Carach Angren bring a macabre new twist to black metal

Carach Angren promo pic 2017
(Image credit: Negakinu)

Having rummaged in their woodmite and cobweb-infested trunks all but two years ago to the pitter-patter of scarpering tarantulas and the tune of their This Is No Fairytale opus, deranged Dutch storytellers Carach Angren are rustling up their sleeves and winding up their one-eyed dolls and ready to pull out another motley collection of curios for your delight and your despair.

Due to drag itself down from the Season Of Mist attic and across the floorboards on June 16, Carach Angren’s fifth album, Dance And Laugh Amongst The Rotten, takes their storytelling prowess to new realms of Jackanory-bludgeoning lunacy, and we have a special preview in the ominous, disturbingly dramatic form of new track Song For The Dead.

Part alternate intro for Tales Of The Crypt, part sea shanty for a sinking ghost ship, Song For The Dead is no mere rehashing of the symphonic black metal of yore. Say the band themselves: “After months of hard work, we proudly reopen the doors to our haunted mansion to reveal the first deadly taste of our upcoming concept album. A unique horror story as you all expect and deserve from us, we consider this as one of the most terrifying tracks that we have created so far.”

What it portends, only that nagging sensation of dread can suggest, but in the meantime, crack open your caskets, pull your remains over the moss and find some means to affix your jawbones as you ponder Song For The Dead below!

Check out Carach Angren’s Facebook page here

And pre-order Dance And Laugh Amongst The Rotten here!

Jonathan Selzer

Having freelanced regularly for the Melody Maker and Kerrang!, and edited the extreme metal monthly, Terrorizer, for seven years, Jonathan is now the overseer of all the album and live reviews in Metal Hammer. Bemoans his obsolete superpower of being invisible to Routemaster bus conductors, finds men without sideburns slightly circumspect, and thinks songs that aren’t about Satan, swords or witches are a bit silly.