Beyond an Era Aaron Stainthorpe on New Forms of Darkness

 One of doom metal’s most distinctive voices discusses the unexpected birth of High Parasite, life after My Dying Bride, his bond with melancholy, poetry, and “The Forever People II” with The Choir of Agony.

Aaron Stainthorpe

INTRODUCTION

For more than three decades, Aaron Stainthorpe has been one of doom metal’s most recognisable voices. His work has never treated darkness as decoration. Grief, literature, stage fright and transformation have shaped both his lyrics and his presence as a performer. Following the end of his time with My Dying Bride, he is now opening a different path with High Parasite, a band built around shorter, more immediate songs and a sharp instinct for memorable hooks.

Speaking to Black Metal Chronicles, Stainthorpe discusses High Parasite’s unplanned beginnings, the movement between clean vocals and death growls, his life after My Dying Bride, unfinished poems and the present state of doom metal. At the centre of the conversation is a collaboration linking Türkiye, Brazil and the United Kingdom: “The Forever People II”, reimagined with The Choir of Agony and The Cross.

ARTIST PROFILE

Aaron Stainthorpe is an English vocalist and lyricist who spent more than three decades shaping the language of gothic death-doom metal as a founding member of My Dying Bride. He now stands with bassist, vocalist and songwriter Tombs at the creative centre of High Parasite. The band introduced its self-described “Death Pop” sound, moving between metal, gothic rock and dark synth-pop, on the 2024 debut album “Forever We Burn”. In September 2026, High Parasite released the standalone single “The Screams That Come” and confirmed that recording for its second studio album was complete.

High Parasite

 

INTERVIEW WITH AARON STAINTHORPE

By Senem Semiz & Zeynep Çolakoğlu  |  Black Metal Chronicles

You have returned with a brand-new project, High Parasite. How did the band come together? How would you describe the music you are making with High Parasite? Is this still Aaron Stainthorpe following his own path, or is it something genuinely new that you are allowing yourself to explore?

HP is most certainly a new thing for me! I didn’t create it; that was a guy called Tombs. He writes all the music and was looking for someone to sing death metal vocals, so he approached me. Then, before I knew it, I was part of the band! It happened very quickly and was not planned at all. HP is a sort of goth/rock/pop entity where the songs are short but very catchy, which is very refreshing for me, and I am loving it!

Your voice carries both clean singing and death growls, and they never feel like two separate choices; they feel like the same emotional current shifting registers. How did that duality develop in your technique over the years?

After years of death metal vocals, I was always going to dive into clean vocals at some point. I did a little with MDB back in the day but applied that technique more and more as my career went on, and so it seemed a natural thing to do with HP. I am perfectly happy doing either style these days.

You officially parted ways with My Dying Bride in October 2025. Is there anything you would like to say about that, or would you prefer to leave it where it is?

They kicked me out due to a huge misunderstanding, which is regretful, but I have to move on. I have not given up on the music, though, and much more of me singing MDB is coming...

Your lyrics are often described as literary or biblical, but I think the more precise word is deliberate. You have said that you never rewrite, that the emotion lives in the moment the pen meets the paper. What do you do with a lyric that arrives incomplete? Do you wait, or do you let it stay unfinished?

Good question! I have books filled with unfinished pieces, which I delve into from time to time, and I often put several of them together to form an entity of their own, sometimes as a lyric for music and sometimes as a poem. I never really stop writing. It’s just something I have to do.

Doom metal has always borrowed from literature, but your lyrics absorb it differently, as structure rather than reference. You do not quote Byron; you write the way he made you feel. Which writers, beyond the Romantics, have left that kind of structural residue in you, the ones you cannot read without hearing rhythm and weight?

It is true that I cut my teeth on second-generation Romantics like Byron, Shelley and Keats because that was what we had to learn in school, and I loved it! However, I keenly dove into wider material as I grew and matured, seeking unknown authors and quirky poets from libraries and old bookshops. I have hundreds of poetry books these days and have become something of a collector. There are too many poets I like for me to name them all here, so just head out on your own journey and make the discoveries for yourself.

My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Anathema came from the same part of England at roughly the same time, but the relationship between those bands was closer to rivalry than kinship. From your perspective, what was actually in the air in Bradford in the early 1990s? When you compare that moment with where doom metal stands today, what has the genre kept, and what has it lost?

