Australian thrash titans Harlott will unleash their new studio album “Exsequiis” on September 11th, 2026, via Metal Blade Records!
It’s now 20 years since four teenagers from Melbourne assembled under the name Harlott – chosen largely because it would look good on a black T-shirt. After a scorching debut with “Origin” in 2013, the band carved their path through “Proliferation” (2015), “Extinction” (2017), and “Detritus of the Final Age” (2020) sharpening their brand of breakneck, high-tension thrash with every release.
Now, after a six-year gap, “Exsequiis” marks the boldest leap forward in their career. Denser, harsher, and more confident than ever – a razor-sharp sound picture built on world-class guitar work, relentless momentum and lyrics that cast a jaundiced eye over our bitterly divided world. The death of the gods, delivered by thrash metal artisans in the prime of their lives.
“Detritus… was a great experience in digging out sounds and ideas that we would have been too trepidant to explore”, explains the band. “For ‘Exsequiis’, we went further into that, but with the confidence that it would work as it had done before”.
Examples of this confidence rain down from the outset, with intro “Incipiam” acting as a guitar fanfare of sumptuous melodies that would make Dave Murray green with envy, cueing the haywire carnage of “Void”. Blastbeats and trebly guitars add a black metallic intensity to “Messiah Simplex”, while the scampering riff patterns of “Vice Borne” give way to a mighty bouncing earworm of a chorus. This song, and many others, become a glittering showcase for the guitar solos of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Hudson and guitarist Leigh Bartley, another feature of the Harlott sound by now mastered to world class levels, a perfect blend of precision and spontaneity.
Lyrics remain in the depressingly real world, the band preferring not to embroider some supernatural phantasmagoria but instead casting a jaundiced eye over our bitterly divided current climate.
Comments the band on the lead single, “Trial by Liar”: “Truth doesn’t appear to matter anymore and there aren’t any consequences for anything. There is a war on information raging and we yearn for the day when judgement is met on these perpetrators”.
Watch the official video for “Trial by Liar” below.
“Exsequiis” will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variant: “Coagulation” A Side – B Side (EU – Ltd. 500)
Pre-order “Exsequiis” here.
Tracklist:
1. Incipiam
2. Void
3. Messiah Simplex
4. Trial by Liar
5. The God That Knows No Name
6. Kleptogenesis
7. A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits
8. The Joyful Stain
9. Endling
10. Vice Borne
11. Exsequiis
European Tour Dates 2026:
9/11/2026 Juz – Burghausen, DE
9/12/2026 Nuclear Intervention Fest – Kadov u Blatné, CZ
9/13/2026 Garage Pub – Krakow, PL
9/15/2026 Music-House – Graz, AT
9/16/2026 Escape – Vienna, AT
9/18/2026 MK Bar – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU
9/23/2026 Bambi Galore – Hamburg, DE
9/24/2026 Mukkes – Leeuwarden, NL
9/25/2026 Musicon – The Hague,NL
9/26/2026 Hellfort – Bruges, BE
“Our mates keep pumping out some heavy fast riffs. Crushing grooves, some super tricky right hand speed picking, catchy melodies with ripping leads, and raw AF vocals. Thrash metal doesn’t get much better than this!”, says Brian Hopp, Cephalic Carnage.
Line-up:
Andrew Hudson – Guitar, vocals
Tom Richards – Bass, vocals
Leigh Bartley – Guitar
Glen Trayhern – Drums
Weblinks:
www.facebook.com/HarlottOfficial
www.instagram.com/harlottofficial
