Obey The Kraken have shared an official video for their new song “Betrayer.” That track will appear on their new EP “Apocrypha,” which will be available on April 10. The band said the following about that effort:
“This new release, Apocrypha, means a lot to us, especially because this second EP wasn’t originally planned. After finishing our first EP (Worship The Sunken God), things developed naturally and we realized we had more to say within this world and sound.
Musically, Apocrypha stays true to what we established before: hard-hitting death-core with breakdowns that are meant to stick with you. We consciously kept the formula of the first EP intact, so anyone who enjoyed EP1 will feel right at home with EP2. Listening back to the final masters, we’re genuinely happy with how consistent and powerful the release feels.
Content-wise, the new single marks the beginning of the biblical story told throughout the EP. The video is fast-paced and matches the song’s dynamic energy. We made a deliberate decision not to visually portray the story itself, as translating it literally would have been difficult and potentially limiting. Instead, we focused on a classic performance-style video that emphasizes the intensity and drive of the track.
Since we produce everything ourselves, the DNA of Apocrypha is the same as on EP1. That consistency was very important to us. Once again, our goal was to tell the story through sound. Everything was designed to feel massive, heavy, and epic, supporting the narrative without overcomplicating the production approach.
Before writing the music, we spent time developing the story and its core themes. Once that foundation was in place, we approached the songwriting in a very straightforward way. The two of us worked closely and extensively on the lyrics, refining them over a long period of time. Sonically, the songs are closely related to EP1, as we wanted to preserve the band’s core identity rather than reinvent it.
Lyrics play a central role for us. Our first EP told the complete story of Cthulhu and his resurrection across four songs, and we wanted to apply that same conceptual approach again. On Apocrypha, the songs tell the story of an angel who is cast out of heaven, forms an alliance with hell, and ultimately seeks to conquer heaven itself. Each track represents a different chapter of that narrative.
If someone hasn’t heard of Obey the Kraken before, they can expect death-core that aims to hit hard both musically and thematically. It’s loud, brutal, fast and driven by breakdowns that are meant to knock you off your feet, while still telling a cohesive and engaging story.”