TOTAL ANNIHILATION reveal video single ‘The Art of Torture’
& details of new album “Mountains of Madness“
TOTAL ANNIHILATION detonate their insidious first video single ‘The Art of Torture‘ onto the brutal scene, which is also a cutting example of what to expect from the Swiss death & thrash metal outfit’s forthcoming new album “Mountains of Madness“. The release is scheduled to January 16, 2026.
TOTAL ANNIHILATION comment: “This song is a beast!”, guitarist Jürgen Schmid enthuses. “Imagine a bastard crossbreed between Frankenstein’s Monster and Ridley Scott’s Alien. ‘The Art of Torture’ comes with all our trademarks and more. This track can be taken as a reference of where we currently stand in our musical evolution. It’s also damn fast and fun to play and a prospective classic for our future live shows. The lyrics deal with an abject topic that is probably as old as mankind: torture – in any form that we were able to imagine. The amount of creativity and energy that humanity has invested into abusing each other is mind-blowing. We should not keep any illusions about our civilization as that layer is thin. Torture was always around and it is probably here to stay. It just keeps changing its looks and justifications.”
Credits
Video scripted by Jürgen Schmid & Total Annihilation
Directed by Luca Piazzalonga
Filmed & edited by Daniel Rochat
Second camera by Simone B.
Drone camera by Jean Marc Behr
Torture scenes from the movie “Häxan” (1922) by Benjamin Christensen
Images taken from Wikimedia Commons
Tracklist
1. The Art of Torture
2. Mountains of Madness
3. Illusion
4. Chokehold
5. Choose the Day
6. Age of Mental Suicide
7. Nyctophobia
8. Beneath the Cross
9. Invisible Conflagration
10. Lost Forever
11. Hate Remains
“Mountains of Madness” has been recorded with ENGL equipment and both guitar shredders of TOTAL ANNIHILATION, Nicolas Stelz and Jürgen Schmid, feel honoured to be officially collaborating with the prestigious musical gear manufacturer now. The guitarists comment:
“Total Annihilation runs on pure metal and solid bonds”, Nicolas and Jürgen state in unison. “For that reason, we are stoked to announce our collaboration with ENGL Amplification – the masters of crushing guitar tones. Based in Germany and still a true family company, ENGL has set the standard for devastating distortion for decades. Their amps and gear are built to last, insanely versatile, and the weapon of choice for guitarists worldwide. We could not be more thrilled – prepare for total sonic destruction: annihilate ’em all!”
TOTAL ANNIHILATION will celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary year with the release of their fourth full-length “Mountains of Madness”. This album delivers all the Swiss precision and trademark elements their following has come to expect of them but also with more of everything: more tempo and serious speed, more brutality, more power, more thrash, more death but also more harmonies, more melodies, and more musicality!
There are also more tentacles, more jaws, more razor-sharp teeth, more twisted mutation, and definitely more evil! Talking about tentacles, the album title points already towards the famous cosmic horror novella “At the Mountains of Madness” (1936) by American gothic author H. P. Lovecraft, who has been a constant source of inspiration for the metal scene in general and TOTAL ANNIHILATION in particular.
Yet for TOTAL ANNIHILATION all this horror is not just escapism for entertainment but it serves a meaningful purpose. The album is permeated by a deep moral disgust and burning anger towards all the evil and reckless destruction that humanity forces onto itself and all other forms of life on this planet and earth itself. “Mountains of Madness” is conceived as an echo of and a bold manifesto about the state of the world as well as an artistic sign of our time.
Back in the year 2006 things looked less bleak when a bunch of young musicians were just looking for some good times. Vocalist Daniel Altwegg had joined forces with three of his friends and a hot desire to simply form the hardest, loudest, and rawest metal band of their Swiss home, the City of Basel.
After a phase of stylistic experiments, the band settled for an aggressive yet melodic course that combined elements of death and thrash metal. A fitting name was found with TOTAL ANNIHILATION, and they quickly established a regional reputation as an outstanding live act and underlined bigger ambitions by spreading the professionally produced demo “TA 80” (2008) and the debut album “84” (2009) internationally. Both releases were later reissued due to their success and continued demand.
With a strong foothold established abroad, TOTAL ANNIHILATION broadened their musical range by adding a second guitarist to their line-up before the release of their sophomore full-length. “Extinction” (2012) was very well received by critics and fans alike and opened doors to renowned festivals such as Metaldays Slovenia, Bavarian Metalheadz Open Air, Swiss Metal Masters among many others.
Following several line-up changes that left Daniel Altwegg as the only remaining founding member, TOTAL ANNIHILATION continued to push forward and unleashed their most brutal and technically sophisticated album yet, “…On Chains of Doom” (2020).
Once live shows returned in the wake of the global pandemic, TOTAL ANNIHILATION immediately hit stages across Europe again, alongside such acts as LEGION OF THE DAMNED, ASPHYX, M.O.D., and MESSIAH as well as more festivals such as Tolminator in Slovenia.
For all of those who are sick and tired of hearing the same stuff all over again, TOTAL ANNIHILATION offer the perfect cure with “Mountains of Madness”: simply more of everything!
Band: Total Annihilation
Album title: Mountains of Madness
Label: Testimony Records
Style: Death Metal
Release date: January 16, 2026
Label: Testimony Records
Review impact date: Dezember 1, 2025
Line-up
Daniel Altwegg – vocals
Nicolas Stelz – guitar
Jürgen Schmid – guitar
Michael Lautenschläger – drums
Niklaus Denger – bass
Guest musician
Luca Piazzalonga (VÍGLJÓS/GRAVPEL) – additional vocals on ‘Choose the Day’
Recording by Christoph Brandes at Iguana Studios in Freiburg (DE)
Mixing by Ronnie Björnström at Björnström Sound & Production in Sundsvall (SE)
Mastering by Ronnie Björnström at Björnström Sound & Production in Sundsvall
Artwork by Bruno Gonzalez
Layout by Luca Piazzalonga
Shop
https://spkr.store/collections/total-annihilation
Format
“Mountains of Madness” will be available as a ltd. marbled green & yellow vinyl LP (250 copies), as a black vinyl LP, as a Jewelcase CD, and as a cassette tape MC.
Links
www.facebook.com/total.annihilation.thrash
www.instagram.com/total_annihilation_official
