Gospels for the Sick is the debut and only album of the hardcore punk/black metal supergroup Scum. The album was released on 5 September 2005 through DogJob Records, Bitzcore and Candlelight Records. The album is noted for its fusion of black metal and hardcore punk, and features guest contributions from Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone, Mortiis and Turbonegro guitarist Knut Schreiner. This ended up being the band’s only album following the death of Casey Chaos in December 2024.
Contents
Recording and release
The album was recorded during a session at Crystal Canyon Studios in Oslo in September 2004. The music was composed by Samoth, Cosmocrator and Casey Chaos, while the lyrics were all written by Chaos. The album's artwork was done by Stephen O'Malley, with photography by Sebastian Ludvigsen. The album was released on 5 September 2005 to positive reviews from both Norwegian and international critics. The album's sound was described as "raw punk mixed with thrash and metal" with the production noted as "angry and dirty." The album was nominated for the Norwegian Alarm Awards in the Metal category in 2005.
Personnel
Scum
Casey Chaos (Karim Chmielinski) – vocals, mixing
Samoth (Tomas Haugen) – guitar
Cosmocrator (Andre Søgnen) – guitar
Happy-Tom (Thomas Seltzer) – bass
Faust (Bård Eithun) – drums
Additional personnel
Marius Bodin Larsen – engineer, mixing
Tom Kvålsvoll – mastering
Stephen O'Malley – artwork
Sebastian Ludvigsen – photography
Knut Schreiner – lead guitar (track 3)
Mortiis (Håvard Ellefsen) – backing vocals (track 9)
Nocturno Culto (Ted Skjellum) – vocals (track 10)