It does seem quite the coincidence that all three bands emerged within five years of each other, in the North of England, and all signed to Peaceville Records. I suppose it was something in the water! But it was a great time for that genre, and the area. Every band worth their weight played in Bradford because it was THE cool place to be. And we had a good variety of venues too, to cater for all sizes. Those days are long gone now, but the spirit still remains. And the genre is huge, with many spin-off branches all helping to keep the scene healthy. It might seem miserable, but it’s still fun.

Some people who spend years inside doom metal eventually step away from it. They say the darkness becomes too heavy over time, that it starts to feel less like catharsis and more like weight. You have lived inside this music for over thirty years. How do you think about the relationship between melancholy and the people who need it, and those who eventually leave it behind?

I completely understand why people love it, need it and leave it. The scene is darkly heavy and overwhelming at times, and folk dip in when the need arises, and once satiated, move along to something lighter and more easily consumed. I, however, love it. The sheer weight! The sharp darkness. The palpable nuances of grief. It feeds me, and in return, I give it back everything I have. I’m not so much trapped here; I’m guarding the gates!

The way music reaches people has changed completely since My Dying Bride released “Turn Loose the Swans”. Record labels, media and the underground scene are all different now. When you look at new bands coming through, what do you see? Does today’s metal infrastructure support the kind of music you have spent your life making, or does it work against it?

There is good and bad in everything, and ways to make things work and ways to fail. The music business is all these things! Starting out as a new band these days must be very difficult, as there are almost too many ways to get your tunes heard. Back in the old days, we just gave it to the label and they released it, then we went on a promo tour to speak with the magazines. Nice and simple. Now it’s a bloody nightmare! There is a sea out there waiting for new bands to navigate it, but beware! It is fraught with hidden surprises and sharks!

You have said that the nervous energy before a show transforms you into the character you become on stage. With My Dying Bride, you also said that character came at a cost, because reliving those words each night was mentally draining. Who is the man who walks off stage after saying “goodnight”? How long does it take him to come back?

I have no idea how this came about. It was just me terrified of going on stage, and that terror transformed me into another character, one with the strength to go through it. I am lost in a dream when I am performing, becoming the people I wrote about and living the turmoil I put them through, which may well be karma! Before going on stage, I am on the point of physical sickness and want to be anywhere else in the world but there. After the show, good or bad, I take some time to come back down to a normal human who can talk coherently and understand what is being said to me. It is far from ideal, but it is who I am.

Working on “The Forever People II” with The Choir of Agony and The Cross connected you with a new generation of doom from a very different geography. The original “The Forever People” belonged to My Dying Bride, and now it has been transformed into something entirely new. What was it like to step into this special project?

I love the new version! It was a great pleasure to be able to take part in it. Hearing an old song transformed into something bright and new was exhilarating. I love hearing MDB songs performed by other bands, as it often sheds light on things I wasn’t even aware of when we recorded them!

We know you have been in talks with Prophecy Records about a poetry book, possibly accompanied by a recording of you reading the poems to music. Could you tell us more about it?

I have chatted a bit with them, yes, and hope that it develops into something tangible, but let us see. A poetry book IS coming; it’s just a case of who will give me the best help and advice. And if I decide to self-publish, I will let everyone know where to get hold of it, but ideally, a publisher is my aim. I have been writing for over thirty years, and it is about time I shared my literature with others.

Aaron Stainthorpe

If it were your last evening on Earth and you had one glass of wine and one piece of music playing in the background, what would you choose? Not what pairs well by any rule. What would feel true?

A lovely bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, at room temperature, and the entire recording of “The Serpent’s Egg” by Dead Can Dance. Perfection.

CLOSING WORDS

“The Forever People II” brings Aaron Stainthorpe together with the Turkish gothic death-doom band The Choir of Agony and the Brazilian doom metal band The Cross. The collaboration does not simply repeat an older song. It allows musicians from Türkiye, Brazil and the United Kingdom to place a familiar piece of doom history inside a new international context.

Stainthorpe’s response captures the point of the project. Hearing the song become “something bright and new” shows that he does not regard his musical past as a sealed monument. In the hands of other musicians, it can reveal details that were not even visible when the original was recorded.

