As they prepare to follow up their latest list-topping, Billboard-busting album, Horrendous are kicking off 2026 by celebrating the record that has come to define the band’s steady upward trajectory.
Come January, Philadelphia’s finest death metal band will perform two special shows in New York City and Baltimore to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Anareta, which Decibel Magazine named the best album of 2015. During both shows, the band will play the album in full.
“This album was forged during a period of intense inspiration and drive”, Horrendous says about Anareta. “We were honing our sound while exploring new territory, and felt like we were truly becoming ourselves”.
“We are excited to reanimate these songs, many of which have not been performed in years, and to breathe new life into this record that propelled the band down our current trajectory”, the band continues. “We hope you’ll join us to toast Anareta! We will shortly be entering hibernation to focus our efforts on writing our sixth album”.
Horrendous Celebrating 10 Years of Anareta January 23 – New York, NY @ TV Eye [TICKETS] January 24 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery [TICKETS]
Horrendous’ latest album Ontological Mysterium is now available on Season of Mist.
Tracklist: 1. The Blaze (02:00) 2. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16) 3. Neon Leviathan (03:30) 4. Aurora Neoterica (01:56) 4. Preterition Hymn (03:58) [WATCH] 5. Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24) [WATCH] 6. Exeg(en)esis, (03:38) 7. Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH] 8. The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20) Total run time: 37:44
“Surprises always come up during writing — spontaneous ideas pull you into new territory and enable the realization of novel possibilities that previously were inaccessible.”
Such are the words from Horrendous drummer Jamie Knox when discussing the creation of the band’s fifth full-length, the highly anticipated ‘Ontological Mysterium’. Knox’s quote also encapsulates Horrendous’s approach to extreme metal. Since 2009, the band has capably tapped into the inaccessible by providing a fresh, unconventional take on death metal that harnesses technical brilliance with elaborate, mind-melding melodies, frothy, spewing vocals and labyrinthine song structures. This combination has made each Horrendous long play a clinic in the gratifyingly unorthodox. The trend continues on Ontological Mysterium.
The follow-up to 2018’s Idol was recorded, mixed and mastered at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in Virginia, which doubles as the homestead of guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring. While the band (completed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Knox and bassist Alex Kulick) finished much of the songwriting for Ontological Mysterium in 2019, its recording was delayed by the 2020 global pandemic and various life events. Horrendous eventually finished recording in early 2022 and mastered the album before the start of 2023.
The album upholds Horrendous’s position as one of the underground’s best outside-of-the-box extreme metal bands. Having long abandoned concern whether people would appreciate their “uniqueness,” Horrendous has embraced its role as a band willing to veer far from death metal conventions, intentionally stretching and breaking norms. To wit, the band primarily views its music as filtered through a death metal lens. This may be Horrendous’s defining trait: By not accepting parameters, nothing is off-limits.
Lineup: Damian Herring – Guitar, Vocals Matt Knox – Guitar, Vocals Alex Kulick – Bass Jamie Knox – Drums
Producer / Sound Engineer / Mixing / Mastering: Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studio,Arlington, VA, USA
This month marks one year since Horrendous brought the metal realm to its knees in worship of Ontological Mysterium. After exploding from the underground in 2018 with the cultishly beloved Idol, last year, the Philadelphia death metal band were the toast of the genre’s critics.
Decibel, Metal Injection, BangerTV and Metal Hammer all listed Ontological Mysterium high atop their 2023 best-of lists, often right alongside the band’s recent tour mates Tomb Mold. The album also cracked the Billboard charts, climbing well inside the Top 10 of the Current Hard Music Albums.
Today, Horrendous are celebrating the first anniversary of Ontological Mysterium with their first-ever music video. The album’s slow-burning triump “Preterition Hymn” now comes with a glorious film treatment that’s worthy of a Viking funeral.
