Date Signed: June 2025
Label: Peaceville Records
Band Members: Patryk Zwoliński, vocals; Mateusz Śmierzchalski, guitars; Roger Öjersson, guitars and vocals; Maciej Janas, guitars; Paweł Jaroszewicz, drums; Vinicius Nunes, bass
Type of Music: Avant Metal
Management: tanya@uceagency.com
Booking: Mateusz Śmierzchalski, blindead23@gmail.com
Legal: Nick Cotton, nick@snappermusic.co.uk
Publicity: Austin Griswold / Secret Service Publicity, austin@secretservicepr.com
A&R: Paul Groundwell
Polish guitarist Mateusz Śmierzchalski began his band Blindead in 1999. Simultaneously a member of metal gods Behemoth, there was only so much effort he could devote toward his own project. Nonetheless, independently releasing albums and touring with Oakland’s Neurosis sparked interest, leading to a deal with Mystic Production in 2010.
Blindead unleashed three records with the Polish indie. “We toured Europe, and everything started falling apart,” laments the player also known as Havoc. Despite rising popularity, every penny went back into keeping the dream alive. One final recording with the original lineup came out in 2019.
Then COVID happened. Havoc temporarily put away his instrument and began seeing a therapist. “I needed to restart my life,” he opines. Eventually, he began writing solo for the first time. Śmierzchalski originally wanted a fresh name but instead renamed the group Blindead 23 as a way of declaring a renewed mission. “Why should we leave the name that we were working under for 23 years?”
With backing from an unnamed label, they recorded a 53-minute opus in Sweden alongside producer David Castillo, whose credits include Carcass, Leprous, and Opeth. Eventually, that agreement went sideways, leaving Blindead 23 in the lurch. As an instrument tech for bigger bands, Śmierzchalski took every opportunity to show off the video they made for the single.
He also told the CEO of Mystic, Michał Wardzała, what was going on. Wardzała took that unreleased album, plus a newer 27-minute “mini-album” to Peaceville’s Johnny Wilks, who caught the band in Poland during their appearance at the Mystic Festival. A joint deal between Peaceville and Mystic was forged.
“Peaceville released most of the bands we listened to growing up,” Śmierzchalski says, naming My Dying Bride, Katatonia, and Paradise Lost as influences. “I never thought there’d be a day when my band would be signed there.”