“I love the new version!
It was a great pleasure to be able to take part in it.”

INTERVIEW CREDITS

Special thanks to Aaron Stainthorpe for his time, candour and continuing contribution to the international doom metal scene.

High Parasite | Spinefarm artist page

High Parasite | Instagram

The Choir of Agony | Instagram

The Forever People II | Black Metal Chronicles

The Choir of Agony | Spotify

The Body Severed from the Shadow: Re-Opening Old Wounds and the Birth of Shining

On Niklas Kvarforth’s Re-Opening Old Wounds

By Zeynep Çolakoğlu

“But if I hammer a word in like a nail, I want it to fester within the sentence like a wound pierced with a hundred holes.”

Antonin Artaud, Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society²

 

I close my eyes. In my glass is a Thracian Cabernet Sauvignon staring into suffering³. Scenes unfold one after another, and I cannot open my eyes again.

I read Niklas Kvarforth’s Re-Opening Old Wounds while listening to Shining’s discography. This is not merely a biography recounting the band’s past. It tells of Shining’s birth, its transformations and the agonising journey towards Halmstad, from within the mind that created it.

This work occupies a place apart from other autobiographical books that focus on the wasted efforts, suffering, deprivation and processes of value creation hidden behind success. For there is real darkness here: one that flays the skin from words and tears apart the body of memory. In Kvarforth’s world, self-destruction and suicide become a dark aesthetic; death is the only truth.

It is only a book, I tell myself. At most, it should smell of the vanillin released by the breakdown of lignin. But no, it does not. Sulphur settles over its pages, and Pandemonium’s smoke rises. I should have known from the sharpening of its words. Each page makes a separate cut, opens another wound.

You wander through Kvarforth’s cells. The book consumes you the way an ancient vampire drains your blood. The strains of Shining, never absent from your ears, become part of the experience. Once you open the cover, you find yourself face to face with truth in its ugliest form. Until you close the final page, you have to bear witness to this darkness collapsing over you.

It is worth it.

Opening the Cover, Opening the Wound

Re-Opening Old Wounds is not a book for everyone. For readers who do not want to face Kvarforth’s merciless ideas about human nature, his hatred of society and the destruction he turns upon himself, stepping back may be an understandable choice.

The human soul is not always a kind of Purgatory in which good and evil change places according to circumstance. There are also misanthropic souls living in absolute solitude, feeling no bond with humanity. This book leads the reader into such a mind, or offers a familiar universe to those already there.

If you dare, you can meet his world by opening the wound.

By the wound, I mean the pages of the book.

The book’s most important value lies in providing direct access to Shining’s inner history. In the media, the band has often become visible not through its musical structure and artistic transformation, but through Kvarforth’s behaviour, stage performances and rhetoric of violence, blood and suicide. Sensationalism eclipsed the music. Re-Opening Old Wounds moves beyond this superficial narrative by revealing the creative process behind the songs and albums.

Readers who were able to access When Prozac No Longer Helps in English or through translations into their own languages will have discovered the depth of Shining’s lyrics. Yet Re-Opening Old Wounds reveals the deeper meanings of those lyrics by recounting the conditions in which the words were born, what happened and the transformation the music underwent.

As one of the translators who carried Kvarforth’s voice into Turkish through song lyrics, what struck me most about him was his sincerity and the reality behind his words. Unlike people who move through life in masks, chasing spectacle or seeking the approval of the Big Other, Kvarforth rejects social norms, curses humanity and has bound himself, with blood and passion, to the art he has created from the beginning.

There is a dark conviction within him: No matter what happens, you will create.

The Geography Where Darkness Was Born

In the book, the Swedish black metal scene becomes part of the story alongside musicians, producers and organisers. Reading it feels like a journey into Scandinavia’s past, where black metal took shape around hatred, pain and misanthropic thought. There is a formation spreading slowly underground like couch grass. Inspired by the music, people begin to gather in bars, rehearsal rooms, studios and at concerts. We see all of this through Kvarforth’s eyes, looking beyond the movement’s dusty and sulphurous atmosphere.

The veins that feed black metal have never run in only one direction. Although death, misanthropy and melancholy are important parts of this darkness, literature, philosophy, mythology and occultism have also seeped into the genre’s atmosphere. Indeed, while translating musicians’ works, I sensed that the smell of books had always permeated black metal. Some will recognise traces of Stig Dagerman in Shining’s lyrics. Pär Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf also inhabits this literary darkness. These are disquieting works that rain desolation and isolation down upon the reader from different angles.