“Our long awaited video debut is a symbolic journey through the lyrical themes of ‘Preterition Hymn'”, the band says. “It’s a psalm for the lowly and the damned, the Preterite and the passed over, sitting beneath the feet of the elect. Our downtrodden heroes are driven in chains by a mournful god to their final trial in this realm, sounding their last desperate cries in defiance of the fate bestowed upon them–and upon all of us. Is their sacrifice enough to win salvation? To rise in glorious flames? In communion with the spirit of the song, we endured the pain of icy November waters, risking life and limb to capture and offer up an authentic sacrifice in the name of the Preterite ones. Lift your voices along with our heroes that you may ascend before the tides rise again…”
Ontological Mysterium is available now through Season of Mist.
Later this year, Horrendous are celebrating another anniversary when their second album celebrates its 10-year anniversary. In honor of Ecdysis, the band will play the entire album during a special set in front of their hometown faithful at Decibel‘s upcoming 20th Anniversary Show.
Horrendous 10th Anniversary Set of Ecdysis Live @ Decibel‘s 20th Anniversary Show w/ Autopsy + Immolation
August 31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl [TICKETS]
“This will be a special day for us,” the band says. “Ecdysis was a significant milestone in our musical journey. Three of the album’s songs have never been performed live, and many others have not been played in years. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate – long live the Vermillion!”
Tracklist: 1. The Blaze (02:00) 2. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16) 3. Neon Leviathan (03:30) 4. Aurora Neoterica (01:56) 4. Preterition Hymn (03:58) [WATCH] 5. Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24) [WATCH] 6. Exeg(en)esis, (03:38) 7. Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH] 8. The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20) Total run time: 37:44
“Surprises always come up during writing — spontaneous ideas pull you into new territory and enable the realization of novel possibilities that previously were inaccessible.”
Such are the words from Horrendous drummer Jamie Knox when discussing the creation of the band’s fifth full-length, the highly anticipated ‘Ontological Mysterium’. Knox’s quote also encapsulates Horrendous’s approach to extreme metal. Since 2009, the band has capably tapped into the inaccessible by providing a fresh, unconventional take on death metal that harnesses technical brilliance with elaborate, mind-melding melodies, frothy, spewing vocals and labyrinthine song structures. This combination has made each Horrendous long play a clinic in the gratifyingly unorthodox. The trend continues on Ontological Mysterium.
The follow-up to 2018’s Idol was recorded, mixed and mastered at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in Virginia, which doubles as the homestead of guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring. While the band (completed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Knox and bassist Alex Kulick) finished much of the songwriting for Ontological Mysterium in 2019, its recording was delayed by the 2020 global pandemic and various life events. Horrendous eventually finished recording in early 2022 and mastered the album before the start of 2023.
The album upholds Horrendous’s position as one of the underground’s best outside-of-the-box extreme metal bands. Having long abandoned concern whether people would appreciate their “uniqueness,” Horrendous has embraced its role as a band willing to veer far from death metal conventions, intentionally stretching and breaking norms. To wit, the band primarily views its music as filtered through a death metal lens. This may be Horrendous’s defining trait: By not accepting parameters, nothing is off-limits.
Lineup: Damian Herring – Guitar, Vocals Matt Knox – Guitar, Vocals Alex Kulick – Bass Jamie Knox – Drums
Producer / Sound Engineer / Mixing / Mastering: Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studio,Arlington, VA, USA
Metalheads everywhere are still having a hard time deciding whether to crown Ontological Mysterium or The Enduring Spirit as the best album of 2023. They don’t have to choose any longer, because Horrendous are going on tour with Tomb Mold.
Let your chariots ride this summer with two of this generation’s most celebrated death metal bands. The tour starts in Tomb Mold’s native cavern of Toronto before blazing into Horrendous’ hometown of Philadelphia. From there, these kindred spirits will crush their way down the East Coast before spinning heads during a final transcendent performance in Brooklyn, New York.
