Blood Monolith — a new death-metal supergroup from members of Nails, Undeath, Ulthar and more — have just unveiled a supremely deviant and sonically devastating debut single. Teasing a forthcoming full-length release, the track is a seemingly Conan the Barbarian-themed crusher called “Prayer to Crom.”
The band was founded by current Nails and Ulthar guitarist Shelby Lermo in 2023, with the rest of the band comprising Undeath bassist Tommy Wall on guitar, bassist Nolan (Genocide Pact, Shitstorm) and drummer Aidan Tydings-Lynch (Deliriant Nerve, Brain Tourniquet).
As far as introductions go, “Prayer to Crom” plays out as a menacing bone-breaker of vintage OSDM bomb-blasts, detuned savagery and whimsically grotesque gutturals. While it’s as-yet unclear what Lermo’s growling about on the cut, the song hits like a bloodthirsty Cimmerian warlord crushing enemies out on the battlefield.
“‘Prayer To Crom’ is the first song Tommy and I composed for this project, and I think it gave us a laser focus on where we should take the rest of the album,” Lermo said through a press release. “It is a mission statement, both musically and lyrically – a sword cleaving a path to annihilation.”
You can hear for yourself up above.
A press release adds that Lermo founded Blood Monolith shortly after moving to the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area, and began writing debut LP The Calling of Fire with Wall before Nolan and Tydings-Lynch were drafted into the lineup.
Their 8-song album was engineered by Lermo and Matt Michel (Goetia, Left Cross, Antichrist Siege Machine), and it is described as “a brutally succinct statement of nihilism in a world beyond salvation,” informed by Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Defeated Sanity, Dead Congregation and more.
The Calling of Fire is out May 16th via Profound Lore.
The Calling Of Fire tracklisting:
Trepanation Worm
The Owl in Daylight
Prayer to Crom
Viscera Vobiscum
Apparatus
Cleansing
Slaughter Garden
Pyroklesis