Carach Angren‘s new EP, The Cult of Kariba—out Oct 17 on Season of Mist—expands on the folklore and history that defined their debut album, Lammendam, and adds to the spooky subject matter with a little bit of prophecy.
“When we released Lammendam COVID hit, so everything stopped,” explains keyboardist Clemens Wijers. He began composing new music in 2021, a process further complicated when vocalist Dennis “Seregor” Droomers experienced a serious health scare last year.
“He had some issues with his heart,” Wijers explains. “It was pretty scary, so we had to shut everything down,” postponing vocal recordings and adding another year to the process, but they used that time to hone the songs while figuring out their next moves.
In what isn’t that much of a coincidence given the genre, Seregor had already written a song for the EP, titled “I Come from the Grave,” which is entirely in Dutch and speaks of resurrection. “He had been writing those lyrics for a year prior, so it was insane. He actually lived through what he wrote,” Wijers marvels.
The EP’s themes connect back and expand on Lammendam, which was based on an urban legend from their hometown of Limburg in the Netherlands. Wijers also drew inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories to create a new narrative. “I got this idea: what if you live in a town, and people are secretly members of a cult?” he explains. This led to the concept of a secret cult trying to resurrect the “White Lady from Schinveld” a legend explored on Lammendam. According to Wijers, the EP format was a perfect fit for this focused story.
“I think just that we took a long time to make it really, really good,” he says. “We’re 100% behind everything: the artwork, the video, everything, and I think fans will appreciate that, even if the wait was a little longer.”
The Cult of Kariba is out today and you can order it from Season of Mist. Follow Carach Angren on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Flickr for future updates.
Photo Credit: Stefan Heilemann