“Ever since an all-too-brief weekend stint of live shows in 2018 with the masterminds behind Tomb Mold, we’ve dreamed of uniting forces for something greater”, Horrendous says. “Six years later, the time has finally arrived! Join us in our pilgrimage across Canada, the Midwest, the South and the East Coast as we tour in celebration of Ontological Mysterium and The Enduring Spirit. You don’t want to miss what will surely become a historic moment for genre-defying, boundary-pushing, thought-provoking death metal”.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 26 at 10 am local time, at this location.
Tomb Mold and Horrendous Enraptured By Fate’s Tangled Thread Tour July 4 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace July 5 – Montreal, QC @ Les FouFounes Electriques July 6 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East / Downstairs July 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts July 9 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups July 10 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary July 11 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle July 12 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies July 13 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club July 14 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar July 16 – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well July 17 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada July 18 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberia July 19 – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Social & Supply July 20 – Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub July 21 – Miami, FL @ Gramps July 23 – Greenville, SC @ New Radio Room July 24 – Raleigh, NC @ Chapel of Bones July 25 – Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club July 26 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery July 27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Monarch
Ontological Mysterium is a labyrinth. The deeper in you go, the more this album twists and churns, luring you toward some monstrous final battle. The riffs on the title track slice like the blades of an Apache helicopter, while the battle cry that opens “Cult of Shaad’oah” will make you feel like you’re about to carve up a volcano full of giant, flaming snake warriors.
“Somehow these guys can take Iron Maiden, mesh it with ’90s prog-influenced death metal masters like Atheist, dispense with traditional metal song structures and create something that you’ve never heard before”, writes Metal Injection.
Lambgoatsays “Ontological Mysterium is a pholosophical treat cloistered within some of the most ravenously delectable death metal you could subject yourself to this year, perhaps ever”.
HORRENDOUS didn’t just drop what’s arguably the best album of their career. They made one of the best death metal albums in recent memory, according to Metal Sucks.
Don’t miss your chance to hear ‘Ontological Mysterium’ in all its twisted glory. Philly’s finest and filthiest death metal band are celebrating their new record with a special run of shows to kick off the new year. As if that wasn’t enough of a holiday bonus, they’ll be joined by fellow statesmen Outer Heaven.
Ontological Mysterium Record Release Shows December 27, 2023: Worcester, MA @ Ralph’s Rock Diner [TICKETS] December 28, 2023: Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts [TICKETS] December 29, 2023: Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus Bar [TICKETS] January 13, 2024: Richmond, VA @ Bandito’s* January 14, 2024: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery [TICKETS]
*No Outer Heaven
Horrendous were on the cover of the September issue of Decibel magazine. Order a copy and get an exclusive limited edition The Silver flexi disc.
“After years of incredible support from Decibel Magazine, we are honored to make it to the cover of Decibel“, the band says. “Eternal thanks to Albert Mudrian for always believing in our music, Mike Wohlberg for all of his artistic contributions to the band, and Scott Kinkade for capturing us masterfully, and everyone out there who has supported us.”
‘Ontological Mysterium’ is a labyrinth. The deeper in you go, the more this album twists and churns, luring you toward some monstrous final battle. The riffs on the title track slice like the blades of an Apache helicopter, while the battle cry that opens “Cult of Shaad’oah” will make you feel like you’re about to carve up a volcano full of giant, flaming snake warriors.
“Somehow these guys can take Iron Maiden, mesh it with ’90s prog-influenced death metal masters like Atheist, dispense with traditional metal song structures and create something that you’ve never heard before”, writes Metal Injection.
Lambgoatsays “Ontological Mysterium is a pholosophical treat cloistered within some of the most ravenously delectable death metal you could subject yourself to this year, perhaps ever”.
Tracklist: 1. The Blaze (02:00) 2. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16) 3. Neon Leviathan (03:30) 4. Aurora Neoterica (01:56) 4. Preterition Hymn (03:58) [LISTEN] 5. Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24) [WATCH] 6. Exeg(en)esis, (03:38) 7. Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH] 8. The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20) Total run time: 37:44
“Surprises always come up during writing — spontaneous ideas pull you into new territory and enable the realization of novel possibilities that previously were inaccessible.”
