photos by Sebastian Gesch
“Imagine John Zorn scoring a David Lynch movie and you’re getting the most surface-level approximation of what awaits you.” – Everything Is Noise
Everything Is Noise is hosting an exclusive stream of Mellowdeath, the eponymous debut album by Berlin/Bielefeld, Germany-based MELLOWDEATH, ahead of its release this Friday
MELLOWDEATH unites Sara Neidorf (Sarattma, Mad Kate | The Tide, Hypnodrone Ensemble, ex-Brian Jonestown Massacre) on drums and Isabel Merten (No Chronicles) on bass. Founded in 2017, the duo has since toured Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Poland, and Czechia, and in 2018, they released their debut EP, Deadly Stares, introducing their captivating style of nightmare jazz—an eerie cinematic soundscape, a haunted circus intercut with a David Lynch western—equal parts menace and mischief, which was met by positive acclaim from media and fans alike.
Now, MELLOWDEATH arrives with their eponymous debut album. Mellowdeath delivers ten immersive new songs that expand the duo’s sonic palette on every level, sending listeners through a ghost surf cyclone, a haunted hayride through unsettling, yet hypnotic grooves and doom-twang dirges fit for a clown’s funeral. Mellowdeath was recorded by Jan Oberg at Hidden Planet Studios in Berlin, mixed and mastered by Steve Roche at Permanent Hearing Damage Studios in Philadelphia, and completed with cover art by Chloe Grove. The album sees Neidorf and Merten joined by a cast of guest musicians who help round out its sonic delivery, with synths from Rachel Glassberg (Matching Outfits, Dusty Houseplants), cello from Jackie Perez Gratz (Grayceon, Giant Squid), trombone from Florian Juncker (Berlin String Theory, Ensemble LUX:NM, Hannes Zerbe Jazz Orchester), theremin from Hekla Magnusdottir, and guitar from Marco Bianciardi (The Somnambulist) and Matt Hollenberg (Cleric, John Zorn, Titan To Tachyons, Sarattma).
Fans of Man or Astro Man?, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Stinking Lizaveta, Earth, Tera Melos, Breadwinner, Doctor Nerve, and Sarattma, Sons Of Ra, and similar free-thinking cross-genre artists will find themselves immersed in its diverse, drifting movements.
With the album about to be released, Neidorf writes, “This album has been a long time in the making, and it’s a lot about how music is a living, breathing thing that comes into contact with and is changed by other living creatures and their voices, presences, and contributions. Isabel and I recorded bass and drums in 2021, and then the guest contributions came slithering in from various contexts and countries (US, Iceland, Germany, Italy) in 2022 and 2023. The album fell through a few different hands in the mixing process and then landed with Steve Roche in Philadelphia who put the finishing touches in 2024. Finally, we were ready to unleash this thing into the world in 2025, and by this point, we also play the songs quite differently live, as they have continued to morph and evolve dynamically and spatially, with and without guest musicians, through practice, performance and conversation. The dancing demons on the cover are partly Isabel and me, but they are also the songs, captured at a moment while still in motion, mutable and breathing, mischievous and serpentine.”
With their early stream of the record, Everything Is Noise compares it to, “…the musical equivalent of a haunted house tour at a run-down carnival run by a bunch of lovable but vaguely threatening goons. Imagine John Zorn scoring a David Lynch movie and you’re getting the most surface-level approximation of what awaits you. Surf rock, psychedelia, drone (metal), jazz, and a myriad of other styles are mingled with a glee that’s as macabre as it is infectious… There’s a wicked sense of cohesion to this diverse set of songs, much like an adorable zombie puzzled together from various sources. Neidorf and Merten’s other endeavors permeate the musical background without dictating the mood or direction of MELLOWDEATH in a tangible way.”
Listen to MELLOWDEATH’s evocative debut album, now streaming in its entirety at Everything Is Noise, RIGHT HERE.
Mellowdeath will be released this Friday, November 14th, digitally by the band – with presaves posted HERE and preorders HERE – and on cassette via Cruel Nature Records, with preorders available HERE.
Following the release of Mellowdeath, the band will release a stripped-down version of the album, void of all outside guest collaborators’ music, showcasing the band’s usual duo setup of bass and drums.
A release show for the album has been booked for December 11th in Berlin. MELLOWDEATH is also booking new tour dates for the Fall and Winter months.
MELLOWDEATH Live:
12/11/2025 3xter – Berlin, DE *album release show
https://mellowdeath1.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/mellowdeath_band
https://www.facebook.com/letsdieaMellowdeath