With 3 critically acclaimed albums and over a decade of activity, Karybdis are one of London’s most enduring underground acts. Supporting the likes of The Black Dahlia Murder, Jinjer, Evile and Monuments, as well as festival appearances at Bloodstock and UK Tech Fest, the quartet have consistently demonstrated a passion for melodic death metal, paired with an aggressive live show.  

 

Following the departure of lead guitarist Matthew Lowry, Karybdis recruited long-time collaborator: Norfolk noise-terrorist Dave Klussmann (Deities, Nervewrecker) and set about work on an ambitious new project. 

 

Conceived as a concept EP based around Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’ suite, Order and Chaos explores classical themes and melodies reimagined through a modern lens. Drummer/composer Mitch McGugan explains: ‘We have always been fascinated by learning more about the cosmos. After watching 'The Planets in Concert' with Brian Cox, a program that interspersed the famous collection of pieces by Gustav Holst with Brian Cox- explaining how our understanding of the planets has changed in the last 100 years, it made me want to experiment with some of the motifs and see if they would work in a completely different genre of music. We (Karybdis) have always used strings as part of our sound, but we really wanted to push the boat out and utilise not only a multitude of strings, but a choir and a brass section as well.’ 

As guitar riffs began to blend with orchestral arrangements, it became clear that vocalist Rich O’Donnell would have to stretch himself to keep up ‘I’ve really tried to push myself on this EP and tried to explore some of the melodic undertones of my voice, while I’m still striving to be as heavy as possible there’s certain moments that required me to scale things back and think about how I can work with the choir and string parts to create something truly unique.’ 

 

As the EP began to take shape it became clear that the best choice to helm production was new guitarist Dave Klussmann who has previously worked with the likes of Oceano, Enterprise Earth, Chiasmata and Fraktions. Dave: ‘When Karybdis approached me to join the band, I was equally excited by the prospect of producing as I was by writing and performing. This was a somewhat daunting task, due to the lineage of excellent guitarists and producers who have worked with the band in the past, but I feel I have achieved my goal of crafting a sound that encompasses the established vibes of previous material while adding new twists and progressing the sound of the band to new heights.’  

 

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