Italian trio Abysso Relicta explore alienation and fading memory on »Mannequin Mayhem«, a debut steeped in post-rock tension; out now on Seahorse Records!
Italian cinematic post-rock trio Abysso Relicta presents their debut album, »Mannequin Mayhem«, which was just released on November 13th, 2026 via Seahorse Records.
Listen to »Mannequin Mayhem« on Spotify and all major streaming platforms!
Tracklist:
01. Middle Age Vacation
02. Nothing To Laugh About
03. Counting The Days
04. Black Frost
05. Destination Is A Grave
06. Be My Dog
07. Last Breath Before We Sink
08. Truth Is In The Poison
09. As The Storm Broke
10. Mannequin Mayhem
Courtesy of Peyote Press:
Friday 13 November 2026 sees the digital release of »Mannequin Mayhem«, the debut album by Abysso Relicta, via Seahorse Recordings. Preceded by the single »Destination Is A Grave«, the record brings together ten tracks exploring the space between stillness and collapse, weaving together post-rock, alternative rock and contemporary dark textures.
»Mannequin Mayhem« takes shape around an image of humanity at the mercy of forces it cannot control: disposable mannequins, stripped of memory and driven towards self-destruction. From this vision emerges a journey through fear, alienation and inner darkness.
Its narrative tension lies in the contrast between minimal passages and sudden openings. Layered guitars, distorted synths, insistent rhythms and fragile vocal lines form sparse soundscapes where accumulation does not necessarily bring release. The writing pursues atmosphere and dynamics without falling back on predictable structures.
The lyrics explore this unease through the repetition of everyday life, the search for meaning, and relationships poised between protection and suffocation. Amid fractured identities, distance and loss, fragile points of support emerge – something to hold on to.
Recorded at Sinapsi Recording Studio in Borgomasino (Turin), mixed and mastered by Davide Cristiani at Groundfloor Studio in Modena, »Mannequin Mayhem« binds these images together through an atmospheric, cinematic language: emotional suspension and sonic detonations become two ways of articulating the same instability. Recommended for fans of A Perfect Circle, Mogwai and I Like Trains.
Track By Track | In Abysso Relicta’s Words:
1. »Middle Age Vacation« | A collision with something ancient and unseen, a force that seems to have shaped us long before we could become aware of it.
2. »Nothing To Laugh About« | A blurred boundary between truth and illusion, where grace is pursued through half-truths, mocking laughter and unspoken promises. Memory falters and certainty dissolves.
3. »Counting The Days« | We count identical days and try to fill the void with what we own, attempting to give meaning to the passing of time.
4. »Black Frost« | Stillness tempts like a siren, freezing every movement beneath a dark crystalline weight. It promises safety but delivers paralysis, consuming motion and whispering that we should surrender to its embrace.
5. »Destination Is A Grave« | All roads lead to the same end, so meaning must be sought in the journey. Losing sight of beginnings and endings opens a void in which identity fractures and reforms in scattered pieces.
6. »Be My Dog« | Devotion can become a suffocating bond, yet breaking free does not erase desire: sometimes absence weighs more heavily than the leash.
7. »Last Breath Before We Sink« | Others cross thresholds before which we remain motionless; what remains is the distance between those who move on and those who slowly sink.
8. »Truth Is In The Poison« | Truth arrives like a corrosive drop, a medicine that wounds even as it brings clarity. Mirrors and reasons try to hold it together, while surrender becomes the only honest response.
9. »As The Storm Broke« | A drunken drift through life’s storms, where ruin and silence meet. When the storm shatters what remains, a returning voice passes through the wreckage like a fragile anchor.
10. »Mannequin Mayhem« | The image that contains the entire record: we are mannequins convinced that we choose our own path, while forces greater than us silently pull the strings.
About Abysso Relicta:
Abysso Relicta formed in 2022 in north-western Italy, in an imagined sonic no-man’s-land between Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. The trio – Federico Nardon, Stefano Micari and Christian Basile – have developed a strongly atmospheric, cinematic language suspended between emotional tension, contemporary darkness and sudden sonic detonations. Their influences range across math rock, grunge, post-rock, post-punk and dark wave, with reference points including A Perfect Circle, Mogwai, I Like Trains and Tool. Their writing favours dynamics, layering and narrative tension, alternating minimal, contemplative passages with eruptions of guitar, distorted synths and insistent rhythms. The songs build through accumulation, evoking twilight landscapes marked by alienation, fragmented memory and existential unease. In 2026, Abysso Relicta bring this vision fully into focus with »Mannequin Mayhem«, their debut album for Seahorse Recordings, preceded by the single »Destination Is A Grave«
Music and lyrics by Stefano Micari, Federico Nardon, Christian Basile.
Recorded at Sinapsi Recording Studio, Borgomasino, Italy.
Mixed and mastered by Davide Cristiani at Groundfloor Studio, Modena, Italy.
Photography by Marco Giallo.
Artwork by Max Nebiolo (Skamer Graphics).
Abysso Relicta is:
Federico Nardon – Guitars, Synths
Stefano Micari – Vocals, Bass
Christian Basile – Drums, Synths
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well