ALBUM COVER STORY: NIGHTS OF MALICE's "CHAOS EXORDIUM"

American extreme metallers, Nights Of Malice, will unleash their new album "Chaos Exordium" on June 4, 2026. The front and back cover artworks (which portray a violent, Sci-Fi scenario) designed by Andriy Tkalenko of Daemorph Art. In the following interview, the bands drummer, Joe Capasso, talks about the making of these graphics. 

What inspired the concept for the album's front and back sleeve artworks? 

Joe Capasso: The inspiration for the album artwork was the title itself “Chaos Exordium”, which is essentially the inception of chaos. That was our goal with this album, to grow from what we have typically done in the past with darker, more atmospheric styles. This time we wanted to pull out all the stops and bring maximum energy. The artwork embodies that perfectly with the first-person perspective feeling surrounded by monsters, police shooting, people exploding all around, perfectly complimenting the music.

How did the band discover the works of Daemorph Art?

Joe Capasso: We discovered Andriy Tkalenko (Daemorph Art) through many of his other works for bands within our style such as The Black Dahlia Murder and Abominable Putridity. We felt as though he could capture our vision and really put himself in the middle of the chaos and bring our vision to life.

Daemorph Art apparently employs a mixture of different mediums, including traditional and digital techniques. Did he share with you updates of the artwork's evolution?

Joe Capasso: Not the full process, but from what we saw it was first hand-drawn and then converted to digital. 

The back cover artwork.

The rendition of the band's logo featured on the cover goes hand-in-hand with the violent, Sci-Fi vibe of the scene. 

Joe Capasso: The logo is a redesign of our existing logo made by Maxwell Aston. For the album artwork/promo for this cycle we had a stylized version created by our friend Amber Cherie to give a three-dimensional chrome variant. We felt this would perfectly fit with the atmosphere of the artwork, as well as help portray the new beginnings for the band’s approach to writing. 

Nights Of Malice's "Chaos Exordium" will be released through Bleeding Art Collective / Blood Blast Distribution.

See more of Daemorph Art's work at www.facebook.com/daemorph and https://www.instagram.com/daemorph/