King Potenaz — the Fasano-based power trio of Giuseppe Guarini, Francesco Pensato, and Piero Schiavone — stand as Italy’s foremost priests of esoteric, mud-caked Doom. Released June 12, 2026 once again via the prestigious Majestic Mountain Records, “Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 2” is no mere sequel. It is the second half of a ceremonial diptych, recorded at Sudestudio by Stefano Manca (February 2024) and refined through the mix and master of Marc Urselli (May 2024), with evocative cover art by Mirkow Gastow. The album charts a new Psychedelic and shadow-laced journey, fusing the monolithic weight of Black Sabbath and Sleep with a Desert-born, Occult Psychedelia. Where the first volume opened upon the waters of “Rivers of Death,” here the temple gates swing open onto Middle Eastern, ancestral atmospheres with “Sumerian Nights.” The introduction, entrusted to special guest Anna Carla Del Prete‘s cello, lends an almost chamber-like, cinematic solemnity before the saturated guitars take hold. Across nearly eleven minutes, Guarini‘s voice sings of eternal oceans, primordial flames, and the sun’s birth over the cosmic mountain (“Sumerians echoes rise in the storm… The rape in the shadow, in a Sumerian night“). The tempo is slowed, hypnotic, and imposing, conjuring the splendor and shadow of Uruk‘s streets — an enveloping piece built on Heavy riffs and dilated ritualistic atmospheres, enriched by percussive drumming and a deft use of modulation and effects. With “Lord Of The Rust,” the ritual shifts from ancient sands to a desolate, industrial land, where dreams of iron have turned to dust (“Where these iron dreams have turned to dust“). The track is driven by Fuzz-laden guitar riffs and a relentless rhythm section — the album’s most classically Stoner/Doom moment, dominated by the spectral figure of the Rust Lord, a ruined sovereign reigning in silence and decay (“With a crown of decay and a throne of despair“). The midsection grows more suffocating and spectral, carrying through much of the second half before culminating in a finale that reclaims the relentless, energetic drive of the opening, closing on a raw, scraping vocal. “The Nothingness” is a true descent into the abyss — a deeply dark, atmospheric piece where Piero Schiavone‘s synths and Pensato‘s tellurian bass frequencies conjure a sense of absolute void. The song confronts total devastation and loss (“My house had been shattered… I was nothing“), culminating in the celebrated existential line drawn from the ancient Eastern scriptures, made famous by Oppenheimer: “I have become death, I have become the destroyer of worlds.” It marks the album’s most dramatic and spiritually oppressive moment. “A Crack In The Void (The Empty Hand pt. 2)” is the keystone of the entire work, standing as the direct continuation of “The Empty Hand pt. 1” from the first volume. Nearly eleven minutes of pure Cosmic Doom, its lyrics describing a tear in the fabric of the universe that reveals the silent end of time (“A tear in the fabric of the universe reveals the path to a silent end“). The track throws into sharp relief the contrast between Guarini‘s solemn guitar work and its more restless, violent passages (“The right hand extends… while the left is raging“). Its slow march evokes the cold blade of the astral reaper and a resignation before the cosmic void: “No prayers, no tears, no last demands, can break the chains of the Empty Hand…” “Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 2” completes the journey begun with the first chapter in flawless fashion. Where “Vol. 1” introduced spectral vocal shadings courtesy of Jana Maista, “Vol. 2” opts instead for instrumental drama, bringing in the cello and pushing toward atmospheres that are even more nihilistic, cosmic, and heavy. Central to it all is the telepathic understanding between Guarini, Pensato, and Schiavone, who move between granite-hard Doom and Psychedelic digressions without ever losing sight of the ceremonial atmosphere. A mandatory acquisition for anyone who venerates Occult Doom and the more spiritual, heavier side of Heavy Music — a masterpiece of conceptual weight that cements King Potenaz among the most compelling names on the Italian and international scene.
Tracklist
01. Sumerian Nights (10:48)
02. Lord Of The Rust (07:43)
03. The Nothingness (06:57)
04. A Crack In The Void (The Empty Hand pt. 2) (10:59)
Lineup
Giuseppe Guarini / Guitars and Vocals
Francesco Pensato / Bass
Piero Schiavone / Drums and Synth
Special Guest:
Anna Carla Del Prete / Cello on “Sumerian Nights” intro
Read our Review of the previous release “Vol. 1” here: [Review] King Potenaz – Arcane Desert Rituals Pt. 1