The last time we posted about Carach Angren, with the brilliant and disturbing video for There’s No Place Like Home, the Dutch black metallers got death threats.

Apparently, domestic abuse isn’t a suitable subject for certain followers of heavy metal’s dark side (but decide for yourself here). Now we are proud, and braced, to present their forthcoming new album, This Is No Fairytale - released on February 23 via Season Of Mist - in its full, and utterly warped glory. So before the more idiotic members of our community beat off all the housewives buying rope at the hardware store and stock up on pitchforks, let it be known that while the new, majestic opus is a concept album, the main thrust is on the seemingly safer ground of witchcraft. Don’t expect an easy ride through the well-trodden paths of symphonic black metal, though; This Is No Fairytale twists the form to unique and hyper-dramatic ends, their unusual, narration-style vocals tiptoeing, twirling and running rampant through orchestral, gothic territories that would give Tim Burton the heebie-jeebies and basically lay down the gauntlet as one of the most audaciously engrossing bands to crawl out through the cracks in the underground for many an age.

Are you sitting comfortably? Cherish that moment, because the chances are that you’ll be checking your arms for sub-cutaneous scuttling and insectoid hatching within five minutes of pressing the ‘Play’ button below.

For a fuller induction into the lunacy that is Carach Angren, check out our interview in the current issue of Metal Hammer, issue 267!

Take a detour from the forest path and arrive at Carach Angren’s Facebook here.

And pre-order This Is No Fairytale in its many manifestations here!