THE LURKING FEAR, the old-school death metal group from sweden featuring members of AT THE GATES, DISFEAR, GOD MACABRE, SKITSYSTEM, TORMENTED and THE HAUNTED, will release its sophomore album, “Death, Madness, Horror, Decay”, on November 19 via Century Media Records.
Vocalist Tomas Lindberg comments: “With our second album, we really wanted to produce a more coherent listening experience. The first one was a blast to put together, and I do love that it is dynamic, but we talked a lot about it and this time around we wanted the record to have more of a unified sound, so to say…We wanted it to sound like a band with their own identity. Therefore the writing sessions were more of a unified effort this time around, and all the writers in the band are part of more songs. The album is still dynamic, as it has both intense, faster ‘rippers’ and a few more heavy moments, but the overall sound is more convincing, to my ears. I also wanted to evolve the lyrical concept further. Of course, there is still tons of Lovecraft influence throughout the album, but I also tampered with some more current horror writers and philosophers. I guess it is not a coincidence, but this album feels like the ugly stepchild of the new AT THE GATES album, lyrically. I delved into the ideas conveyed by thinkers like Ligotti and Thacker and added an extra layer of cosmic horror to the already Lovecraftian universe of THE LURKING FEAR. Still the same basic ideas, but just more developed, and philosophical, I guess you could say.
“Also, this time around, we talked more with our producer, Per Stålberg, before, so he and us were on the same page about which kind of album we wanted to make. The new album is more of everything, and we feel that the band finally is reaching its full potential. Enjoy!”
The official Max Ljungberg-produced music video for the first single from “Death, Madness, Horror, Decay”, a song called “Death, Madness, Horror, Decay”, can be seen below.
Lindberg comments: “‘Cosmic Macabre’ was one of the first tracks to be finalized for the new album. It is an old-school Swedish death metal scorcher, but has some more quirky stuff thrown in for good measure. The lyrics deal with what lurks beyond the limits of the human comprehension. We felt it was a good first representation of the album as it contains a lot of the different elements of the record in one song. Let the primal darkness tear you apart!”
“Death, Madness, Horror, Decay” follows up THE LURKING FEAR‘s acclaimed debut album “Out Of The Voiceless Grave” (2017) and was recorded at Welfare Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden with Per Stålberg and Kalle Lilja. The LP features epic artwork once again conceived by Stefan Thanneur and also includes a special guest appearance by Chris Reifert (AUTOPSY, ex-DEATH) on vocals for the track “Kaleidoscopic Mutations”.
“Death, Madness, Horror, Decay” track listing:
01. Abyssal Slime
02. Death Reborn
03. Cosmic Macabre
04. Funeral Abyss
05. Death, Madness, Horror, Decay
06. Architects Of Madness
07. In A Thousand Horrors Crowned
08. Kaleidoscopic Mutations
09. Ageless Evil
10. One In Flesh
11. Restless Death
12. Leech Of The Aeons
The album’s limited first-pressing digipak CD edition will come two very special cover versions as bonus tracks, “The Curse”, originally by SLAUGHTER and “Seance”, originally by POSSESSED. “Death, Madness, Horror, Decay” will also be available as LP on 180-gram black vinyl with a poster.
THE LURKING FEAR lineup (left to right in photo by Max Ljungberg):
Andreas Axelson – bass, backing vocals
Adrian Erlandsson – drums
Tomas Lindberg – vocals
Fredrik Wallenberg – guitar, backing vocals
Jonas Stålhammar – lead guitar, mellotron, organ and backing vocals