Re-Opening Old Wounds shows how the Shining sound was born from dark abysses, while also making us reconsider the power of music. It is not easy to understand how it passes from one soul to another, how it affects the listener, how, in musicians’ lives, it can turn into an assault and how it can slowly dissolve certain lives.

The Heartbeats of a Place

Have you ever heard the existential agony of a place or the heartbeat of its walls?

In the universe of horror, a place absorbs the life that touches it. When you learn about the setting in which Within Deep Dark Chambers was created, you witness how the soul of that place took on the form of melodies.

Learning the ominous stories behind the songs and reading them in parallel with the lyrics gave me a pleasure close to jouissance. A pleasure born from discomfort, offering no comfort.

The stories of how the songs were born should be read while listening to the albums. The darkness that Claws of Perdition casts across two separate albums is a good example⁴. Because Claws of Perdition is not merely a song; it has become a vessel for loss, repetition and destruction in Shining’s history.

Towards Halmstad

The movement and excitement at the beginning of the book slow as the narrative approaches the Halmstad era. Reading the rush of the early chapters was as thrilling as moving through a suspense story. Towards the end, as more people and details enter the narrative, this momentum fades somewhat.

Yet the tragicomic part was that my entire effort as a reader had already been directed towards reaching this point. I wanted to see how Kvarforth’s path crossed with Peter Huss and how Halmstad was created. By the end of the book, you realise that you have witnessed how this album was constructed from the very beginning.

Halmstad is the album that made Shining Shining. It is not a work that can be heard in fragments. It is a whole that falls like a hammer and, once begun, must be heard to the end.

In the book, Shining’s blood-soaked concerts, violence, outbursts of rage and tours filled with madness become a dizzying birth story. Line by line, we read the price of dedicating oneself to a work and overturning one’s life for its sake.

As people’s names lose their meaning over time, the tracks gain more meaning. The acoustic guitars in Besvikelsens Dystra Monotoni, the progressive structure that moves beyond the rules in order to reach the essence of black metal, the rage grinning through the vocals on The Eerie Cold and that black sound reaching maturity on Halmstad acquire their own stories within the book.

We expect to read where those absurd words at the beginning of The Eerie Cold came from, how the Halmstad line-up was formed so unexpectedly, and about the constant problems with record labels, only to learn of a production ordeal worse than any of them.

These take Shining’s history beyond a list of albums and dates and turn it into an agonising process of creation.

The Body Severed from the Shadow

Shining is, in fact, Kvarforth’s shadow-being. What breathes life into it again and again is his mind-piercing music, which leaves its trace everywhere.

By the end of the book, you feel Shining break away from Kvarforth’s shadow-self and acquire an independent existence. It lives, breathes, hates, and curses. It has a language that will make your skin crawl wherever you hear it.

This shudder is not always pleasant. It is the kind that could tear apart anyone without an inclination towards melancholy.

But is that not the point?

To make one more cut directly over the wounds!

Black metal’s historical relationship with death, misanthropy and melancholy takes on a more personal and psychological form in Shining’s music. What matters here is not only the genre’s dark heritage, but how Kvarforth reshapes it through his own shadow-self.

Violence, self-destruction, madness, blood, stitch marks and what happened in the darkness of the north pile up on the book’s pages. Yet beneath all this, the urge to create remains. Shining suffers, presses hard against human loneliness, materialises its struggles and keeps moving forward with the dark fantasy in its mind.

I read the book breathlessly, constantly thinking of the next page. It was striking to witness what kind of body Shining evolved into after the journeys of suffering that ran through its stormy career.

Guided by Kvarforth’s voice, I felt myself moving step by step through the albums, watching their births and hearing their labour pains. The imagery formed in my mind probably came from the sincerity and emotional inflection of his narration.

This is a story of Shining told through venomous language and an ironic gaze, yet strangely full of life. It carries on as far as Halmstad; clearly, there is more to come.

What you hold in your hands is the history of Shining, damned beneath a sulphurous sky.

A gift bestowed upon Nietzsche’s grandchildren to shatter morality.