Such are the words from Horrendous drummer Jamie Knox when discussing the creation of the band’s fifth full-length, the highly anticipated ‘Ontological Mysterium’. Knox’s quote also encapsulates Horrendous’s approach to extreme metal. Since 2009, the band has capably tapped into the inaccessible by providing a fresh, unconventional take on death metal that harnesses technical brilliance with elaborate, mind-melding melodies, frothy, spewing vocals and labyrinthine song structures. This combination has made each Horrendous long play a clinic in the gratifyingly unorthodox. The trend continues on Ontological Mysterium.
The follow-up to 2018’s Idol was recorded, mixed and mastered at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in Virginia, which doubles as the homestead of guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring. While the band (completed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Knox and bassist Alex Kulick) finished much of the songwriting for Ontological Mysterium in 2019, its recording was delayed by the 2020 global pandemic and various life events. Horrendous eventually finished recording in early 2022 and mastered the album before the start of 2023.
The album upholds Horrendous’s position as one of the underground’s best outside-of-the-box extreme metal bands. Having long abandoned concern whether people would appreciate their “uniqueness,” Horrendous has embraced its role as a band willing to veer far from death metal conventions, intentionally stretching and breaking norms. To wit, the band primarily views its music as filtered through a death metal lens. This may be Horrendous’s defining trait: By not accepting parameters, nothing is off-limits.
Lineup: Damian Herring – Guitar, Vocals Matt Knox – Guitar, Vocals Alex Kulick – Bass Jamie Knox – Drums
Producer / Sound Engineer / Mixing / Mastering: Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studio,Arlington, VA, USA
The time is finally here! HORRENDOUS is now streaming their entire new album ‘Ontological Mysterium‘ in advance of the release date! The new offering will drop worldwide on the 18th of August, but can already be listened to in full HERE.
When Horrendous started writing their fifth album, Philly’s filthiest and finest death metal band wanted to channel the bombast of classic late ’80s and early ’90s heavy metal. They were awfully successful, too. But with ‘Ontological Mysterium’ these guys made a classic of their own.
HORRENDOUS comments: “We can’t believe the time has come to unveil Ontological Mysterium! An indescribable amount of determination, suffering, joy, and love went into this record, from the first seeds of writing in early 2019, through periods of extreme rethinking and revision over the pandemic lockdown, to the adrenaline-fueled, highly experimental, and at times circus-like recording sessions. We feel that this is the most “Horrendous” album yet – the one that best distills who we are and celebrates how far we’ve come on this continuing journey. We hope that you enjoy OM, and that it breathes some wonder into your life during these trying times.”
In celebration of this great news, HORRENDOUS are hosting a listening party for their new album on Bandcamp tomorrow at 9 pm EST. Fans can listen to the album while chatting with members of the band. RSVP for the listening party HERE.
Order “Ontological Mysterium + Limited Vinyl Frankenstein edition with Daniel Warren Johnson poster HERE and Download/stream the albumHERE
The cover artwork for “Ontological Mysterium” was designed by Brian Smith.
Tracklist: 1. The Blaze (02:00) 2. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16) 3. Neon Leviathan (03:30) 4. Aurora Neoterica (01:56) 5. Preterition Hymn (03:58) [LISTEN HERE] 6. Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24) 7. Exeg(en)esis, (03:38) 8. Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH HERE] 9. The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20) Total run time: 37:44
“Surprises always come up during writing — spontaneous ideas pull you into new territory and enable the realization of novel possibilities that previously were inaccessible.”
Such are the words from HORRENDOUS drummer Jamie Knox when discussing the creation of the band’s fifth full-length, the highly anticipated Ontological Mysterium. Knox’s quote also encapsulates HORRENDOUS’s approach to extreme metal. Since 2009, the band has capably tapped into the inaccessible by providing a fresh, unconventional take on death metal that harnesses technical brilliance with elaborate, mind-melding melodies, frothy, spewing vocals and labyrinthine song structures. This combination has made each HORRENDOUS long player a clinic in the gratifyingly unorthodox. The trend continues on Ontological Mysterium.
