New year, new rituals, new poison.
So we’re back with Ask the Artist, where we stop asking musicians about their gear and start asking the important questions instead.
Today’s guests are British symphonic black metal conjurers SIDIOUS, who are about to unleash their latest single “Cosmossuary” — a vicious, ceremonial glimpse into their upcoming fourth full-length album Malefic Necropolis, to be released on January 30th, 2026 on CD, vinyl, and digital.
Before the gates open and the blast beats start raining down, we asked them something seasonally appropriate.
Ask the Artist
Question:
“If SIDIOUS were a New Year’s alcoholic cocktail, what would the ingredients be?”
SIDIOUS:
“Our cocktail would be a darker take on the Old Fashioned and would include a double measure of Bourbon, a sugar cube (or syrup), a few dashes of Angostura bitters and a splash of black cherry juice. Then garnished with a fresh black cherry.”
Elegant. Bitter. Dangerous. Blackened — just how we like our metal and our drinks.
Today’s Track: “Cosmossuary”
With “Cosmossuary,” SIDIOUS don’t just drop a single — they open a crypt.
The track sits deep in that space where old-school black metal fury meets symphonic darkness and narrative atmosphere. There’s no glossy overproduction, no modern plastic shine — just a clear, punishing sound that still leaves room for melody, ritualistic pacing, and theatrical menace to breathe.
It’s the sound of a band fully aware of who they are now: more focused, more deliberate, more malicious in the best possible way.
Malefic Necropolis Is Coming
Malefic Necropolis marks the next chapter after 2022’s Blackest Insurrection — not a reinvention, but a deepening. The songs are more expansive, the structures more deliberate, the atmosphere thicker. You’ll hear violent momentum colliding with interludes, speeches, and moments of slow-burning dread that pull you deeper before the next assault hits.
Think scorched earth riffs, hammering rhythms, venomous vocals — but also a sense of narrative and pacing that makes the album feel like a descent rather than just a barrage.
In short: it’s hateful, it’s epic, it’s unapologetically black metal — and it doesn’t waste a single second pretending to be anything else.
Raise your glass.
Crank the volume.
Welcome to the necropolis.
SIDIOUS BandCamp: https://sidious.bandcamp.com/
Pre-order ‘Malefic Necropolis’: https://www.shop.immortalfrostproductions.com
