Horn announce new album "Apokalyps 1618", Out June 5th via Northern Silence Productions

With Apokalyps 1618, German black metal act Horn return with their eleventh studio album, a record that expands the project’s scope while remaining rooted in the atmosphere and identity that have defined the band for years.

The album moves through several different shades of black metal, from the classic melodic approach associated with earlier Horn releases such as Turm am Hang to more dissonant structures, experimental vocal arrangements and darker tonal shifts. Across eight tracks, Apokalyps 1618 explores themes tied to the Middle Ages, drawing from German folklore collected by the Brothers Grimm alongside historical events including the Third Defenestration of Prague and the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War.

Lyrically, the album moves between German, Swedish, Norwegian and English, while the music itself incorporates a broader range of textures and moods than previous Horn releases. Tracks such as the title piece “Apokalyps 1618” carry the project’s familiar epic and melodic character, while “Die Ahren gleich als mit dem Huf” leans into harsher and more disharmonic territory. Elsewhere, “Barhout” experiments with unusual vocal styles and structures, and the closing track “At our bleakest” presents a more ballad-like approach shaped by influences reminiscent of Type O Negative and Ulver.

The album also features several guest musicians, including Jerff from Änterbila, Lestaya from Ferndal, Meister Cagliostro from Attic and Schwadorf from Empyrium. The visual side of the release follows the same ambitious direction, with cover artwork inspired by the multi-layered and surreal imagery associated with Hieronymus Bosch.

Apokalyps 1618 will be released as a co-production between Horn and Northern Silence Productions.

Tracklist:

1. Apokalyps 1618

2. Die Ahren gleich als mit dem Huf

3. Naud

4. Barhout

5. Am Abgrund steht der Junker

6. Hiofan mahnt

7. Ergot

8. At our bleakest