In short, a one-way ticket to hell.

Nothing could darken your life further.

Niklas Kvarfoth. Photo credit: Claudio Marino.

Notes:

1 Niklas Kvarforth, Re-Opening Old Wounds: The Official Shining Biography, Book One (The Sinister Print, 2026).

Re-Opening Old Wounds: Book One, Official Page

2 Antonin Artaud, Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society, trans. Atakan Karaduman, Istanbul: 6:45 Yayın, 2026, p. 10.

3 Chamlija Django 2019, a Thracian Cabernet Sauvignon.

4 The completed version of “Claws of Perdition” appeared on Shining’s IV / The Eerie Cold, while the raw mix salvaged from the deleted recordings appeared on the compilation Through Years of Oppression. The lyrics were written by Nattefrost at Kvarforth’s request. Nattefrost later forgot that he had written these words for Shining and used the lyrics in another track on his second solo album, Terrorist.

Bosphorus Open Air Metal Fest Returns to Istanbul in September 2026

                                                        

Leading Names from the Global Metal Scene Are Coming to Istanbul for Bosphorus Open Air Metal Fest!

Organised by the BOSSEV Association and Bosphorus Productions, Türkiye’s largest metal music gathering, Bosphorus Open Air Metal Fest, will take place at Maximum UNIQ Open-Air Theatre on 19 and 20 September.

Celebrating its fifth year, the festival is preparing to welcome music fans with a two-day programme. Bosphorus Open Air Metal Fest continues to move steadily towards becoming a global brand. It will also be the only metal music festival held in Türkiye this year. Over the course of two days, Bosphorus Open Air Metal Fest will once again bring legendary names from the global metal scene to Istanbul.

With an impressive lineup, the festival will feature performances by Satyricon (Norway), I Am Morbid (United States), Kataklysm (Canada), Moonspell (Portugal), Rage (Germany), Terrorizer (United States), Tankard (Germany), Sarcófago (Brazil), Kampfar (Norway), Moribund Oblivion (Türkiye), Eleine (Sweden), Fleshless (Czechia), Cutterred Flesh (Czechia), Khepra (Türkiye), Atrox Trauma (Hungary), Nahum (Czechia), Yaşru (Türkiye), and 3000AD (New Zealand).

Since 2021, the festival has become one of the most important fixtures on the metal scene, with the ambition of establishing Istanbul as one of the global centres of metal music. Once again, Bosphorus Open Air Metal Fest awaits you on 19 and 20 September 2026.

📅 Date: 19–20 September 2026

📍 Venue: Maximum UNIQ Open-Air Theatre, Istanbul

🎟 Tickets: Digital tickets are available through Bubilet. Printed tickets can be purchased from Hammer Müzik in Istanbul, Stüdyo Ümit in Izmir, Şenol Heavy Metal Shop in Bursa, and Toxin Müzik and Heavy Craft in Ankara.

https://www.facebook.com/bosphorusmetal/

https://www.instagram.com/bosphorusmetal/

https://bosphorusproductions.com.tr/

https://www.youtube.com/@bosphorusmetalfest

bosphorusmetalfest@gmail.com

Moribund Oblivion

I Am Morbid

Moonspell

 Satyr (Satyricon)

Thurisaz’s Mattias Theuwen: “The Most Important Thing Is Fun”

 The Belgian multi-instrumentalist on 30 years behind the guitar, his new black metal work with The Desolation Process, and why authenticity keeps him going.

INTRODUCTION

Few musicians balance a life in heavy music with a career of service the way Mattias Theuwen does. Best known as the founder, guitarist, and screams vocalist of the Belgian band Thurisaz, he has spent more than three decades shaping one of Belgium's most distinctive names in atmospheric black-doom metal, while also working as a social worker and running the Headache Music Agency booking agency.

With five studio albums, a live acoustic album/DVD, and new projects such as the post-metal act Ka'Una and Mathieu Vanlandtschoote's black metal band The Desolation Process now in motion, Thurisaz continues to explore themes of loss, tragedy, and human suffering through its heavy, melancholic sound. Senem Semiz, on behalf of Black Metal Chronicles, spoke with Mattias Theuwen about his musical beginnings, artistic inspirations, vocal approach, and the future of the band.

