NEWS RELEASE
Montreal, QC – October 22, 2026
Avant-Garde Cinematic Doom LIMINAL SPIRIT Unveils New Single “Sins of the Father”
Story Album “Forfeiture Hymns” Out Nov 6th, 2026
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Milwaukee’s one-man atmospheric industrial doom metal project Liminal Spirit continues its harrowing narrative journey with the release of the new single “Sins of the Father,” the latest preview of the forthcoming album “Forfeiture Hymns”, due out November 6th, 2026.
Following the unveiling of the first single, “The Initiate“, “Sins of the Father” serves as one of the record’s emotional centerpieces, further expanding the dark, interconnected universe established on previous releases.
Multi-instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa (guitars, drums, bass, vocals, programming), known for his work with Northless, Ara, Acanthrophis, and Deorbit, helms the project. Through Liminal Spirit, Hauppa merges the melodic sensibilities forged in extreme metal with industrial, drone, and cinematic textures to create an immersive listening experience that is both unsettling and deeply emotional.
“I wanted to do a project that utilized my sense of melody established through various extreme metal outlets but now through the lens of a more industrial/drone approach. The goal was to create music that felt like it was exposing a kind of purgatory, and each song was an attempt to guide the listener through that purgatory into a place more grounded by the end,” explains Hauppa.
From its 2024 self-titled debut EP through the atmospheric explorations of 2025’s “Pathways” EP and the conceptual depth of 2025’s “Unwell” LP, Liminal Spirit has continually expanded its sonic identity. What began as a hypnotic, drone-oriented project has evolved into a cinematic and intricate fusion of death metal extremity, industrial textures, electronic atmospherics, and psychedelic influences, culminating in the ambitious storytelling and musical scope of the forthcoming 2026 album “Forfeiture Hymns”.
At the heart of “Forfeiture Hymns” is the story of Phillip, the central figure first introduced on the previous album “Unwell”. While that record focused on Phillip’s final days in a nursing home, “Forfeiture Hymns” traces his life from birth onward through the perspectives of those whose lives were irreversibly altered by his influence.
“Each track is the story of one of those people, and how his influence steered them towards ending their respective lives. To flesh out the record, I had to create all of these people and develop their motivations, which I then used to create the melodic characteristics of each song,” says Hauppa.
The new single “Sins of the Father” tells the story of Phillip’s son, Jonathon Hastings, who returns home following his father’s funeral and discovers physical evidence linking Phillip to long-suspected murders. Faced with proof that shatters everything he believed, Jonathon is overwhelmed by grief, guilt, and the terrifying possibility that he may share the same darkness as his father.
Musically, the song mirrors this descent into despair through a relentlessly tightening rhythmic framework designed to evoke the sensation of a noose closing around its victim. The track culminates in a dramatic reprise of melodic themes woven throughout the album and previous Liminal Spirit releases, binding together a narrative that spans multiple records.
“I think it’s the most extreme demonstration of the style so far but also the most memorable. Hopefully it resonates with people,” adds Hauppa.
Built as a complete conceptual work from beginning to end, “Forfeiture Hymns” continues Hauppa’s commitment to storytelling-driven composition while crafting a sound intended to challenge listeners while drawing them deeper into its narrative world.
“I decide what the lyrical story for the album or song will be and shape the melodic structures from there, as they have to develop what the story is telling. Every record is written from the first note to the last, as they are all concept records. For this album, I want it to be confrontational yet provocative enough to maintain interest, as it is deliberately built on what will be an unfamiliar language to most listeners,” Hauppa explains.
Listen to “Sins of the Father” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZk6OYrMvPs
Recommended for fans of Skepticism, Jesu, Nine Inch Nails, Shape of Despair, Confessor, Anata, and Cynic, “Forfeiture Hymns” will be available on all digital platforms on November 6, 2026.
