Ahead of the release of his third solo album Empyrean on 11th September and a forthcoming tour with Einar Solberg, later this month, acclaimed Canadian cellist and composer Raphael Weinroth-Browne unveils the album’s emotional centrepiece, 'Dissolution'. The new track is a mesmerising deconstruction of one of J. S. Bach’s most recognisable cello melodies, which gradually fractures from Baroque elegance into distortion, noise and near-abstract sound.
Originally composed for UK contemporary dance company James Wilton Dance and their production BACH Reimagined, the track sees Weinroth-Browne push his instrument to extraordinary extremes, using layered live-looping, effects and repetition to move from a sombre, funereal reimagining of the Sarabande from Bach’s Sixth Cello Suite through an increasingly dramatic and operatic crescendo before finally dissolving into pulsating waves of noise. It is a striking embodiment of Empyrean's fascination with transformation, impermanence and the fragile boundary between order and chaos, questioning what holds music, life and existence in harmony before everything inevitably begins to dissolve.
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/jXtf1D9y4sE
Listen to 'Dissolution' here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/raphaelweinrothbrowne/dissolution
Pre-order Empyrean album here: https://raphaelweinroth-browne.bandcamp.com/album/empyrean
Comments Raphael: "'Dissolution' was originally composed for the contemporary dance production BACH Reimagined with UK-based company James Wilton Dance. It is the centrepiece of the Empyrean album, and is most certainly its emotional apex. Of everything I have released as a solo artist, this is at once my most classical and experimental work to date.
"The piece is based around the opening melody from the Sarabande of the 6th Cello Suite by J. S. Bach. While the original movement is bright and hopeful, in a major key, here I decided to transpose it into minor, reharmonizing the melody to give it a sombre, funereal quality. The idea was to take a melody, strip it of its harmonic colouring, and gradually transform it using live looping and effects from Baroque purity into distorted noise over the course of many repeating cycles. What begins as a solemn chorale becomes a dramatic, almost operatic solo before giving way to a churning maelstrom of distortion not unlike something one might hear from Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and finally dissolving into pulsating waves of noise.
"When working on the music for the BACH Reimagined show, one of the concepts that James Wilton and I discussed was the convergence and collision of religion and science in the time of Bach and Sir Isaac Newton. With 'Dissolution', I wanted to explore that dichotomy - the intersection of beauty and abstraction - and to ask the question, “what keeps the music in harmony and prevents it from dissolving into chaos?”
"For the music video, I travelled all the way from Canada to the UK to shoot on the gorgeous north coast of Cornwall in a variety of spectacular caves, sand dunes, and in the ocean itself. Since 'Dissolution' felt like the pièce de résistance of both the BACH show and the Empyrean album, I really wanted to showcase the incredible dancing of James and Sarah with the video for this track, to highlight our collaboration and share it more widely beyond our performances on tour. The awe-inspiring power of nature and the elements is on full display here, giving the video a timeless, epic atmosphere."
The origins of forthcoming new album Empyrean itself are as cinematic as the music it contains. In 2024, Weinroth-Browne was commissioned by James Wilton Dance to compose an 80-minute score inspired by the music and legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach. What emerged became BACH Reimagined: a touring multidisciplinary work exploring immortality, artistic transcendence and the pursuit of the sublime through creation.
Rather than simply reinterpret Bach, Weinroth-Browne entered into dialogue with him across centuries. The resulting compositions fuse the purity and mathematical elegance of Baroque counterpoint with distorted textures, electronic ambience and towering rhythmic weight. Tracks such as 'Speed of Light' and 'Dissolution' plunge Bach-inspired motifs into vast storms of noise and metallic tension, while the meditative 'Sanctum' evokes Sufi mysticism and devotional stillness.
“At its core,” Weinroth-Browne explains, “Empyrean is about the search for the sublime. As artists, we spend our lives trying to create something that transcends the everyday, if only for a split second, as if to glimpse eternity through a keyhole.”
Captured at Union Sound Company in Toronto immediately following the sessions for 2025’s critically acclaimed Lifeblood, Empyrean finds Weinroth-Browne operating at the peak of his creative powers. The album was recorded and engineered by Darren McGill (Rush, The Dirty Nil), mixed by Adam Noble (Leprous, Katatonia) and mastered by Robin Schmidt (Leprous), resulting in a sound both immense and intimate, every bow stroke preserved with almost tactile immediacy. Artwork comes from London-based printmaker and collage artist Cally Conway, discovered by Weinroth-Browne in Brighton during the BACH tour.
Watch the videos for previous singles 'Speed of Light', 'Reflection' and 'Evocation', and discover Raphael's breathtaking standalone interpretation of Sleep Token's 'Fall For Me' released last month, showcasing yet another side of his remarkable artistry.
The forthcoming release follows a run of widespread critical acclaim. His 2020 debut Worlds Within was praised as "masterful" and "a stunning example of less being more," while 2025's Lifeblood saw Raphael further expand his sound into rich cinematic territory, earning praise as "a triumph of vision and virtuosity" and "the most ambitious album of Weinroth-Browne's career."
That same fearless boundary-pushing has made Weinroth-Browne an essential figure within modern progressive music. His cello work can be heard on hundreds of studio albums, including Woods of Ypres’ Juno Award-winning W5: Grey Skies & Electric Light and across many major film and TV soundtracks. Viral interpretations of Opeth, Katatonia and Steven Wilson have drawn direct praise from the artists themselves, further cementing his reputation as a boundaryless interpreter and composer.
Since joining Norwegian prog visionaries Leprous in 2016, he has performed over 200 shows worldwide and contributed to three of their studio albums, helping redefine the role of cello in progressive heavy music. Beyond Leprous, he has shared stages with Evanescence, Apocalyptica and Devin Townsend.
As a solo artist, Weinroth-Browne has become an ambassador for what the cello can be in the 21st century. He has made waves at prestigious festivals such as the Cello Biennale Amsterdam and the International Cello Festival of Canada and has opened for artists ranging from Polish neoclassical pianist Hania Rani to Nordic folk ensemble SKÁLD and Danish prog metal masters VOLA.
With a busy year of live performances, including a recent European tour with Earthside and an upcoming run alongside Einar Solberg, Raphael Weinroth-Browne continues to expand the possibilities of the cello. With Empyrean arriving later this year, he further cements his reputation as one of the instrument's most adventurous and distinctive modern voices.
Catch Raphael Weinroth-Browne live on the following dates:
September 18 – The Garage, London, UK (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 19 – Café de la Danse, Paris, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 20 – Le Rex, Toulouse, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 21 – La Rhapsodie, Biarritz, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 22 – Mouco, Porto, Portugal (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 23 – República da Música, Lisbon, Portugal (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 25 – Be Prog! My Friend, Barcelona, Spain (with Einar Solberg)
September 26 – L’Ampérage, Grenoble, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 27 – Euroblast Festival, Cologne, Germany (with Einar Solberg)
September 29 – Hype Park, Kraków, Poland (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 30 – Lido, Berlin, Germany (solo and with Einar Solberg)
October 1 – Gebläsehalle, Neunkirchen, Germany (solo and with Einar Solberg)
October 2 – Werkk Kulturlokal, Baden, Switzerland (solo and with Einar Solberg)
October 4 – ProgPower Europe, Baarlo, Netherlands (with Einar Solberg)
October 7 - Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, UK (BACH Reimagined with James Wilton Dance)
October 23 - Guelph, ON - Silence
October 24 - Guelph, ON - Silence
October 29 - Toronto, ON - Burdock Music Hall
November 6 - Ottawa, ON - Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre
Raphael Weinroth-Browne online:
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