The follow-up to 2018’s Idol was recorded, mixed and mastered at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in Virginia, which doubles as the homestead of guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring. While the band (completed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Knox and bassist Alex Kulick) finished much of the songwriting for Ontological Mysterium in 2019, its recording was delayed by the 2020 global pandemic and various life events. HORRENDOUS eventually finished recording in early 2022 and mastered the album before the start of 2023.
The album upholds HORRENDOUS’s position as one of the underground’s best outside-of-the-box extreme metal bands. Having long abandoned concern whether people would appreciate their “uniqueness,” HORRENDOUS has embraced its role as a band willing to veer far from death metal conventions, intentionally stretching and breaking norms. To wit, the band primarily views its music as filtered through a death metal lens. This may be HORRENDOUS’s defining trait: By not accepting parameters, nothing is off-limits.
In comparison to the complex, off-kilter vibe of Idol, Ontological Mysterium emerges as a more direct, if not confident, album, at times, recalling HORRENDOUS’s critically acclaimed 2015 opus, Anareta. The vocals of Matt Knox and Herring serve up an array of asphyxiating, phlegm-filled volleys that remain the ideal counterpoint to the band’s jarring, multifaceted material. Moreover, HORRENDOUS remains unafraid to adorn their songs with lavish guitar melodies to offset frequently strenuous riffing. But the members of HORRENDOUS have long cited their affinity for metal’s glory years. It ended up being one of the defining traits of their new album.
“Ontological Mysterium is partly our love letter to the bombastic spirit of heavy metal from the ’80s and early ’90s,” says Matt Knox.
“Yet, even as it looks back on this legacy, it also gazes ahead to the future — an aural head of Janus encompassing our love of the genre while also forging a new vision for its future,” continues Jamie Knox. “We set out to expand the technicality from Idol and to continue to challenge ourselves musically while leaning more heavily into the ‘anthemic’ heavy metal feeling that better permeated some of our pre-Idol material — that larger-than-life vibe that makes all the greats like Judas Priest great. We wanted to make this record more immediately fun. As always, we try to surprise ourselves with new ideas for structures and rhythms so that the material feels fresh. Our sphere of influences is ever expanding as we evolve as music listeners.”
Jamie Knox notes HORRENDOUS’s penchant for spontaneous jams at the start of band practice as the catalyst for several Ontological Mysterium cuts, notably “Exeg(en)ensis,” one of their most unpredictable songs to date. “We just hit record on someone’s iPhone during the jam and realized that we had ‘composed’ something that felt like a song, but with a very specific, lively energy,” he says. “Something that still feels like HORRENDOUS, but almost from a different vantage point. We crafted the song’s basic structure from the jam’s ideas, filled in a few gaps, and made an effort to inject some of that spontaneity during the recording process.”
The Ontological Mysterium title translates to the “mystery of being.” HORRENDOUS has previously tackled a wide range of topics dealing with the human psyche and matters of the existential. According to Jamie Knox, HORRENDOUS opted to deal with broad themes of growth and evolution — with a more positive bent.
“This wasn’t something preconceived,” he says. “I think it just reflects what was on our mind over these last hectic years. I wouldn’t say the lyrics were a direct reaction to Idol, but I think one could view them as stepping beyond that negativity and moving forward into a different and necessary future — one in which you step up as the protagonist. Perhaps these lyrics do serve as a sequel to some of the Idol material.” The release of Ontological Mysterium will carry HORRENDOUS into 2024 — the band’s 15th anniversary. The members of HORRENDOUS have long walked the delicate tightrope between their passion for the band and their responsibilities back home. The period surrounding Idol prompted soul-searching amongst the band (Jamie Knox calls them “comparatively bleak times”), but it appears HORRENDOUS is ready to hit the ground running to support their newest creation.