Album pre-order: https://liminalspirit.bandcamp.com/album/forfeiture-hymns
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Track Listing:
1. A Mother’s Instinct (Catherine Hastings, d. 9/24/1937)- 4:25
2. Unwanted (Phillip Hastings Sr., d. 6/12/1938)- 6:00
3. The Initiate (Tommy Pearson, d. 3/03/1951)-5:13
4. Three (Marianne Tierney, d. 4/19/1953)- 5:10
5. Apoptosis (Elizabeth and Christopher Collins, d. 11/20/1963)- 4:13
6. Ensnarer’s Lament (Detective Michael Thornton, 6/01/1978)- 5:00
7. Two (Francine Hastings, d. 10/24/1981)- 4:40
8. Do No Harm (Alice Weaver, 2/17/2015)- 5:21
9. Sins of the Father (Johnathon Hastings, d. 2/20/2015)- 5:18
10. The Parting Glass (Madeline Hastings-Everett, d. 12/5/2025)- 2:23
11. Four (Constance Greene, b. 8/28/2026)- 0:51
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: Jerry Hauppa
• All songs written by: Jerry Hauppa
• Produced by: Jerry Hauppa
• Mixed by: Jerry Hauppa
• Mastered by: Jeff Wojtysiak
• Album Artwork by: James Becker
Album Band Lineup:
Jerry Hauppa- Kite guitar, fretless guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, violin, vocoder, sampling
More Info:
https://www.facebook.com/people/Liminal-Spirit/61575618106702/
https://www.instagram.com/liminal_spirit_mke
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“I love when an artist goes all-in for an idea. And sometimes art is not meant to be enjoyed, so much as experienced. It transports you to that invisible realm of mind and imagination, reflecting in this case something truly horrific: a journey through purgatory. There are jagged edges everywhere, shapes and forms that make no sense, and dizzying dissonance from microtonal guitars. If you feel unsettled, that’s the point.” – Doomed and Stoned (2026 – The Initiate song premiere)
“The song we’re premiering, “A Better Place“, is that closing track. In its narrative, Phillip passes into a purgatory where he is judged for his actions, and ultimately cast into hell — not the better place he hoped for. The music manifests this denouement with sounds of mangling discordance and ruthless pounding. The hammering and thudding beats don’t create an easy rhythm, but instead generate a pattern that takes away any sense of balance. Shrill ethereal tones rise up and strangely quiver from within the dissonant, mangling morass of sonic oppressiveness. Wailing vocals rise up too, adding to the song’s hallucinatory and haunting ingredients. The experience is unsettling and unearthly. Warbling spoken words come and go. The dense backing noise is cruel and searing as well as abysmal. The pounding is as vehement as it is destabilizing — until it vanishes, yielding to a cacophonous and indeed hellish finale in which the music itself seems to descend. Siren-like bursts of sound and tormented screams close out the nightmare.” – No Clean Singing (2025 Unwell)
“The title track from this latest concept EP – being released on Halloween – from Milwaukee-based multi-instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa is an appropriately unsettling exploration of themes such as memory, guilt and spiritual reckoning delivered via a fusion of progressive doom metal with avant-garde narrative techniques, crafting what the composer and musician describes as “seance music”, a genre-defying sonic ritual meant to stir movement between spiritual realms:” – THE ÜBER RÖCK SINGLES CLUB DAILY PICK – LIMINAL SPIRIT (Oct 11, 2025 – Unwell)
“Fusing Progressive Doom Metal with avant-garde narrative techniques to create a genre defying sonic ritual meant to stir movement between spiritual realms with title track “Unwell”” – Metal Noise (Unwell 2025)
“A portrait painted by multi instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa in Progressive Doom Metal and avant-garde narrative techniques, the record plays out the deterioration of Phillip’s memory, culminating in death and spiritual judgment before he is cast into hell for all eternity. Known for his work with Deorbit, Hauppa performs the piece using guitar, microtonal guitar, bass, violin, synth, vocoder and drum programming having written, produced and mixed. They call it a genre defying sonic ritual meant to stir movement between spiritual realms….. If someone is needed to write the soundtrack to the next Silent Hill incarnation then Hauppa has just submitted his curriculum vitae” – Metal Noise (Unwell 2025)
“Unwell is a fearless act of musical necromancy. It’s unsettling, artful, and deeply personal—doom metal with a philosopher’s pen and a filmmaker’s eye. Fans of Jesu, Skepticism, and Cynic will find much to admire here, but Liminal Spirit ultimately exists in its own spectral orbit.” – See Rock Live Magazine (Unwell – 2025)
“It’s dense. It’s dark. It demands your full attention. But give it that, and you’ll walk away changed—or at least slightly disturbed. Fans of Skepticism, Kayo Dot, or anyone who enjoys having their psyche gently disassembled: this one’s for you.”- Metalpapyjeff (Unwell 2025)
“I would characterize this is something for Metal fans who think outside the box and don’t need to be spoon fed the typical Metal sound. ” – Metal Temple (Unwell 2025)
“Capturing the desolation of dementia and the abject terror and helplessness of cognitive and bodily decline in an artful way – in sound format – is no easy feat, nor must it have been a light affair. RATING: I give it a 4/5… They deserve to be heard and meditated on. But I love it – I love the concept and the overall delivery – and I wish more people would hear it and think on what it’s trying to tell them!” – Hails Webzine (Unwell 2025)
“Artistically unsettling, for fans of musical curiosity with strange, slightly noisy atmospheres on the edges.” – Music Journalist – Olivier Piot (Unwell 2025)
“It’s dense. It’s dark. It demands your full attention. But give it that, and you’ll walk away changed—or at least slightly disturbed. Fans of Skepticism, Kayo Dot, or anyone who enjoys having their psyche gently disassembled: this one’s for you.”- Metalpapyjeff (Unwell 2025)
“Unwell is a fearless act of musical necromancy. It’s unsettling, artful, and deeply personal—doom metal with a philosopher’s pen and a filmmaker’s eye”- seerocklive.com (2025 Unwell)
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