OF BLOOD AND MERCURY
Two outsiders who never felt like belonging to this world, shaped their feelings, grief and melancholy, into their first album ‘Strangers’. Not only from sharing a family-less deep rooted sorrow, but in defiance to make the best out of it, the couple’s concern for the unknown drove their creativity into this sonic experience. This album expresses a longing for a time and place that one remembers but never experienced.
You would never guess that ‘Of Blood and Mercury’ finds its roots in extreme music. Despite achievements with their other bands, worldwide touring and releasing albums, the couple felt limited within the genre. A will to explore alternative styles united the two souls into this new project. In February 2019 they self-released their first ep. The debut album «Strangers» was released in April 2020 on Consouling Sounds Records. Their music is described as a mix of darkpop, dreampop and dark ethereal disco. With fragile darkness, ‘Strangers’ tells us about the memories they never had.
Line up:
Michelle NCN: vocals
Olivier JLW: guitars - synths
• Bandcamp
• Facebook
Two outsiders who never felt like belonging to this world, shaped their feelings, grief and melancholy, into their first album ‘Strangers’. Not only from sharing a family-less deep rooted sorrow, but in defiance to make the best out of it, the couple’s concern for the unknown drove their creativity into this sonic experience. This album expresses a longing for a time and place that one remembers but never experienced.
You would never guess that ‘Of Blood and Mercury’ finds its roots in extreme music. Despite achievements with their other bands, worldwide touring and releasing albums, the couple felt limited within the genre. A will to explore alternative styles united the two souls into this new project. In February 2019 they self-released their first ep. The debut album «Strangers» was released in April 2020 on Consouling Sounds Records. Their music is described as a mix of darkpop, dreampop and dark ethereal disco. With fragile darkness, ‘Strangers’ tells us about the memories they never had.
Line up:
Michelle NCN: vocals
Olivier JLW: guitars - synths
• Bandcamp
EMPTINESS
Founded in Europe’s center of gravity, Brussels, Belgium in the year 1998, EMPTINESS embarked on their musical journey with a burning vision to delve deep into darkness. While the band was taking musical inspiration from different extreme styles such as black metal, the Belgians approached them in an open minded manner of continuous experimentation.
Line up:
Jérémie Bézier: vocals - bass - guitars
Olivier JLW: guitars - synths - noise
Jonas Sanders: drums - percussions
David Alexandre Parquier: synths
Founded in Europe’s center of gravity, Brussels, Belgium in the year 1998, EMPTINESS embarked on their musical journey with a burning vision to delve deep into darkness. While the band was taking musical inspiration from different extreme styles such as black metal, the Belgians approached them in an open minded manner of continuous experimentation.
Line up:
Jérémie Bézier: vocals - bass - guitars
Olivier JLW: guitars - synths - noise
Jonas Sanders: drums - percussions
David Alexandre Parquier: synths
ENTHRONED
ENTHRONED is a name black metal fans are no strangers to. Over the course of the last 25 years, they have pushed the boundaries of black metal and the depth of the Left Hand Path philosophy further within. The quintet has channelled that dedication into their newest record: ‘Cold Black Suns’ is a dark and crushing black metal album where cold riffing, blood chilling atmospheres, and ritualistic drumming are keys to forging their most mature and accomplished opus to date.
Line up:
Nornagest: vocals
Neraath: guitars - synths
Menthor: drums
ZarZax: guitars
Norgaath: Bass
ENTHRONED is a name black metal fans are no strangers to. Over the course of the last 25 years, they have pushed the boundaries of black metal and the depth of the Left Hand Path philosophy further within. The quintet has channelled that dedication into their newest record: ‘Cold Black Suns’ is a dark and crushing black metal album where cold riffing, blood chilling atmospheres, and ritualistic drumming are keys to forging their most mature and accomplished opus to date.
Line up:
Nornagest: vocals
Neraath: guitars - synths
Menthor: drums
ZarZax: guitars
Norgaath: Bass
LEVIATHAN SPEAKS
“Into the Void - 33 Ways to Suicide” tells the story of insanity, nihilism and despair. For this project, Michelle NCN has delved in the somber cave of a bleak but ever present thought during her life. What drove her to dwell in the mindset of selfdestruction can be seen as a toxic interweave of want, anger, curiosity, and suffering. All of this is synthesized in the arrangement of a twenty minute song. The voices of sorrow and delusion, reason and truth, doubt and scare, drive you from a chaotic hell to a demolishing climax. The waking from a nightmare to witness it was reality after all. Is suicide the terminal wrong or is it a solution, the cure for life?
With this in mind the design for the cover was made as an equivalent of a medicine box with instructions for a succesful end. Since the theme was so intimate, the artist decided to make 33 unique covers of each way thought of to bring her life to an end. The ideas are often mixed with humor, cynism, nihilism or philosophies she had in mind, which makes it even more akwardly personal.
Line up:
Michelle NCN: vocals
Olivier JLW: guitars - programmation
“Into the Void - 33 Ways to Suicide” tells the story of insanity, nihilism and despair. For this project, Michelle NCN has delved in the somber cave of a bleak but ever present thought during her life. What drove her to dwell in the mindset of selfdestruction can be seen as a toxic interweave of want, anger, curiosity, and suffering. All of this is synthesized in the arrangement of a twenty minute song. The voices of sorrow and delusion, reason and truth, doubt and scare, drive you from a chaotic hell to a demolishing climax. The waking from a nightmare to witness it was reality after all. Is suicide the terminal wrong or is it a solution, the cure for life?
With this in mind the design for the cover was made as an equivalent of a medicine box with instructions for a succesful end. Since the theme was so intimate, the artist decided to make 33 unique covers of each way thought of to bring her life to an end. The ideas are often mixed with humor, cynism, nihilism or philosophies she had in mind, which makes it even more akwardly personal.
Line up:
Michelle NCN: vocals
Olivier JLW: guitars - programmation
The Current Order - Brussels 2020