OCCULT KENJI – Of Gods and Ancestors

OCCULT KENJI – Of Gods and Ancestors

(via Thalassocracy Records)

Cyprus’ Occult Kenji isn’t just a band, it’s one man’s goddamn crusade through history, myth, and chaos. Spearheaded by multi instrumentalist, vocalist, and writer Marios Michaelides, Of Gods and Ancestors is a monumental achievement for a solo project that sounds like an army of the undead marching out of the Mediterranean dusk. It’s epic, cinematic, and spiritually fucking heavy, a full bodied collision of mythological storytelling, post metal atmosphere, and death doom grit.

Produced and mixed by Kyriakos Herodotou (Lost Atlantis Studios) and mastered by Grant Berry (Fader Mastering), this record sounds immense, lush, layered, and carved in stone. Michaelides composes & command’s the storm like some ancient high priest of distortion, joined only by session titans like Hugo Ribeiro (Moonspell) on drums, Alex Michaelsson (Daggr) on backing vocals, and Dima Faustov (HeartBeat Brass Band) on clarinet.

Opening track “The Hand of Nergal” sets the scene with a towering invocation of plague and power, part ritual, part fucking apocalypse. It bleeds straight into “The Sea Peoples”, a war cry wrapped in progressive fury, telling the story of displacement and destruction that feels eerily relevant today.

Then comes the colossal “Cult of the Great White Bull”, where myth meets madness in a storm of thunderous riffs and roaring chants. Ribeiro’s drumming hits like divine punishment, and the layered harmonies make it sound like the gods themselves are watching.

“King Nothing” drops a hammer of modern despair, a bitter anthem about power, isolation, and crumbling empires. “Apollo’s Cup” follows with shimmering beauty, where Michaelides’ poetic side shines through, drinking deep from the well of existential reflection.

The final act is pure catharsis,“Death’s Road (Ο Δρόμος του Θανάτου)” and “Hylates” merge Greek and English lyrics into a spiritual climax of war, devotion, and ancestral memory. The clarinet solo on “Hylates” is haunting, the sound of ancient ghosts exhaling their last breath.

Of Gods and Ancestors is a fkn resurrection. One man built this from the ground up, and it stands as one of 2025’s boldest, most visionary metal releases. Bow your fucking head, Occult Kenji has arrived, and the gods are watching.