Doomed Confessionary: Nils Ahnland (New Mexican Doom Cult)
New Mexican Doom Cult is a four-piece stoner/doom metal band from Gävle, Sweden. They began their journey with the 2019 single »The Passage«, an eerie ode to a doomed Arctic voyage swallowed by seven months of darkness. This was the first glimpse into the band’s penchant for storytelling steeped in isolation, terror, and the supernatural.
In 2021, the singles »Mark Of Cain« and »The Abyss«, recorded with producer Jonas Strömberg at Slowbeat Studios, further defined the band’s aesthetic, biblical fury, primordial chaos, and a steadfast commitment to colossal riffs.
Their true emergence came with the 2023 full-length »Necropolis« (Ozium Records), a sprawling seven-track ritual of subterranean worship and psychedelic haze. The album earned critical praise for its raw atmosphere and monolithic power, cementing the band as one of Sweden’s darkest and most compelling doom exports.
That same year, »From The Crypt« (Olde Magick Records) unearthed the band’s earliest recordings, remastered into a five-song tombstone featuring tales of ice monsters, Sumerian demons, cannibal cults, and phantom ships, a proof that from the beginning, the Cult was destined for darkness.
Now aligned with Majestic Mountain Records, New Mexican Doom Cult unveiled »Ziggurat« in January 2026, their most focused and mythologically rich offering yet. Taking inspiration from the ancient temples of Mesopotamia, the new album feels like a storm gathering over desert ruins, ominous, meditative, and crushingly heavy.
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Yeah, sure. We are New Mexican Doom Cult from Gävle, Sweden. The band is Nils, guitar and vocals, Magnus on drums, David guitar and Fredrik on bass. We play doom and stoner metal, maybe a little more on the doomy side. Lyrics are about history and mythology, mostly mesopotamian.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Time! Or lack of time, to be precise. Time to rehearse, time to record new music and time just to hang out. Everyone has other bands, families and fulltime jobs.
What can you be most proud of so far?
To be number one on January Doomcharts 2026 with our latest album »Ziggurat«!
What was your biggest regret?
We have not played live with this lineup yet. We had a few occasions to do that but it collided (?) with other matters/gigs/events. That’s a little sad, I think.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
The band has never been on tour (yet)! NMDC had a few gigs with older lineups, mostly small venues. Let’s see what the future brings.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
I have to pass this one, I don’t have an answer.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
A lot of bands in the same genre as us, of course, but we listen to all kinds of music. A lot of prog rock, metal, pop, soul, classic rock, metal jazz, blues, country, folk music. Everything that is good music.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Don’t be an asshole. Be nice. I don’t know if I ever been given that advice, but if I have, that was a good one.
What are your guilty pleasures?
I don’t really want to call it guilty pleasures but I love pop music from the 60’s, 70’s and some 80’s new wave. Everything from ABBA, Boney M, ELO to Adam and the Ants.
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Gävle?
It is good. The other three in NMDC are in other bands, Beardfish and Gadget. Two great bands in different genres, prog rock and grindcore. There are actually a lot of good band and brilliant musicians in this town.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
I don’t know. We are recording the next album now, that is the main focus right now. Hopefully we can find time to rehearse and make a few gigs later on.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
To finish the next album and, as I mentioned, get to travel around and play live.
How can people best support your band?
Listen to our music and support our Bandcamp page, as well as Facebook and Instagram. Sadly we are lousy at everything concerning social media, but followers is anyway! We don’t make any money on this, so the moral support is essential 😀
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Yes, thank you for listening and liking our music. We don’t have a massive fan base but there are a few people out there WHO have been very nice and supportive. Without them there would be no meaning to do this at all.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well