kuarahy” reads as follows:
1.Kuarahy (1:24)
2.Rusty Shell (4:25)
3.Worms (3:57)
4.Drowned In Time (5:17)
5.The One (4:34)
6.Guyra (4:45)
7.Ashes (4:04)
8.Infected Soul (5:59)
9.Taste Of Blood (4:10)
10.Jasy (2:48)

The creative process for WHITE STONES’ debut album “Kuarahy” began during a year-long break OPETH took after the Sorceress tour, as a means of unwinding by exploring new avenues of creativity. Initially that’s all it was ever meant to be. “I’ve always written music at home but never had the confidence to do anything like this” says Mendez, “I never wrote a song, never presented something I wrote for Mikael (Åkerfeldt, Opeth singer/songwriter)” he continues. “I didn’t have any direction, I came up with the first song for fun. WHITE STONES has nothing to do with OPETH, I see no relation between the two. I played “Kuarahy” to Mikael a few months ago, he really liked it and was happy for me. Everyone in the band has side projects, it’s important. We tour so much you can become consumed by it; it has been really nice to do something different. WHITE STONES has renewed my strength and energy.”

Named after his birthplace in Uruguay, the record represents a return to his roots, both familial and musically. By exploring the forgotten paths of his ancestors via the style of music that remains his one true love – death metal. “I feel strongly connected to Uruguay still,” he reflects. “I wanted to write music related to that – the sun on the Uruguayan flag I transformed into the WHITE STONES logo; there are a lot of small things that connect the record to that place. “Kuarahy” is the native Uruguayan people’s word for ‘Sun’”, Mendezcomments.

“Kuarahy” was recorded at the Farm Of Sounds studios in Barcelona and produced by Martin Mendezhimself, while Jamie Gomez at the Orgone Studios in the UK was responsible for mixing and mastering.

WHITE STONES Live: 
March 20^th, Eindhoven, The Netherlands – Prognosis Festival

‘Worms’ (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx_vCsCII1g
‘Drowned In Time’ (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO): https://youtu.be/iOaUxtHDnb4
Get the single digitally here: https://nblast.de/WhiteStones-Drowned