Brodequin greet death on ‘Harbinger of Woe’, title track of their upcoming album

BRODEQUIN know their history. As with the rest of the band’s brutal discography, their new album, Harbinger of Woe was inspired by medieval times. But while its first two singles wielded fresh instruments of torture, the title track cracks into the psychology of a trained killer.

Listen to Harbinger of Woe: https://youtu.be/nU1_sdMzDWY

Harbinger of Woe comes out March 22, 2024.

Pre-order: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/brodequin-harbinger-of-woe
Pre-save: https://orcd.co/harbingerofwoepresave

Harbinger of Woe delivers plenty of punishment. Brennan Shackelford flails his drum kit with the pinging precision of a dungeon master. But the song isn’t inhumane. After all, someone was responsible for administering these historic beatings. Heck, back in the Middle Ages, executioners were considered a necessary evil. 

“He is despised and rejected / feared by most members of society”, Jamie Bailey gurgles as if bound and gagged by his own microphone.

Sure, it’s not painless. But when being dragged to the gallows, all anyone can hope for is someone to put them out of their misery quick and easy. When the breakdown hits, Mike Bailey‘s riff comes slicing in like a guillotine.

“In many ways, the title track is representative of the whole album”, BRODEQUIN says. “Harbinger of Woe uses several quotes that capture the violent mindset of the Medieval Period. But lyrically, we’re also trying to portray an expert in his craft, who’s well-acquainted with being shunned from society, along with all the other negative aspects of his profession. If you found yourself in this unfortunate position, you’d want this highly skilled professional to put you down as quickly and efficiently as possible”.

The Middle Ages might’ve brought the world out of The Dark Ages. But for every compass or printing press, those enlightened thinkers were also responsible for inventing the most torturous devices in human history. None were more brutal than the brodequin. Not only did the French use this instrument to cripple their victims, but to squeeze their legs to the point where bone marrow would spill out of their wounds.    

You could say the same about Brodequin. The band come with their own long and sordid history. Brothers Jamie and Mike Bailey have been playing brutal death metal since 1998. Putting his history degree to good use, Jamie‘s lyrics are inspired by real historical events, staying true to death metal’s core thematic pillars of dismemberment, torture, abuse and murder. But their artwork broke from genre’s generic splatter illustrations by digging into intricate period woodcuts and beautifully grotesque oil paintings. 

“There simply was no point in history that was more brutal than the medieval period,” says Jamie. “At the same time that such barbarity was deployed, there was also an explosion in fine art, architecture and music. It all comes to feed our identity as a band”.   

Brodequin‘s first album catapulted them far beyond their kingdom of Knoxville. “This band has stuck out in the underground with relentless, barbaric intensity”, says Dying Fetus‘ vocalist and guitarist John Gallagher, who named Instruments of Torture one of the most brutal death metal albums ever. Festival of Death put another flesh-tearing arrow in their quiver (“Some of the fastest, most brutalizing death metal ever recorded” – Sputnik Music). But after sieging festival stages across Europe with Methods of Execution, the band had to be put on ice.  

“We had a series of deaths in our family”, Jamie explains. “Mike and I knew we had to step away until we had the time and were at a place mentally to give Brodequin the attention it deserved.”  

Now, after 20 years of peaceful silence, Brodequin have returned with fresh instruments of torture. The Brothers Bailey are back with a new drummer, a new label and their long-awaited fourth album.

“Brodequin had been away for so long that I was stunned by the level of interest from fans and record labels”, Jamie says. “Before playing Hellfest, the band was approached backstage by a metalhead rocking a Brodequin t-shirt who happened to work for Season of Mist. Soon enough, they were hitting it off with Michael Berberian. The rest, as they say, is history. 

“We all hung out for hours”, recalls Jamie. “The extraordinary level of enthusiasm shown toward our music made Season of Mist the obvious choice”. 

As has been the case with this band for their entire career, Harbinger of Woe lives up to its name. Lead single “Of Pillars and Trees” is classic Brodequin. Mike‘s distorted guitar chords churn like limbs through a meat grinder. The way Brennan Shackelford pings, blasts and flays his snare through “Suffocation in Ash” with the all encompassing speed of a sandstorm. Jamie‘s growls are so phlegmy, so rotted, that to drag them out from whatever dark bowel movement spawned them would make an executioner sick to their stomach. And yet — somewhere deep inside all that carnage hides a terrifying beauty. The title track leaves you deaf, dumb and blind, begging on your knees in the face of a punishing, almighty riff.    

“This album is a journey into this lost period of history where brutality and beauty coexist. Beauty, in the arts the were created, but also the beautiful brutality that was needed to engineer deadly devices like the brodequin”.  

With Harbinger of Woe, Brodequin reclaim their throne as the most brutal band in all of death metal.

Line up:
Jamie Bailey: Bass/Vocals
Mike Bailey: Guitar
Brennan Shackelford: Drums