VAN666, the solo project of South African musician JVZ Alberts, will release its debut album, The Tyranny of Faith, on 15 August 2026.
The eight-track record follows Alberts’ previous work with Architecture of Aggression and BloodBeast and takes an old-school death metal approach with thrash influences. Its lyrical focus is organised religion, religious violence, blind faith and the suppression of critical thought, with Alberts citing the writings and lectures of Christopher Hitchens as an influence on the album’s ideas.
Two songs, “Divine Violence” and “Heaven Watches”, have already been released. They will be joined by “Vicarious Redemption”, “Sanctified Ignorance”, the title track, “Pillars of Deceit”, “Heretic’s Prayer” and closing track “Salvation Through Fire”.
Alberts wrote all of the music and lyrics and recorded the guitars and vocals at his home studio in Pretoria. The remaining parts turn The Tyranny of Faith into a collaboration stretching well beyond South Africa.
Mwango Lunda of Zambia’s Poisoned Blood handled the programmed drums, mixing and mastering. Botswana’s Vulture Thrust, of Overthrust, plays bass on “Divine Violence” and “Heaven Watches”, while Australian musician Mark Chaos, associated with Twisted Fate and Bleeding Brutality, appears on four tracks. William Bishop of Fuzigish and formerly Architecture of Aggression handles bass on “Sanctified Ignorance” and “Tyranny of Faith”.
Alberts and Lunda have worked together previously, with Alberts providing vocals for “Rainbow of Rot” on Poisoned Blood’s African Metal United, released earlier this year.
The album was recorded as a DIY project, with the drums programmed and the final mix and master completed in Zambia. Alberts also handled the artwork, layout and creative direction with the assistance of AI.
The Tyranny of Faith will be released digitally on 15 August through VAN666’s Bandcamp page.
