Italian doom metal veterans Epitaph will return to the studio in March 2027 to record the follow-up to their 2024 album Path To Oblivion. They have also announced a new permanent vocalist: Felipe Plaza Kutzbach, who already appeared as a special guest during the band’s recent live shows.
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A New Voice for Epitaph
Plaza Kutzbach is well known in the European doom and epic metal underground for his work with Procession, Capilla Ardiente and Deströyer 666. His dark, solemn and traditional approach fits the sound Epitaph have built over the years. He takes over from Ricky Dal Pane of Witchwood, who sang on Path To Oblivion. The band say the new material will combine classic heavy doom with the Italian dark sound, with renewed energy from the new lineup. The band explain:
“Welcoming Felipe into the EPITAPH family was a natural and incredibly exciting step. He has long been a great friend and, above all, a huge fan of ours. Our concert with him as frontman at the Church of Crow Doom Festival in Pinerolo demonstrated an excellent chemistry within this new line-up. His voice possesses the exact blend of drama, power, and respect for tradition that we were looking for.”
Epitaph
Plaza Kutzbach adds:
“Joining a band with such a great history as EPITAPH is a great honor. We share the same visceral, uncompromising vision of Heavy and Doom music. The new material sounds massive and atmospheric. I’m ready to give it my all in the studio.”
Felipe Plaza Kutzbach
Context
Epitaph are one of the longest-running bands in the Italian scene, playing epic, old-school doom with classic heavy metal and progressive touches, in the tradition of Candlemass, Pentagram, Solstice, Solitude Aeturnus and Trouble. Their last album, Path To Oblivion, came out at the end of 2024 via My Kingdom Music, and we covered its first single, “Kingdom Of Slumber”. More details about the new record will be revealed in the coming months.
Our Take
Bringing in a singer with Procession and Capilla Ardiente on his resume is a statement of intent. Those bands are some of the most respected names in modern epic doom, and Plaza Kutzbach’s dramatic style should suit Epitaph’s material very well. If the chemistry the band describe carries over to the studio, the next album could be one of the doom highlights of 2027.
