CHAOS & CARNAGE 2026
Thy Art Is Murder
Carnifex
Sunday, May 24th, 2026
Thy Art Is Murder
Australia’s THY ART IS MURDER has ascended to extreme metal’s top-tier with a meteoric rise matching humanity’s descent into doom. Their savage blackened death metal, combined with thought-provoking social commentary, invites audiences to experience a fresh Armageddon in a divided postmodern dystopia. “Godlike,” their sixth full-length album, explores new sonic depths without sacrificing their trademark intensity. Join THY ART IS MURDER on this relentless musical journey as they confront themes of violence and separation, solidifying their position as death metal’s modern torchbearers.
Carnifex
Nourished by nightmares and the throbbing pulse of pragmatic terror, CARNIFEX have returned with their ninth full-length studio album, Necromanteum.
While it may come as a surprise to some fans, the themes of Necromanteum are a little less personal compared to previous releases. Vocalist and founder Scott Ian Lewis explains: “We wanted to delve into more supernatural and ethereal subjects like astral projection, the duality of man, and the crossroads of intellectualism and the supernatural… There was indeed a time when Doctors were also performing seances!”
Decades ago, wealthy intellectuals began installing psychomanteum in their homes; a secret room completely filled with mirrors, or a single mirror, and in complete darkness, in order to speak to the dead in other dimensions, and gain their knowledge. It was often used as a healing tool to help dissolve grief, or considered a form of prophecy. Necromanteum presents the concept: what if you could use that kind of room to speak with death, itself? What secrets of the world could you uncover from a direct conversation with the grim reaper? Not a monster, but a fellow intellect.
“This album is for the fans,” states Lewis. “We’re always striving to give you the best version of us, but it’s only ours until we turn it in. Then it becomes everyone else’s record. It’s a form of entertainment, and we truly hope to help listeners break away from real life, and have some escape into our little world through the Necromanteum .”
Bodysnatcher
200 Stab Wounds
Cleveland death metal legends-in-waiting 200 Stab Wounds have returned with Manual Manic Procedures, a superlative sophomore effort that follows 2021’s Slave to the Scalpel, their tour de force debut. The new album is a brutal slab of old school death metal with a contemporary edge. Not for the faint-hearted, Manual Manic Procedures may well be the album that puts classic gore-themed ferocity back into the metal community’s collective consciousness.
Ingested
UK death metal titans Ingested have been churning out bilious anti-anthems for more than a decade and a half, dropping a string of releases that have helped shape the genre. In 2022, they return with Ashes Lie Still, their most dynamic, inventive and daring release to date, holding nothing back, the band describing it as “A modern essential. If you like heavy music, it will be nigh on impossible for you to not find something you like about this record. It still has the core Ingested elements of groovy slamming riffs, quick drumming, and guttural vocals but there’s also atmosphere, ethereal moments and some raw old school aggression.” Over the course of ten tracks they hack, slash and steamroll through everything in their path, and it easily stands as the highpoint of an already impressive career.
Gates To Hell
Forming in late 2019, Gates To Hell aimed to fuse the finest elements from both metal and hardcore, highlighting fast metal riffs with heavy hardcore and deathcore breakdowns written in a manner unexplored within the Kentucky music scene. The band released their first LP “Gates To Hell” in September of 2022, where they kept to their roots while developing a sound that was uniquely theirs.
The response blew all expectations out of the water, with no sign of slowing down. Gates to Hell spent most of 2023 on the road playing nearly 150 shows in 11 different countries and supported bands Dying Fetus, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Acacia Strain, Despised Icon, Sanguisugabogg, Bodysnatcher, 200 Stab Wounds, Kruelty, and Dying Wish on various tours across the US, Canada and Europe.
Continuing this momentum with no sign of slowing down, the band ushered in 2024 with a new home at Nuclear Blast Records, a pummeling new single, and heading on the road with labelmates Machine Head and Fear Factory.
Looking ahead to 2025, the Louisville natives charge onto the heavy music scene with their second full-length album, Death Comes To All, and prepare to storm the road and spread their ferocious energy to as many new audiences as possible. The band are ready to leave concertgoers in the wake of their annihilation. Death Comes to All, but Gates to Hell will make sure you feel it first.
