PALE HORSEMAN ANNOUNCE NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM RUIN OF SOULS

Chicago sludge metal veterans descend deeper into darkness with a crushing new album of industrial brutality, bleak melody, and existential dread

For Fans Of: Godflesh, Neurosis, Obituary

Chicago sludge metal veterans Pale Horseman are preparing to unleash their latest full-length album, Ruin of Souls , a devastating new chapter from a band that has spent more than fifteen years forging an increasingly massive and unsettling sound.

With the album's official release date currently TBD , Pale Horseman are working toward a physical vinyl release targeted for December 2026 , with further details to be announced.

Speaking about the new album, Pale Horseman describe Ruin of Souls as a deeper descent into the darkness that has defined the band's music for more than fifteen years:

“On Ruin of Souls , Pale Horseman descend even deeper into the darkness they’ve been cultivating for over fifteen years. Crushing sludge riffs collide with bleak melody, industrial brutality, and an overwhelming sense of dread, creating something that is as hypnotic as it is punishing. This is heavy music stripped down to its most primal and unsettling form—music that doesn’t simply soundtrack the end times, but makes you feel like you’re already living through them.”

That description captures the oppressive atmosphere at the heart of Ruin of Souls . Pale Horseman blend crushing sludge riffs with industrial textures, dissonant tension, bleak melody, and cinematic heaviness, creating a sound that feels both brutally physical and psychologically consuming.

For Pale Horseman, heaviness has never been limited to sheer volume or distorted guitars. Their music explores psychological ruin, paranormal mystery, mythic violence, existential dread, and the raw burden of human suffering. The result is a sound capable of moving between crushing brutality and strangely haunting beauty without ever losing its sense of menace.

Formed in 2010 , Pale Horseman have carved out a distinctive place within Chicago's underground metal scene. The band's members bring decades of experience from the city's heavy music community, with roots in acts including Couldron, Maimed, Souls Demise, Doomsday, Making Ghosts, Abortus, Deep Space Pilots, and Johnny Vomit .

That history has helped shape Pale Horseman's massive and meticulously constructed approach to sludge metal, combining punishing riffs with an atmosphere that feels expansive, oppressive, and relentlessly dark.

The band have also earned a reputation for intense and engulfing live performances. Throughout their career, Pale Horseman have shared stages with Acid King, Earthride, Crowbar, Whores., Bongripper, Coroner, Trouble, Vio-Lence, Karma To Burn, Eyehategod, Church of Misery , and many others, appearing at clubs, DIY spaces, and festival stages throughout the Midwest and beyond.

Drawing on the mechanical brutality of Godflesh, the crushing atmospheric weight of Neurosis, and the primal heaviness associated with Obituary, Pale Horseman occupy a space where sludge, industrial metal, and darker strains of extreme metal collide.

Ruin of Souls promises to carry that evolution forward, taking the band's established sound into an even darker and more oppressive territory.

PALE HORSEMAN

Chicago Sludge Metal | Est. 2010

Andre Almaraz - Guitar & Vocals
Eric Ondo - Guitar & Vocals
Rich Cygan - Bass
Jason Schryver - Drums

Album: Ruin of Souls
Format: Full-Length Album
Genre: Sludge Metal
Release Date: TBD
Vinyl: Targeting December 2026

- Recorded and mixed at Bricktop Recording in Chicago, IL by Pete Grossman
- Mastered by Audio Siege Mastering in Portland, OR by Brad Boatright

For Fans Of: Godflesh, Neurosis, Obituary

Connect: 

https://www.facebook.com/PaleHorsemanSludge
https://www.instagram.com/pale_horseman/
https://palehorseman.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6BEZtiJJg28KoUkhEveZ7a
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/pale-horseman/886069680