“At this point, we want to wave the HORRENDOUS banner high in a way that we perhaps didn’t around Idol and continue on this path that we’ve forged,” says Jamie Knox. “We are very proud of Ontological Mysterium and what our band has become — it’s almost like we’ve figured out how to make this band work amidst the wildness of adult life. This entity feels worth celebrating and feeding to see where it might take us next. “We didn’t give Idol its fair due on the road,” he closes. “We plan to play much more this time around and in new places like Europe. The first round of shows to support the album is in the works now, and more will follow with time. Also, Ontological Mysterium definitely will not be our last album. While it has become more difficult to meet, we have an abundance of new material and ideas and are eager to begin shaping what will ultimately become our sixth album. I’m sure we’ll start the process soon.”
Recording Studio: Subterranean Watchtower Studio Mixing + Mastering: Damian Herring
Line-up: Matthew Knox Jamie Knox Damian Herring Alex Kulick
Philly’s finest and filthiest death metal band HORRENDOUS leave no stone unturned. While still on their grand US tour, the band is releasing their third track “Preterition Hymn”! The song is taken from the album ‘Ontological Mysterium‘, which will be released worldwide on the 18th of August, 2023.
“Preterition Hymn” is of a different Satanic verse than the two previous singles. It’s still plenty sinister, with hellacious vocals that sound like the band is being burned alive. But it’s more of a slow burn. The twin guitars wring out a tortured but deeply melodic riff that drips like sweet, sweet tears.
HORRENDOUS comments: “Preterition Hymn is a lament for the weary and the damned–those who, like in the myth of Tantalus, can glimpse the golden fruits of knowledge and divinity yet are kept perpetually just out of reach by the tides of misfortune and fate. It is a hymn of longing infused with the faintest hope that our misery is merely the cleansing ablution necessary to don the robe of flames, free at last.”
Pre-order “Ontological Mysterium + Limited Vinyl Frankenstein edition with Daniel Warren Johnson poster HERE and pre-save HERE
The cover artwork, see above, for “Ontological Mysterium” was designed by Brian Smith.
Tracklist: 1. The Blaze (02:00) 2. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16) 3. Neon Leviathan (03:30) 4. Aurora Neoterica (01:56) 5. Preterition Hymn (03:58) [LISTEN HERE] 6. Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24) 7. Exeg(en)esis, (03:38) 8. Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH HERE] 9. The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20) Total run time: 37:44
Recording Studio: Subterranean Watchtower Studio Mixing + Mastering: Damian Herring
“Surprises always come up during writing — spontaneous ideas pull you into new territory and enable the realization of novel possibilities that previously were inaccessible.”
Such are the words from HORRENDOUS drummer Jamie Knox when discussing the creation of the band’s fifth full-length, the highly anticipated Ontological Mysterium. Knox’s quote also encapsulates HORRENDOUS’s approach to extreme metal. Since 2009, the band has capably tapped into the inaccessible by providing a fresh, unconventional take on death metal that harnesses technical brilliance with elaborate, mind-melding melodies, frothy, spewing vocals and labyrinthine song structures. This combination has made each HORRENDOUS long player a clinic in the gratifyingly unorthodox. The trend continues on Ontological Mysterium.
The follow-up to 2018’s Idol was recorded, mixed and mastered at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in Virginia, which doubles as the homestead of guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring. While the band (completed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Knox and bassist Alex Kulick) finished much of the songwriting for Ontological Mysterium in 2019, its recording was delayed by the 2020 global pandemic and various life events. HORRENDOUS eventually finished recording in early 2022 and mastered the album before the start of 2023.
The album upholds HORRENDOUS’s position as one of the underground’s best outside-of-the-box extreme metal bands. Having long abandoned concern whether people would appreciate their “uniqueness,” HORRENDOUS has embraced its role as a band willing to veer far from death metal conventions, intentionally stretching and breaking norms. To wit, the band primarily views its music as filtered through a death metal lens. This may be HORRENDOUS’s defining trait: By not accepting parameters, nothing is off-limits.
