XASTHUR announce new album and release first advance single
Архив новостей | Русская версия
XASTHUR premiere the track 'Put You Out of Your Misery' as the first advance single taken from the forthcoming new album "Open to Misinterpretation". This self-made recording of Dark American Folk is chalked up for release on October 2, 2026.
The visualiser 'Put You Out of Your Misery' is available here.
"Wherever you go, there you are – and you have to live with yourself", mastermind Scott Conner writes about 'Put You Out of Your Misery'. "This song revolves around reaching that inner crossroads where something has to give, and you either confront the issues that make you miserable or you are allowing them to destroy you."
Tracklist
1. Running from Silence
2. Put You Out of Your Misery
3. Mantras of Delusion
4. Impersonating the Impostors
5. Nothing in the Dark
6. Waste of Eternity
7. Prisoner of Your Past
8. Strategic Incompetence
9. Death Can Heal
The eminent French philosopher and Literature Nobel Prize laureate Albert Camus posed and taught that the key in dealing with the absurdity of life and the universe is acceptance. XASTHUR founder Scott Conner, an astute chronicler of the dark side of the American dream, has come to terms with that idea in his own way.
Conner has learned the hard way that his work can confuse people and be misread. He has come to accept that. This notion is clearly expressed in the title of his new work "Open to Misinterpretation". This insight has also firmed his resolve to neither change his artistic direction nor to attempt making his music easier for people to access. Conner is just not interested in chasing what has worked for other people or fitting neatly into a genre.
This does not mean that XASTHUR are standing still. "Open to Misinterpretation" represents a deeper and more developed version of what Conner already does. He keeps honing his expression and to find new sounds and moods for his ideas. As a result, his songwriting has become equally more detailed as well as harder to predict at the same time. The bass is used more prominently and also more technical on this album. A greater variety of guitar tunings opens up new possibilities, while the drum programming has become a serious part of how the songs are built.
The production has audibly been cleared up, even though Conner still aims for the recording process to feel live, organic, and real. "Open to Misinterpretation" probably feels more complete because these songs have already been performed live on stage due to XASTHUR's prior touring activities on both sides of the Atlantic. This means that the reactions of the audience have become a part of the tracks.
XASTHUR were originally conceived by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Scott Conner in the year 1995. Although emerging from sunny California in the USA, the project started out in the vein of harsh Nordic black metal. Over the course of ten albums and a host of split-singles, EPs, and occasional demos, XASTHUR's individual, particularly depressive style became highly regarded within the extreme genre.
In 2010, Scott declared the end of XASTHUR before returning to the scene with an acoustic dark folk project under the banner of NOCTURNAL POISONING. In 2015, the American artist circled back to the name XASTHUR, but insisted that his black metal days were still over. On "Inevitably Dark" (2023), Conner partly lifted this self-imposed ban on black metal to regain musical options that were his to decide on in the first place.
With "Open to Misinterpretation", XASTHUR deliver a more focused and more confident album that realises the evolution and expression of Scott Conner's sound to a point that makes it harder to misunderstand this artist's intentions. Well, and if anyone does, he has come to accept it as an integral part of XASTHUR's music.
