photos by Natasha Rego de Assunçao
Infamous, long-running Toronto, Ontario-based industrial/thrash metal entity MALHAVOC returns with The Masquerade’s Death, a massive, conceptual undertaking, nearing release November 13th on Cursed Blessings Records.
A dark industrial horror-metal reckoning, Jimi LaMort’s MALHAVOC returns with the full-length album, The Masquerade’s Death, a fierce new release inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque Of The Red Death, rooted in a tale about how even the most privileged cannot escape the devastation of a pandemic. The title track reunites original members Dave C., John C., and Jimi C. (LaMort) to re-record the final song they wrote together back in 1985. The album also features guest appearances from Connor Lex Grant (Trick Casket), Ian Mumble (Overthrow), and original founding member Nigel Williams. Current members Steve Jelliman, Lee “Sik Dogg” McCormack, and LaMort all contribute as multi-instrumentalists.
Wholly conceived, recorded, and mixed by LaMort, The Masquerade’s Death confronts themes that remain uncomfortably familiar to everyone who has lived through the past several years: loss, drudgery, and anxiety about the future. Musically, the album returns to MALHAVOC’s thrash roots, sharpened by horror-film atmospheres, industrial soundscapes, and operatic drama. The result is an emotional descent through collective darkness—humanly relatable, visceral, and universal.
The first preview of The Masquerade’s Death is now playing in the form of the “Respectfully Decline” lyric video. LaMort writes, “The song was chosen as the first preview of this epic, deep story because it is the shortest song on the album. It’s also another simple ‘fuck you song’ by us.”
Watch MALHAVOC’s lyric video for “Respectfully Decline” on YouTube HERE.
The Masquerade’s Death will be released on LP, CD, and digital platforms on November 13th. Preorders can be placed at the Cursed Blessings label webshop HERE.
Watch for additional previews of the album to post over the weeks ahead.
The Masquerade’s Death Track Listing:
1. The Masque Of The Red Death
2. Respectfully Decline
3. The Fact
4. The Harrow
5. Through The Cruel Light
6. Distant Noize
Since the mid-1980s, MALHAVOC has built a reputation for intense songs and even more intense live performances. Frontman Jimi LaMort gives everything to the expression of the music through notorious stage antics: removing clothes, climbing stage gear, thrashing through the audience, and carving a pentagram into his chest while bleeding freely. Beginning in 1985, MALHAVOC became one of the first metal bands to incorporate industrial music and samples, often inviting comparisons to contemporaries Skinny Puppy and Ministry.
Fans followed the band’s evolution from thrash metal (Age Of The Dark Renaissance, 1985, and Shrine, 1986), through industrial metal (The Release, 1990; Punishments, 1991; and Premeditated Murder, 1992), into electronic influences (Get Down, 1994, and The Lazarus Complex, 1996, both produced by Dave Rave Ogilvie). After the release of Get Down, LaMort and Ogilvie produced remixes for Mötley Crüe, Tool, NIN, and Monster Magnet. LaMort also contributed production work to Voivod’s heaviest album, Phobos. As DJ Jimi LaMort, he has made dance floors throb in goth bars, gay clubs, bathhouses, and fetish balls, while continuing to draw enthusiastic crowds to periodic MALHAVOC live shows.
While The Masquerade’s Death is currently on deck for release, MALHAVOC is also currently in production on two upcoming releases, including Anthems For The New Flesh, a David Cronenberg tribute featuring all cover songs.
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