TRVE CVLT is out today!

Hey Ho, Tenebrous Cult!

It’s release day for one of our boldest books yet: TRVE CVLT, a story of religious trauma and the occult, adorned in corpse paint and the coppery scent of ritual sacrifice.

A story where YOU, THE READER, take your fate in your own hands, and all your choices matter (spoiler alert: it’s still not likely to end well for you, though some paths are definitely better than others).

Now let’s hand the microphone over to lead vocalist author Michael Bettendorf, with a little history on how TRVE CVLT came to be:

My memory of the Cult Road house is tenuous at best these days; the details merely vestiges of my youth. Even the urban legend of the cult that supposedly meets out in the boonies—skinning cats and donning robes, hosting orgies in barns and old houses—has faded in my mind to true cult status. Simply the lore of a small midwestern town.

The feeling though—that persists.

The house my buddies and I wandered into exuded utter gloom and despair. Even in the broad daylight of a sweltering Nebraska summer—that house was bleak. It was as if even light was too afraid to enter that space.

Probably because it didn’t belong. Neither did we.

I’m not sure we stayed inside for more than five minutes. Felt like years. It was like the house itself was consuming me. It was awash in gray tones—the dry rotting bones of a house long dead. And we were entering its corpse for…fun? It was trespassing on hallowed ground. There was no way to be certain we’d found the house either. I’m not sure we needed to. The Cult Road house very well may not exist. I’m not sure it needs to.

As far as I know, the Cult Road house may only truly exist within the pages of TRVE CVLT, but now it is eternal – and it exists within each and every one of you who decides to read this book. Whether you stumble through for five minutes or if you take your time and allow yourself to be consumed—it’s a part of you now.

It’s a part of us. This abysmal farmhouse that probably may or may not exists.

About TRVE CVLT:

You wake with a brutal hangover, but that can't crush your spirits: you’ve been invited to take back the drum throne for Abyss, the cult band you co-founded!

It means quashing a turbulent history with Abyss' vocalist, Austin. You aren’t sure if he’s invited you back to bury the hatchet, or if he’s just desperate because infamous black metal legends Waste Doctrine are rolling through town. They've given you the opportunity to open for them and maybe, finally, get the hell out of this nowhere town.

The promise of the upcoming gig doesn't come without its share of hurdles. Austin’s hellbent on creating a ritualistic experience out of the performance, turning the abandoned roadhouse he’s chosen as a venue into a bloody, occult nightmare. Yes, it’s black f$%king metal, but is it too far? 

Only you can decide.

Get the gig. Ditch this town. Burn them all alive.

Betts and I will be at VoidCon this weekend, celebrating TRVE CVLT’s release. If you’re in the West Virginia area, let us take you on a guided tour into the Abyss.

Hail Indie Publishing.

Hail the Tenebrous Cult.

Hail the TRVE CVLT.

Matt + Alex + Betts