Maldives-based death/black metallers NOTHNEGAL have entered Vakaruge Studio in Malé to begin recording their as-yet-untitled second album. The follow-up to 2012's "Decadence" is being produced by Matt Hyde (SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, AS I LAY DYING), with vocal production by Paul Reeve, who co-produced five tracks on MUSE's acclaimed debut album, "Showbiz". Additional production/engineering will be handled by longtime NOTHNEGAL producer Mohamed Shamheed. NOTHNEGAL's longtime guitarist Fufu will not be part of the recording of the new CD, but remains a member of the band. Chippe (SERENITY DIES) will be filling in for Fufu on the album, which will mark the first NOTHNEGAL recording since vocalist Affan joined the band as an official member (Affan made a guest appearance on NOTHNEGAL's last album, "Decadence").

Commented NOTHNEGAL guitarist Hilarl: "Its been almost a year since the release of our debut album, 'Decadence', and we have already come up with enough demos for a new album.

"We have toured South Asia, South Asia and the Middle East since the release of 'Decadence', [and] whenever we meet somebody who knows that we are from the Maldives and when we go through the reviews, we get the same question about why we sound like a European or American band and nothing like a band thats coming from these islands.

"The new music will be different and [will] feature ambient sounds and exotic instruments from the Maldives. We [will] also be doing a couple of songs entirely in our native language, 'Dhivehi.' The songs [will] be heavier but far from our previous death metal sound."

"We will be launching a studio diary and update it by posting videos/photos of the recording sessions. We [will] also be travelling to different islands of the Maldives to capture the sounds and the exotic instruments we plan on using in our music."

"Decadence" was released in January 2012 via Season Of Mist. The CD's recording lineup included Marco Sneck (KALMAH, POISONBLACK) on keyboards/samples and Kevin Talley (DAATH, CHIMAIRA, MISERY INDEX, DYING FETUS) on drums.