Folk song set against symbolist and medieval poetry, from a writer who arrived at it by way of black metal.
Laüstic is the solo project of Théo Laüstic, working in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began in 2020, when the New York neofolk and black metal project Duende en la Penumbra ended and its two members carried the material somewhere else. The new name comes from Marie de France's twelfth-century lai of a nightingale killed by a jealous husband, wrapped in embroidered silk and kept afterward in a jeweled casket — a song preserved through the violence done to it. The change marked a turn toward baroque-inflected arrangement and looser, more progressive structure.
Both founders, Théo Laüstic and Joshua Guerrero, appear on the debut EP La Canzone del Cefaloforo, released by Ireland's Cursed Monk Records in June 2021. The two split amicably in 2022 after Théo left Queens for Vancouver, and Laüstic has been a solo project since.
Extreme metal got its closing statement in August 2025 on Theomeny in Glass, a split with the Washington, D.C. black metal project Neishe. The Laüstic side, “Apicole,” works in the register of Akitsa and Ungfell and was intended as the last of its kind here.
What follows is Azure Turning, a first full-length finished in early 2026 and mixed by Sanford Parker (Wovenhand, Eyehategod, Nachtmystium). It draws folk music's darker strain into the project's literary frame — Petrarch, Novalis, Boccaccio, Marie de France — with In Gowan Ring and Wovenhand closer to hand than anything metal, and Love's Forever Changes, Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, Espers and Sangre de Muerdago audible around the edges.
Debut release, recorded as a duo. Covered by Invisible Oranges and Everything Is Noise; premiered by Cvlt Nation.
Listen and buy
The project's last work in extreme metal. “Apicole” runs alongside a Neishe track; the release is filed under Neishe on streaming.
ListenRecording wrapped at the beginning of 2026. Release details to be announced.
Also in progress: a re-arrangement and re-recording of Antiphonary for Songful Ghosts, originally by Théo's early project La Cachette, and a split with a Vancouver industrial project. Performances are occasional and suited to small, resonant rooms.
“…an internal logic here that the listener isn’t privy to.”
“One of the most promising debuts I have ever heard.”
“Their music is free from any boundaries.”
Booking, press and promo requests. The Azure Turning promo is available on request.