Band Profile

Thurisaz is a Belgian band founded in 1997 by guitarist and vocalist Mattias Theuwen. Playing a rare blend of black, doom, and atmospheric metal, the band has released five studio albums and one live acoustic album/DVD, establishing a strong presence within the European metal scene. Their latest album, Re-Incentive (2020), has surpassed 10 million streams, making Thurisaz one of the most-streamed Belgian metal bands.

https://www.instagram.com/thurisazbelgium/

Interview with Mattias Theuwen by Senem Semiz

Hello Mattias! To start, could you introduce yourself to our readers?

I’m Mattias, best known as the founder, guitarist, and screams vocalist of the Belgian band Thurisaz. I’m from Wervik, a border town in West Flanders, right next to France. Away from music, I work as a social worker, mostly supporting young people going through a hard time.

How did your musical journey begin, and which bands or musicians inspired you along the way?

Music was always a big part of my life growing up. My father played guitar and taught me my first chords. He would often put on vinyl records like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Genesis, and that introduced me to the heavier guitar sound. Later, through friends, I discovered bands like Korn, Metallica, and Life Of Agony, and that pushed us to start a band of our own. On my 13th birthday, I got my first electric guitar and amp, which sparked a passion that’s been going strong for over 30 years now.

Early on, artists like Devin Townsend (Terria, Deadhead), Empyrium (Songs of Moors and Misty Fields, Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays), and Opeth (Still Life, My Arms, Your Hearse) were huge sources of inspiration and motivation for me. Later I was especially drawn to Anathema, Cult of Luna, Porcupine Tree, and Sólstafir. And plenty of others, of course.

What projects have you been involved in so far?

For many years my focus was solely on Thurisaz. We handled everything ourselves, both musically and practically, which was already like a full-time job. A few years ago we started Ka’Una, a post-metal project with Hannes Leroy (also from Thurisaz) on vocals. The drummer, Stijn Decoene, previously played in bands like The Rg’s and Scrape. Both are long-time close friends of mine.

More recently, together with Pepijn De Raeymaecker (Thurisaz drummer), I joined The Desolation Process, a black metal project by songwriter Mathieu Vanlandtschoote. We’re planning to release our debut in 2026, so definitely keep an eye out. I also recorded guest vocals for VroK, the one-man project of Youri Seynaeve, a multi-talented musician who will soon release his own album. That’s another one to watch.

Outside of music, what are some of your hobbies and interests?

Outside of making music, I volunteer to help organize an annual music festival in my hometown of Wervik, where I mostly take care of the practical side and logistics. Together with Stijn Decoene I also run Headache Music Agency, a booking agency mainly focused on post-metal and stoner bands in Flanders. Stijn handles most of the bookings and promotion, while I work more on strategy and long-term planning. Every year we also organize our own Headache Fest and create opportunities for bands by working with other organizations.

On top of that, I sometimes restore stained glass projects when they come my way. I find it a fascinating old craft that deserves much more attention. And to stay in shape, I make sure to run, swim, or cycle every week. Hopefully that keeps me fit.

THURISAZ Monologue Official Video

How did your vocal journey start? Do you remember how you first discovered this path?

Back in the early days of Thurisaz, exploring what my voice could do was a real challenge. We thought it would be interesting to bring different “characters” into our music, and that led to experimenting with screams, grunts, and clean vocals. Over the years, as I refined my technique, I found my own style and really made the screams my own.

For you personally, what is the most important aspect of music?

For me the most important thing is fun. I get energy from the enthusiasm of other musicians, and fun is at the heart of that. If I ever feel that something is being done just because “that’s how it’s supposed to be,” without personality or authenticity, I lose interest.

Finally, is there a message you’d like to share with your fans? What can they expect from you in the future?

Making music and living it will always be a huge part of my life. That will never change. Fans can definitely expect things to keep moving. But how, when, or in what form? That stays open for now.

Closing Words

Beyond his work with Thurisaz, Mattias Theuwen has also recently collaborated with the Turkish gothic doom/death metal band The Choir of Agony. He appears as a guest musician on the band’s single, “Enchanted Nocturne,” a song that further strengthens the artistic bridge between the Belgian and Turkish doom metal scenes.

The collaboration brings together musicians who share a passion for atmosphere, melancholy, and emotional depth, showing how the contemporary underground metal community continues to cross geographical borders through creative partnerships.

