(written by Islander)
G.E.F., the artist driving such musical vehicles as Thecodontion and Clactonian, and the proprietor of the Prehistoric Sounds label, has created a new band named Xeropolis. In this new endeavor he uses the name Sangu Anticu, which is Sicilian for “Ancient Blood”, and is joined by multi-instrumentalist Kris Vudz (from Skialykon). Their first recording is a demo named Promo 2026 that we’re premiering in full today in advance of its release by Prehistoric Sounds this coming Friday, November 13th.
G.E.F. has explained the thematic focus of Xeropolis: “The band’s name comes from Greek and roughly means ‘dry city’. We’ve sought to portray the landscapes of the Mediterranean (particularly Sicily) in a different light: no longer lush and flourishing landscapes, but arid and desolate images stretching out under a scorching sun, in a land that seems to offer no hope.”
In line with this theme G.E.F. voices the lyrics entirely in Sicilian. Musically, he introduces the songs as “black metal with punk influences, inspired by bands such as Ildjarn and Darkthrone, among others”, but explains that the Xeropolis interpretation of the genre “is a sort of reversal of the perspective of the Norwegian bands of the 1990s: in addition to the themes, which suggest a climate diametrically opposed to Scandinavian winters, we opted for a scorching production to emphasize this aspect.”
To further help introduce the demo we’ll take the three songs one by one, after resorting to online translation tools to help explain the meaning of the lyrics (and apologies to Xeropolis for any errors).
The first of the songs, “Fangu E Sali” (Mud and Salt), includes lyrics that refer to mud and salt in the hands, underfoot, in the dry bread of a land that does not bear fruit, in the meat, in the days, in the voices that don’t sing any more….
Mud and salt, nothing else
now the sky is silent
no one left to watch
until the sun goes down
The words on the page are grim, haunting, and hopeless, but as previewed above their delivery is scorching, a blast of enraged screams with a cutting edge. The music is similarly scalding and furious.The raw-toned riffing itself stings like salt in unhealed wounds. It sizzles and roils, wild and vicious as it rises and coldly belligerent as it falls, and the bass work is equally feverish, while the drumming veers from punk gallops to blast-beat tirades.
It’s not fancy music, but rather “stripped-down” and unpretentious, yet its violent energy is viscerally potent and its impact cathartic.
The second song is “Sutta ‘na Luna Ardenti” (Under a Burning Moon). If the translation tool is accurate, here is an English rendering of some of the stanzas:
Under a burning moon
we consecrate blood and poison
black air mixes with fire
sentence of death for Christians
Under a burning moon
the true confession comes down
there is no salvation, no light
the blood goes away quickly
The words describe a ritual of bloodshed and poison under a burning moon, and the music is also unsettling — less violently chaotic than the first song and more coldly dangerous, poisonous, and evil in its aura. But it includes rapidly quivering guitar-leads and vivid bass notes that sound almost fiendishly ecstatic, and the drumming is again appreciably dynamic. The vocals again crackle with unhinged intensity, and they explode into shrill screams of larynx-ripping madness.
The third and final song is “Lamentu Sicilianu” (Sicialian Lament). Its lyrics describe a land that knows hunger and darkness, in which the wind cries over old houses, bringing voices of times reduced to nothing:
Sicilian lament, ancient voice
born from the rock, dies in the sea
it’s not to save, it’s not to hope
just remember what was
Perhaps needless to say at this point, but the music doesn’t sound like a lament, but is instead a feral black/punk romp, a spinning and surging torrent of electrifying riffage, bounding and blasting beats, nimble bass adventures, and mad-wolf vocal malice.
It’s also worth noting that although these compact songs are furious and abrasively-toned in more ways than one, the rhythms get muscles twitching and the riffs are hooks that get under the skin. And now here they are:
The Promo 2026 cover features a still from the film Totò che visse due volte (1998) by directors Daniele Ciprì and Franco Maresco. The Sicilian lyrics were crafted with help from Gabriele Sciarratta (who, among other things, runs the independent blog “La Voce del Caprone”).
Promo 2026 will be available as a digital download and on a limited edition cassette, and they can be pre-ordered now. According to G.E.F., these three tracks will appear, in their final form, on Xeropolis‘ debut album, titled Scunfortu Mediterraneu (Sicilian for “Mediterranean Discomfort”), which he hopes will be released sometime in 2027.
PRE-ORDER:
https://prehistoricsounds.bandcamp.com/album/promo-2026-2
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