Lychgate

Lychgate is a London-based avant-garde/black-doom metal collective formed in 2011 by guitarist J.Y. Vortigern and featuring contributors such as Greg Chandler (vocals/guitars), Aran (bass) and T. J. F. Vallely (drums), known for dense, dystopian, progressive extreme metal that blends black, doom and experimental elements. Their discography includes a self-titled 2013 debut, the acclaimed 2015 EP An Antidote for the Glass Pill, the 2018 album The Contagion in Nine Steps, the 2020 EP Also sprach Futura, and the 2025 full-length Precipice released on Debemur Morti Productions, which features tracks like “Renunciation” and “Hive of Parasites” and was mixed and mastered by Greg Chandler.

The band’s lineup and collaborative nature draw members from other underground acts (Esoteric, Acherontas and similar scenes), and critics have highlighted Lychgate’s unsettling, progressive songwriting, heavy atmosphere and surreal, dystopian themes across reviews and interviews. Their Bandcamp and label pages position them as a consistently experimental force in modern extreme metal, crafting long-form, labyrinthine compositions that emphasize mood, texture and narrative intensity.