Philadelphia death metallers Horrendous are currently streaming their full new album, Ontological Mysterium on YouTube. This comes just a few days before the official release date of August 18th, on Season Of Mist records. Head into the article below for the stream, digital listening party link, and more information from Horrendous.
Order Ontological Mysterium + Limited Vinyl Frankenstein edition with Daniel Warren Johnson poster here.
Download/stream the album here.
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, Horrendous are hosting a listening party for their new album on Bandcamp tonight (August 16th) at 9 pm EST. Fans can listen to the album while chatting with members of the band. RSVP for the listening party here.
Ontological Mysterium tracklisting:
01 The Blaze (02:00)
02 Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16)
03 Neon Leviathan (03:30)
04 Aurora Neoterica (01:56)
05 Preterition Hymn (03:58) [LISTEN HERE]
06 Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24)
07 Exeg(en)esis, (03:38)
08 Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH HERE]
09 The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20)
Total run time: 37:44
Formats:
Digital
CD Digipak
Cassette
Black vinyl
Red and black marble vinyl
Gold Vinyl (SOLD OUT)
Frankenstein Vinyl (exclusive double-sided poster drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson)
More from Horrendous:
“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.
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’ critically acclaimed 2015 opus, Anareta. 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’ 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.”
“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
Recording Studio: Subterranean Watchtower Studio
Mixing + Mastering: Damian Herring
Artwork: Brian Smith
Follow Horrendous:
https://www.instagram.com/horrendous_official/
http://www.facebook.com/HorrendousDeathMetal
https://horrendous.bandcamp.com/