London metalcore favourites Ithaca have released their final single.
The self-titled song, out today (May 20), comes as the five-piece prepare for their last-ever show, scheduled for Bristol’s Arctangent festival in August. They announced their impending split in October and played their final headline gig at London’s O2 Academy Islington in February.
Listen to Ithaca below.
The band comment: “Ithaca means home, the place you return to when the journey is complete. In this final song, we put this band to rest. Every memory, every tear, every laugh is in here. Thank you for everything. Om namo narayanaya.”
Ithaca formed in 2013 and released their debut album, The Language Of Injury, in 2019. They followed it up with They Fear Us in 2022. It received critical acclaim, including a near-perfect nine-out-of-10 review from Metal Hammer. Journalist Elliot Leaver wrote: “What a triumph this record is. Absolutely essential listening.”
When they announced their break-up, Ithaca chalked it up to an inability to balance their personal lives with the demands of the band.
“There’s been no falling out or creative differences, in fact we’re closer than ever,” they wrote. “We’re just no longer able to balance our life responsibilities with giving you the standard of art that you deserve, and feel like we’ve fulfilled more than our wildest dreams could have imagined in terms of where this band would take us. Now, we’re ready to put it to rest.”
In an interview with Hammer, lead singer Djamila Azzouz added that financial burdens also played a part.
“We can’t afford to be in a band,” she explained. “The point of success we reached with our last album was so amazing, beyond what we ever thought we could achieve, but in order for us to reach the next step up, we would have to sacrifice more than we can.”
Hammer attended Ithaca’s final headliner and wrote: “The energy and excitement can’t be denied, but they also make the knowledge of this band going away an even harsher reality.”
Arctangent will take place from August 13 to 16 at Fernhill Farm, Bristol. Wardruna, Tesseract, Karnivool and one more artist TBA will headline.
