08/05/2025 19:19

Hooded Menace

Hooded Menace announce new album 'Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration'

Over the past 20 odd years, Hooded Menace have stood not as a bridge but a pillar between two different realms of underground metal. The cultishly beloved band's upcoming seventh album is still bound by a morbid obsession with classic horrors. But on 'Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration', Finland's stewards of death-doom remain far from stuck in their ways.

Track listing:
1. Twilight Passages (01:04)
2. Pale Masquerade (07:50)
3. Portrait without a Face (07:15)
4. Daughters of Lingering Pain (07:25
5. Lugubrious Dance (07:20)
6. Save a Prayer (06:12)
7. Into Haunted Oblivion (09:47)

Lead single 'Portrait without a Face' cranks up the neon-soaked nightmares while digging out a grave new surprise from under their long-sleeve. Hooded Menace continue to pave a harrowing path for undying metal legions who crave creepier, crushing tempos. The new single opens with drummer Pekka Koskelo pounding like death's door. Their flesh-eating muse still looms over 'Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration'. Cover artist Wes Benscoter recreates director Amando de Ossorio's the "Blind Dead" in all of the film's ghoulish glory. But the album hammers home the influence of '80s heavy metal that was rung in by previous LP 'The Tritonus Bell'. With its conspiratorial web of leads, 'Portrait without a Face' bears a glowing resemblance to King Diamond.The lasting influence of Candlemass and Paradise Lost hasn't vanished without a trace, but Hooded Menace continue to break the mold that they've set for death-doom. While the bone-crushing riffs of founding member Lasse Pyykkö cement the rock-solid foundation beneath 'Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration', even he was surprised when sculpting the album's lead single. Like an echo from beyond the grave, what should appear within 'Portrait without a Face' but the haunted moan of a cello. "Sucked into the realm of sweet damnation." Vocalist Harri Kuokkanen growls deep into the dead of night, as if lured down a darkened hallway by former live bassist Antti Poutanen's sorrowful string saws. The video for was directed by Tekla Valy with additional footage filmed by Mikko Saastamoinen.

'Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration' comes out October 3, 2025 on Season of Mist on following editions:
- digipak CD
- 12" neon yellow liquid-filled vinyl + certificate (limited to 100 copies)
- 12" crystal clear, red and blue vinyl (limited to 200 copies)
- 12" red vinyl (limited to 350 copies)
- 12" black vinyl (limited to 800 copies)
- 12" purple vinyl

(source: Season Of Mist)