Aral Sea Aral Sea The Aral Sea () was an endorheic lake (one with no outflow) lying between Kazakhstan (Aktobe and Kyzylorda Regions) in the north and Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan autonomous region) in the south. The name roughly translates as "Sea of Islands", referring to over 1,100 islands that had dotted its waters; in the Turkic languages "aral" means "island, archipelago". The Aral Sea drainage basin encompasses Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Iran. Formerly the fourth-largest lake in the world with an area of , the Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that
The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart said that the album is "brutal, fast and straight to the point". They also commented positively on the input of new drummer Eloy Casagrande, with Green explaining "It's been great working with Eloy in the writing process because it brings a whole different energy to the music. The many changes that have been going on in our lives and in the world also add to the making of the new album." Guitarist Andreas Kisser said of the album title: "I was inspired by a phrase which is the main message of the story: “The mediator between the head and hands