Ancient Future Black Metal Meets Blackened Psychedelia… Mysterious UK-US experimental black metal trio Qasu announce their debut album A Bleak King Cometh, co-released via Phantom Limb & extreme-metal tastemakers Apocalyptic Witchcraft. Described by the band as “ancient future black metal,” the upcoming record (out on 30th January, 2026) delivers a crushing and otherworldly sound that fuses blackened psychedelia, occult techno, and warped sound design into a singular, terrifying vision.
Formed by members of “somewhat known” existing acts, Qasu hit an immediate and confident stride of finessed songwriting on their debut release. Its riffs are cataclysmic, whether agonisingly slow or razor sharp; its blastbeats are breakneck and meaty; its vocals are howled with torturous passion; its mythology is crafted with narrative totality…
"A Bleak King Cometh is a visionary debut. Voidborne, unrelenting, and unlike anything else in the extreme metal landscape. Qasu have crafted an immersive world where ancient ritual collides with futuristic terror, and we’re proud to help bring it into the light… or the abyss." - Conor Droney, Apocalyptic Witchcraft
Out now, the lead single, “Jewels Where The Eyes Once Were” fuses new wave synths, a pounding techno kick drum, field recordings, and taiko percussion with apocalyptic guitar work and a seething, nightmarish vocal performance. “Bring me a living heart / Bring me bejewelled eyes / Bring me to a bleeding altar / To deify the bleak king,” screams vocalist Rahsaan Sagan, his words cutting through the track’s ferocious storm of sound. Qasu describe their sound as “ancient future black metal,” a phrase that perfectly captures the collision of temporal and stylistic extremes.
Their world is one of witch-burnings and heretical rites, but also alien transmissions, paleofuturist sci-fi, sequence codes, and stargates. Vocalist and electronics programmer Rahsaan Sagan threads the brutality with spectral synthesis and beat-driven propulsion, expanding black metal’s sonic borders into uncharted sonic realms. Drummer Nikhil Talwalkar (Anal Stabwound) anchors the maelstrom with punishing precision, grounding the cosmic sprawl in physical intensity. Instrumentalist and songwriter Aldous Daniken offers a cryptically reflective note on the album’s title: “I don’t think we need to explain who the ‘Bleak King’ is,” he says, “but we have found ourselves in a dark time in human history.” Named after a dream in which Aldous Daniken met what he describes as a “destructive, powerful, but ultimately protective ghost,”
1. The Bitter Waters of the Abyssal Sea
2. Jewels Were The Eyes Once Were
3. Death Dreams
4. They Drag Unfortunate Mortals
5. Faith in Violence
6. The Long Knives of the King
7. An Orchard of Bone Flues