Now in their twentieth year of uncompromising and mind-bending music, Gnod return with Chronicles of Gnowt Vol. 1, the first of a planned trilogy, to be released via Rocket Recordings on 10th April. Vol.2 should arrive in October and Vol. 3 in early 2027. Today, they share the first preview from Vol.1 ‘Shadow Mirror’.
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“I am only interested in people engaged in a project of self-transformation,” Susan Sontag once remarked. Sontag never had the chance to work out how she felt about Gnod, given she sadly left this earthly realm in 2004. Yet Gnod’s now twenty year journey through spiritual and audial exploration has been nothing if not that. Driven by relentless curiosity, magpie irreverence and a fierce countercultural imperative, their project has always refused to acknowledge all or any rules and boundaries, internal or external.
The latest adventure of this band may never have been intended to celebrate their two-decade anniversary, but as long-time Gnod member Paddy Shine notes, they don’t always have a lot of say in these matters –“I know that we didn’t plan it this way but perhaps it was always in the plan and we just didn’t know it,” he notes cryptically. “I guess what I’m saying is that the Gnod thing seems to have its own energy now and certain things tend to take care of themselves”.
“We haven’t reflected too heavily on the twenty year mark and maybe we shouldn’t, but I’m glad we are marking it in true Gnod fashion by releasing too many albums” he laughs –indeed, what began as a trip into a residential studio setup in Hellfire Studios with producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy (Lankum, Black MIDI, Caroline) for six days resulted in more potent material than anyone bargained for.
“Working with Spud was probably the best studio experience we’ve had,” Paddy notes. “He was open to all our ideas, facilitated them the best he could and always had great suggestions. The vibe was right and things just flowed”. The end result has been three studio albums to be released over the next year. “This trilogy revealed itself to us in the studio,” says Paddy. “We were hoping to get a good album out of the session and lo and behold we got three of the fuckers. It’s interesting that we did pretty much capture the full spectrum of the Gnod sound across all three”.
2026 tour dates
05 May / UK / Bristol / Strange Brew
06 May / UK / Brighton / Dust
07 May / FR / Paris / les instants chavirés
08 May / DE / Duisburg / Stapeltor
09 May / DE / Berlin / Kantine am Berghain
10 May / PL / Poznań / Pawilon
11 May / CZ / Prague / MeetFactory
12 May / AT / Innsbruck / PMK
13 May / CH / Bern / Dachstock
15 May / NL / Nijmegen / Sonic Whip Festival
16 May / BE / Brussels / Obsidian Dust Festival
17 May / UK / St Leonards / The Piper
03-06 Sep / UK / Dorset / End Of The Road Festival
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Photo credit: Jon Perry
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