They’ll never foster a kind of freakery that’s for everybody — such is the nature of freakery — but Pilgrims and Psychonauts, the forthcoming long-player from Swedish-rooted ultraweirdos Nepal Death, has its poppier aspects, to be sure. The Rolling Stonesy “Sister Nirvana,” for example. The video for that is streaming below alongside the clip for “Polychromatic Route,” which I put there to emphasize that just because they’re in one place one minute doesn’t mean they’ll still be there the next. Although obviously there’s commitment here to an aesthetic, the songwriting is pointed in its exploration.

Which I guess is how you end up with 30-someodd players appearing across 14 songs. Would love to see the full list of co-conspirators here working around the core of the band. In the meantime, this from the PR wire:

Swedish Psych Rockers NEPAL DEATH Announce New Full-Length Album

NEPAL DEATH, Swedish psych rock masters, have set September 12, 2025, as the international release date for their highly anticipated new album, Pilgrims and Psychonauts, to be released via Kali Psyche Records. Featuring 14 unforgettable tracks for fans of King Gizzard, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Goat, Les Big Byrd, Silverbullit, The Rolling Stones’ Satanic Majesties, and Bollywood horror soundtracks! Built from vintage guitars, real sitars, analog space synths, gongs, flutes and tanpura drones – the album unfolds like a single tripped-out journey. You can probably dance to most of it, but might wake up somewhere along the Hippie Trail. Reincarnated in another time.

Imagine Charles Manson and a gang of fake Hare Krishna hippies speeding down the Hippie Trail in ’72 – that’s the surreal world of Pilgrims and Psychonauts, a hypnotic journey of neo-psych grooves and ritual mantras.

Over 30 musicians contribute to the sonic journey, including members of The Soundtrack of Our Lives (SE), Øresund Space Collective (DK), Exorcist GBG (SE), and Papir (DK). The result is a raw, melodic and ceremonial mix of analog synths, guitars, flutes, sitars and pounding percussion.

The track listing and cover art (inspired by early 70s underground press aesthetics) for Pilgrims and Psychonauts are as follows:
01 – The Hippie Trail Revisited (Intro)
02 – Polychromatic Route
03 – Freak Street Blues
04 – Interlude I – A Word of Warning
05 – Divine Destroyer (The Mahakala Mantra)
06 – Interlude II – The Tantric Transmission
07 – Ashen Pilgrim
08 – The Beacon Speaks (Ashen Pilgrim Pt. II)
09 – Sister Nirvana
10 – Shooting Star
11 – Her Crawling Majesty
12 – Interlude III – The Mantra Mechanism
13 – She Demon
14 – The Exorcism of Rakshasi (She Demon Pt. II)

THE MUSICIANS:
Anders Hallberg – Vocals
Astrid Hallén – Vocals | Singing Bowl
Scott Heller (Doctor Space) – Analog Synths
Bosse Pettersson – Electric Guitars | Bone Flute
Marian Klein – Electric Guitar | Vocals
Max Söderberg – Bass Guitar
Pontus Torstensson – Drums

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Nepal Death, “Polychromatic Route” official video

Nepal Death, “Sister Nirvana” official video

Emitting psych-revelry vibes in transluscent shades from Rolling Stones, Samsara Blues Experiment and the sunny acid folk of Tao and the Drones of Praise, Malmö weirdos Nepal Death offer “She Demon (The Exorcism of the Rakshasi)” as the follow-up single to the video they did for “Sister Nirvana” (posted here), which surfaced this Fall. And like that track, the new one marries classic pop ideologies with mushroomy oddball psych, a traditionalism based on shirking tradition, at least aesthetically, in favor of something more freeing. It wants you to sing along. Maybe you will or maybe not.

So let’s have a dream gig with Nepal Death and fellow outsider-art Swedes Toad Venom, shall we? Could add some cosmic strangeness from the UK in Codex Serafini if you want. Good bill, though I don’t know that it would or wouldn’t ever happen. In any case, a pocket of strangeness tucked away in the recesses of genre is welcome, and Nepal Death answer that call with a duly individualized sound. As to an album, I won’t speculate except to remind that we live in a universe of infinite possibility. Something perhaps to keep in mind as you listen.

From the PR wire:

The Musical Collective of Nepal Death ­now unleash their latest sonic story upon the world. “She Demon (The Exorcism of the ­Rakshasi)” will take you on a mind-­bending trip spanning over nine ­glorious minutes.

The song echoes the rhythms of The Rolling Stones’ ­”Sympathy for the Devil” and the vibes of Primal Scream’s “Movin’ on Up”. Feel the trippy seventies, featuring psychedelic guitars, infectious basslines, drum grooves, magical flute melodies, bells, singing bowls and massive choirs. The lyrics draw inspiration from Hindu legends of the Rakshasi-demons wielding supernatural powers for evil acts. Picture fierce beings with flaming red eyes and hair, savoring the scent of human flesh.

Listen on Spotify HERE: https://open.spotify.com/album/73bW14oc7E38wysA76Fz3o

“Embark on a cosmic odyssey with ‘She Demon’ – Our tribute to ’70s psychedelia, blending the eerie with the energetic. Picture fierce Rakshasi demons and join us in this nine-minute sonic journey featuring amazing guest artists. It’s more than a song; it’s a direct line to the cosmic vibrations of fierce demons!” – says the band.

She Demon is written and performed by Nepal Death, ­featuring guest ­artists Pontus Torstensson ­(Exorcist GBG/Tentakel), Lisa Isaksson (Second Oracle/Me And My Kites), and Anders Kjellberg (Fontän/Tross).

­Recorded at Studio Katakomb, Kali Kitchen Studios and ­Konrad Tönz Klangwerk.
Released by Kali Psyche Records.
Mixed and mastered by Mikael ­Andersson at Soundport ­Music.
Artwork painted by ­enigmatic ­psychedelic performance artist Zephyr Wycorn.

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Nepal Death, “She Demon (The Exorcism of the Rakshasi)”