Listeners familiar with Thurisaz’s dark, melancholic soundscapes will recognize a similar emotional resonance within “Enchanted Nocturne,” making the collaboration a natural artistic meeting point between the two bands.

The Choir of Agony's Enchanted Nocturne lyric video 

featuring guest vocals by Mattias Theuwen of Thurisaz

https://www.instagram.com/thechoirofagony/

INTERVIEW CREDITS

Special thanks to Mattias Theuwen for his time, insights, and continued support of the international doom metal community.

Thurisaz Official Website
Thurisaz Bandcamp
Thurisaz Instagram
Thurisaz Spotify
Thurisaz YouTube

The Choir of Agony Unveils The Burden of Buried Tales

 

The Burden Of The Buried Tales

LISTEN FULL ALBUM:

Spotify

The Burden Of Buries Tales Full Album

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@TheChoirofAgony

The Burden of Buried Tales

Turkish gothic death/doom metal act The Choir of Agony have officially released their long-awaited debut full-length album, The Burden of Buried Tales, available now on all major digital streaming platforms.

After introducing their musical identity through a series of internationally acclaimed singles, the band now presents a complete artistic statement that unites those compositions with new material into a cohesive journey through grief, spirituality, and gothic melancholy.

Blending crushing death-doom riffs with cinematic atmospheres, ritualistic vocal arrangements, and emotionally charged songwriting, The Burden of Buried Tales showcases a distinctive approach to modern doom metal. At the heart of the band's sound is the commanding extreme vocal performance of Senem Semiz, whose deep growls and expressive delivery redefine the classic "beauty and the beast" dynamic from a fresh perspective.

An International Choir of Voices

Remaining true to its name, The Choir of Agony continues its unique artistic vision by bringing together respected vocalists from across the international doom and gothic metal scene. Rather than presenting guest appearances as isolated collaborations, each vocalist becomes an integral part of the album's emotional and conceptual narrative.

Featured guest musicians include:

• Gogo Melone (Aeonian Sorrow) – Forsaken Lament

• Nikos Vlachakis (Ocean of Grief) – Ashes on the Ground

• Mattias Theuwen (Thurisaz / Ka'Una) – Enchanted Nocturne

• Eduardo Mota (The Cross) – Burt With Tales

• Frederic Simon (Lying Figures, ex-Inborn Suffering) – Night I Pass Through the Egypt

• Sonia Hernandez (Scandelion) – Fallen Is Babylon the Great

• Berk Öner (Yaşru) – Where Only Shadows Go

• Terezza Rohelova (Opia) – The Distance Between Us

• Lucia Amelia (Ghostheart Nebula) – When the Stars Fade

Each collaboration was carefully selected to complement the atmosphere of its respective composition, creating what the band describes as a "choir" of voices united by darkness, melancholy, and emotional depth.

A Journey Through Darkness

Across ten compositions, The Burden of Buried Tales explores themes of existential despair, biblical symbolism, spiritual abandonment, divine wrath, inner collapse, and gothic romance. Slow, crushing riffs intertwine with haunting melodies and ritualistic vocal arrangements, resulting in an immersive listening experience that unfolds like a continuous dark liturgy.

Rather than functioning as a simple collection of songs, the album presents a unified narrative where sorrow, transcendence, and cinematic storytelling coexist within an oppressive yet beautiful sonic landscape.

A New Chapter

Since its formation in İzmir, Türkiye, The Choir of Agony has steadily gained international recognition through collaborations with prominent musicians from the doom and gothic metal community. With The Burden of Buried Tales, the band establishes itself as more than a traditional doom metal act—it presents a collaborative artistic platform where different voices converge under a singular creative vision.

As the band's debut full-length release, The Burden of Buried Tales marks the beginning of a new chapter, inviting listeners into a world where crushing heaviness, ritualistic atmosphere, and profound emotional expression become one.

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Genre: Gothic Death/Doom Metal

FFO (For Fans Of): Draconian, Swallow the Sun, Trees of Eternity, Saturnus

Release Date: June 26, 2026

Recommended Tracks: Enchanted Nocturne, Ashes on the Ground, When the Stars Fade, Where Only Shadows Go

The Burden of Buried Tales is available now on all major digital streaming platforms.

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