Out This Week: A FLOCK NAMED MURDER - Incendiary Sanctum!

Toronto-based atmospheric post-black trio A FLOCK NAMED MURDER will release their Incendiary Sanctum full-length May 2nd on Hypaethral Records. 

A FLOCK NAMED MURDER was born from a simple but powerful idea: to compose  music that is both potent and honest, unbound by expectations. Brothers Cam and Ryan Mueller first began writing and playing together in 2009, using their diverse influences to carve out a sound uniquely their own. Their goal was never to conform but to express the raw and visceral emotions that define the human experience through the boundless spirit of creativity.

The band took on various incarnations over the years, initially with the moniker Sovereign, where they became a fixture in Toronto’s metal underground, sharing the stage with bands like Imperial Triumphant, Rosetta, and Falls Of Rauros. After recording their debut album, longtime friend and bassist Sean Shorting amicably departed in 2018, making way for the arrival of Mike Wandy on bass. With this final shift, the band rebranded as A FLOCK NAMED MURDER and released their first full-length, An Appointed Time, later that year.

Never confined by genre, A FLOCK NAMED MURDER crafts an expansive and immersive sound–merging elements of black metal, post-metal, doom, and death metal into a seamless whole. Their music resonates with fans of boundary-pushing acts like Agalloch, Neurosis, Inter Arma, Ulver, Fen, The Ruins Of Beverast, Ulcerate, and Cult Of Luna. Whether leaning into crushing intensity or weaving hypnotic atmospheres, each song is a journey – meticulously crafted yet organic in flow, sprawling yet cohesive, drawing listeners into deep, evocative soundscapes.

With their upcoming sophomore LP, Incendiary Sanctum, A FLOCK NAMED MURDER pushes every element of their sound to its outermost limits. As diverse and sprawling as it is, the album stands as their most complete and uncompromising artistic statement to date – a bold exploration of extremity and emotion, crafted by a band unafraid to forge its own path.

Comments Cam Mueller on the album overall, "Worship is ever beyond the divine. Worship takes hold in ideals, and in idolatry. We worship progress. We worship the myth of a venerable past. We worship power. It is insidious when that which is revered becomes incapable of wrongdoing. Everything is justified in the eyes of worship and that rotten seed can lead to the worst of human atrocities. Incendiary Sanctum is a eulogy burning away the very idea of worship. It is a longing for an insurmountable world beyond flesh. It is a rumination on humanity and those we've lost, and all those who came and went before we were ever here and are gone without a trace. The passing in and out of time, with many of us left behind or unceremoniously taken away. It is our strength in holding onto that memory, which is all there is and someday will be gone too. It's the inner sanctum of the self as a pyre, and the infinite silence of God."

A FLOCK NAMED MURDER’s Incendiary Sanctum features stunning cover art by Adam Burke (Nightjar Illustration) as well as several guest appearances including additional vocals in “Pierced Flesh Catharsis” by Luke Farndon of Drofnosura and piano in “Pierced Flesh Catharsis” by Rob McAllister of Centuries Of Decay. Drum recording, engineering, and mastering was handled by Roland Rodas (Cavern Of Echoes Studio), additional drum recording, vocal recording, and 12-string acoustic guitar recording was handled by Matt Hems (Seventh Level Sound), while electric and bass guitar recording and mixing was handled by Greg Dawson (BWC Studios).

“The Eulogy Fields” and “To Drown In Obsidian Tides” field recordings were captured at Yosemite National Park in California and The Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto by Ryan Mueller and Cam Mueller respectively. All other samples were rendered by Greg Dawson

Incendiary Sanctum will be released on CD (limited to 300 copies), 2xLP on Molten Lava vinyl (limited to 200 copies), and digital formats.

Find preorders at the Hypaethral webshop HERE or Bandcamp HERE.

Incendiary Sanctum Track Listing:

1. Garden Of Embers

2. Pierced Flesh Catharsis

3. The Eulogy Fields

4. To Drown In Obsidian Tides