In comparison to the complex, off-kilter vibe of Idol, Ontological Mysterium emerges as a more direct, if not confident, album, at times, recalling HORRENDOUS’s critically acclaimed 2015 opus, Anareta. The vocals of Matt Knox and Herring serve up an array of asphyxiating, phlegm-filled volleys that remain the ideal counterpoint to the band’s jarring, multifaceted material. Moreover, HORRENDOUS remains unafraid to adorn their songs with lavish guitar melodies to offset frequently strenuous riffing. But the members of HORRENDOUS have long cited their affinity for metal’s glory years. It ended up being one of the defining traits of their new album.
“Ontological Mysterium is partly our love letter to the bombastic spirit of heavy metal from the ’80s and early ’90s,” says Matt Knox.
“Yet, even as it looks back on this legacy, it also gazes ahead to the future — an aural head of Janus encompassing our love of the genre while also forging a new vision for its future,” continues Jamie Knox. “We set out to expand the technicality from Idol and to continue to challenge ourselves musically while leaning more heavily into the ‘anthemic’ heavy metal feeling that better permeated some of our pre-Idol material — that larger-than-life vibe that makes all the greats like Judas Priest great. We wanted to make this record more immediately fun. As always, we try to surprise ourselves with new ideas for structures and rhythms so that the material feels fresh. Our sphere of influences is ever expanding as we evolve as music listeners.”
Jamie Knox notes HORRENDOUS’s penchant for spontaneous jams at the start of band practice as the catalyst for several Ontological Mysterium cuts, notably “Exeg(en)ensis,” one of their most unpredictable songs to date. “We just hit record on someone’s iPhone during the jam and realized that we had ‘composed’ something that felt like a song, but with a very specific, lively energy,” he says. “Something that still feels like HORRENDOUS, but almost from a different vantage point. We crafted the song’s basic structure from the jam’s ideas, filled in a few gaps, and made an effort to inject some of that spontaneity during the recording process.”
The Ontological Mysterium title translates to the “mystery of being.” HORRENDOUS has previously tackled a wide range of topics dealing with the human psyche and matters of the existential. According to Jamie Knox, HORRENDOUS opted to deal with broad themes of growth and evolution — with a more positive bent.
“This wasn’t something preconceived,” he says. “I think it just reflects what was on our mind over these last hectic years. I wouldn’t say the lyrics were a direct reaction to Idol, but I think one could view them as stepping beyond that negativity and moving forward into a different and necessary future — one in which you step up as the protagonist. Perhaps these lyrics do serve as a sequel to some of the Idol material.” The release of Ontological Mysterium will carry HORRENDOUS into 2024 — the band’s 15th anniversary. The members of HORRENDOUS have long walked the delicate tightrope between their passion for the band and their responsibilities back home. The period surrounding Idol prompted soul-searching amongst the band (Jamie Knox calls them “comparatively bleak times”), but it appears HORRENDOUS is ready to hit the ground running to support their newest creation.
“At this point, we want to wave the HORRENDOUS banner high in a way that we perhaps didn’t around Idol and continue on this path that we’ve forged,” says Jamie Knox. “We are very proud of Ontological Mysterium and what our band has become — it’s almost like we’ve figured out how to make this band work amidst the wildness of adult life. This entity feels worth celebrating and feeding to see where it might take us next. “We didn’t give Idol its fair due on the road,” he closes. “We plan to play much more this time around and in new places like Europe. The first round of shows to support the album is in the works now, and more will follow with time. Also, Ontological Mysterium definitely will not be our last album. While it has become more difficult to meet, we have an abundance of new material and ideas and are eager to begin shaping what will ultimately become our sixth album. I’m sure we’ll start the process soon.”
Line-up: Matthew Knox Jamie Knox Damian Herring Alex Kulick
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