Photo by: Gen Pintel
Official press release:
Encasement will unleash its self-titled debut full-length on September 4th through a joint collaboration between Hypaethral Records and I, Voidhanger Records.
Encasement is the solo black metal project of James Thompson, formed in 2024 through what began as a simple creative exercise and evolved into something far more personal. The venture found direction with the opening passage of the track “Exodus”, a moment that revealed not only a distinct musical voice, but also an unexpected connection to a collection of poems written years earlier.
What followed was an intense and instinctive writing process. Songs arrived in bursts and gradually assembled into a record rooted in grief, reflection, and emotional release. While the earliest material emerged spontaneously, the remainder of the album was shaped with greater intention, becoming an attempt to fully and unapologetically express emotions that had gone unspoken for too long.
Musically, Encasement is grounded in black metal but stretches beyond its traditional boundaries incorporating elements from both death metal and more progressive and experimental sources. Dense, angular, and mournful, the project draws from the intensity of artists such as Liturgy, Deafheaven, Thantifaxath, and Gorguts, while later stages of writing turned toward the orchestral drama of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Ravel.
Created almost entirely through instinct rather than formal production knowledge, Encasement embraces raw performances, unconventional production choices, and compositions pushed to the edge of Thompson’s own technical limits. The result is a debut that feels immediate, exposed, and singular.
In advance of the record’s release, Encasement reveals the first single, closing track “Fragmentation”.
Thompson comments:
“This track is the central statement of the project, both musically and lyrically; accepting what is gone, allowing oneself to grieve, reconnecting with the true self, and letting go. It explores the ways grief can show up in unexpected moments, and how its influence seems to be cyclical. How tempting it is to fall into the comfort of romanticizing your past, and how difficult it can be to give yourself the grace to move forward without guilt. I wrote fragmentation as a way to confront and detangle an unhealthy web I’d woven for myself.”
Encasement was recorded, mixed, and mastered by James Thompson. The record will be release on LP (100 on Blood Red vinyl) through Hypaethral Records and on CD (200, 6-panel digipack) through I, Voidhanger Records.
Find LP preorders at the Hypaethral webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE. Find CD preorders at I, Voidhanger’s EU shop HERE, US shop HERE, and Bandcamp HERE.
Encasement track listing:
- “Inertia”
- “Exodus”
- “Apparitions”
- “The Pillory”
- “Absolution”
- “Fragmentation”
