New experimental ritual dark ambient band, Kathodos, will release its debut album Parasomnia: Pavor Nocturnus via Rune Serpent Europa on 28th October 2025.
Out now, new single and video ‘The Dark Priests‘, and according to Kathodos, “‘‘The Dark Priests’ is a song meant to paint a nightmare of the darkest hue. Influenced by a scene in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film, Eyes Wide Shut, the track intends to transport the listener to an active occult ritual. Images of pagan masks, dark thrones, black staffs and sacrifice are conjured while the blasphemous hymn is performed by the dark priests. The listener will decide whether they wish to escape from this nightmare or if they are seduced by what they experience during the ritual. The music video features the latter two-thirds of the track. All footage contained in the video is taken from the 1922 silent film, Häxan. The visuals, the concept, and the acting from the film compliments the song perfectly.
You can watch the video for ‘The Dark Priests’ by clicking here.
The album release marks the first time the album will be widely available, as it was originally released digitally in the spring of 2024 on a now-defunct netlabel without any promotion. The CD will be a limited edition of 500 copies and will include a 4-page booklet.
Kathodos, the man behind the project, conceptualised the band in 2019 as an “experiment in darkness”. Having previously performed as a rock musician, he sought to create something darker. The album’s atmosphere was conjured from the best fragments of his dreams and the worst fragments of his nightmares. The entire album was composed in the spring of 2021 after lying dormant for nearly two years. Following another period of latency, most of the instrumentation and vocals were recorded in the spring of 2022. A difficult period in late 2022 delayed the project until 2023, when the rest of the album was finally recorded. Lavinia was recruited in late 2023 to provide soprano, spoken word vocals, and guitar on a few tracks. Kathodos also produced, mixed, and mastered the album in late 2023 and early 2024. After gaining a strong following from the few people who happened upon the initial release, Kathodos signed with Rune Serpent Europa in 2025 to reach a wider audience.
Previously ‘Hanging Tree’ was released ass a single, about which Kathodos commented: “’Hanging Tree’ is the catchiest song on Parasomnia: Pavor Nocturnus. The track features a hidden lyrical concept meant to be discovered by only the most astute listeners. The idea was to create a surreal, dream-like atmosphere that brings the listener back to ancient times. The music video features the explosive second half of ‘Hanging Tree’. Some of the imagery in the video is taken from ‘La Vie et la Passion de Jesus Christ’, a French silent film from 1903. The film’s colors and religious nature fit the song perfectly. I am featured in the video to portray the lyrical orator while Lavinia enhanced it with her sultry dancing.”
And before that was ‘A Memory Dwindles…’ and Kathodos explained the story behind the track and video: “’A Memory Dwindles…’ is a song about a person haunted by a horrifying memory of seeing a child falling off a rooftop. The person is in a state of despair and psychosis. The music video features footage from the 1920 silent film, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari – the dark and disturbing imagery of the film fits the ambience of the song. It also features myself and Lavinia playing out the song’s protagonist’s pain from the memory that plagues him.”
You can listen to the tracks on Spotify here also.
Parasomnia: Pavor Nocturnus is meant to be experienced as a sequence of strange dreams. It comprises a listening journey of confusing, dark, beautiful, scary, comical, twisted, psychotic, and bizarre dreams. The album takes the listener on a dark and sometimes terrifying journey of strange voices, bizarre sounds, beautiful moments, maddening architecture, and intricate instrumentation. It is highly unique, making use of hypnotising drones, occult rituals, odd lyrics, and hidden meanings.
Kathodos is a studio-only project and will not perform live. A second album is currently in the works. The band has also appeared on two official compilations released by Rune Serpent Europa: Laibach Tribut – Schlecht Und Ironisch, for which Kathodos covered the Laibach song ‘White Law’ and Saturno Butto tribute The Five Senses, contributing the track ‘Death & Rebirth’.
Parasomnia: Pavor Nocturnus features the tracks ‘Phantom of the Throne Room’, ‘A Memory Dwindles…’ ‘ …Window’, ‘The Dark Priests’, ‘Hanging Tree’ and ‘Message Sent To Earth’ – Distributed worldwide by The Circle Music it can be ordered here.
