Suplecs Premiere “I See You”; Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky Out Feb. 20
New Orleans heavy rock veterans Suplecs will release their fifth album and first in 15 years, Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky, on Feb. 20 through Ripple Music. If that doesn’t elicit a Stone-Cold-Steve-Austin-circa-’96-level ‘hell yeah’ from the frontal cortex of your brain, feel free to go back and read it again. There’s new Suplecs coming. Rockers, awaken.
It should tell you something that Suplecs — who’ve never been the biggest of big bands or the most hyped, who’ve toured plenty in their time but not in a long time, and so on — have released albums through the three record labels most responsible for defining the course of American heavy rock over the last 25-plus years. Their first two LPs, 2000’s Wrestlin’ With My Ladyfriend and 2001’s Sad Songs… Better Days (discussed here) were on Man’s Ruin. The story of 2005’s Powtin’ on the Outside Pawty on the Inside is complex and the album was released through a local imprint, but 2011’s Mad Oak Redoux (review here) was on Small Stone, and Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky being on Ripple completes the trifecta. It is not a coicidence.
I went 11 years between seeing them at a Small Stone showcase in Philly in 2011 (review here) and in Richmond, Virginia, in 2022 at Alabama Thunderpussy‘s reunion show (review here), and was still looking forward to it, no questions asked. If you went to Ripplefest Texas in 2025, you already know why. When they got on stage, they delivered like a band who — perhaps contrary to the insistant chorus of opening track “Got Nothing” here — had more to say. Rooted in ’90s-style fuzz, Suplecs have always kept the forms loose and the performances tight, and despite the severity of the title, Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky retains some of the humor, funk and swing that have made their first two LPs classics by now, and will be recognizable for that. In ideal fashion, the fifth record accounts for the band’s beginnings and roots, while having grown well beyond them.
The narrative of Suplecs‘ sound was never actually so simple as ‘fuzz plus riffs,’ and Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky reinforces this as well, in part with two side-ending divergences in the string-inclusive “Old Spanish Trail,” which builds around a purposefully slogging jangle guitar line with an evocative melody and is the longest inclusion at 6:45, and the album-capper “La Ti Da,” which harnesses the largesse of side B leadoff “Damn These Pills” and works in a Mardi Gras horn section to blow out the finish with a huge nod that, thankfully, at no point in its drawling ourse
approaches being ska. Bullet dodged, gentlemen. And with apparent ease. Other cuts like the strutting “Blackwater Rising,” or the taut two-minute roller “Pentacle Star” or the punker thrust of “$6 Man” or the midtempo howler “I See You” (premiering below), which is apparently a crunching ode to guitarist/vocalist Durel Yates‘ mother, create a flow through material that still holds its ripper sensibility at the core — “Mountain,” “Forest of Fire,” “Heartless Bodies,” etc. — and builds complexity around the root methodology.
Which tells you what? Suplecs aren’t wasting their time. Throughout Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky, Yates, bassist/vocalist Danny Nick and drummer Andrew Preen are very clearly not unaware of the decade and a half it’s been since they were last heard from in a studio capacity — they’ve still played live, built a local Mardi Gras following, and so on, as you can read in the PR wire info below — and there are aspects of Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky that speak to the band sitting down, hammering out the songs, putting time and effort into sculpting a sound that, in parts anyway, wants you as the listener to think it’s off the cuff. It works in the sense of making difficult changes sound less difficult, and calls to mind a sneaky songwriterism that’s always been underlying and continues to make songs memorable here.
Ain’t nobody gettin’ any younger, in Suplecs or otherwise, and Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky resonates with a feeling of the band locking in with a purpose. Part of that is expressive, part is expansive, part is clearly about the chemistry and the joy Yates, Nick and Preen feel creating music together, and all of it results in a gorgeous 48-minute/12-track outing that, yeah, pushes the form of a vinyl LP, but makes its every moment essential through urgent delivery and the already noted, purposeful variety.
I’ll not feign impartiality; I’m glad this record exists, and more, I’m glad it doesn’t suck. Rather, it feels like Suplecs stepping up to a moment that, hopefully, will see them able to get some of the broader plaudits for which they’re long overdue. No, I don’t think they’ll ever be the biggest or most hyped band, but one can’t ignore the fact that Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky will likely be Suplecs‘ introduction to a lot of listeners in a generation that’s come up since 2010, and I have a hard time imagining it being anything other than well received.
December was last month, and that was year-end list time. I’ll tell you in all seriousness that I have Hymns Under a Blood Moon Sky in my notes for Dec. 2026 already, so when it comes around again, you can’t say you’re surprised. If/when you hear the album, I’m not sure how you could be.
I hope they get added to Emissions From the Monolith.
Enjoy “I See You” in the visualizer below, followed by more from the aforementioned PR wire:
Suplecs, “I See You” visualizer premiere
“Hymns Under A Blood Moon Sky” is a gut-wrenching ride through the New Orleans trio’s world. It ranges from the relentless, Maiden-meets-Sabbath attack of “Got Nothing” to the haunting, brass-backed NOLA jazz funeral dirge of “La Ti Da” featuring the horns of Egg Yolk Jubilee. The album fearlessly tackles themes of death, divorce, suicide and addiction (“Blackwater Rising”), balanced by moving tributes such as guitarist and vocalist Durel Yates’ ode to his mother, “I See You”. It weaves in diverse influences, from Black Flag swagger to prog-jazz intricacy, culminating in the dynamic first single: “No Apologies.”
The album’s title and artwork are deeply rooted in New Orleans history and personal narrative. The cover features a 1960s painting by Danny Nick’s father, famed Jackson Square artist Richard “D.Nick” Nick, depicting the pirate Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, which housed an arsenal of weapons strategic to the victory of The Battle Of New Orleans in the War of 1812. The title, Hymns Under A Blood Moon Sky, serves as a tribute to the band’s resilient, outsider spirit—forging an arsenal of riffs in secrecy to pay homage to the only home they’ve ever known.
SUPLECS “Hymns Under A Blood Moon Sky”
Out February 20th on Ripple Music (LP/CD/digital) – PREORDER: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/hymns-under-a-blood-moon-sky
TRACKLIST:
1. Got Nothing
2. Pentacle Star
3. I See You
4. Forest of Fire
5. Blackwater Rising
6. Old Spanish Trail
7. Damn These Pills
8. Mountain
9. $6 Man
10. Heartless Bodies
11. No Apologies
12. La Ti Da
Marked by life’s passages, Suplecs have maintained a vital presence, most notably with their annual Mardi Gras show—a New Orleans staple for over 500 attendees, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025. Now, after years of fan-favorite live sets, the band is channeling decades of raw experience, swagger, and heaviness into writing their highly anticipated fifth album, promising a powerful culmination of their storied career.
SUPLECS is
Danny Nick – Bass, Vocals
Durel Yates – Guitars, Vocals
Andrew Preen – Drums, Percussion
FUCK YES!!!!!
My point exactly. Thank you.
Great article! I’ve been in the back ground working with Suplecs for 25 year making art for them. It is a great honor hearing the tunes come together. Danny has many songs in his back pocket…literary! Suplecs is one of New Orleans jems of a band. It’s like when you get a King Cake and you happen to get the baby in your piece…that is how Suplecs brings in Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans.
Look out for the re-released of there catalog on Vinyl records!