Milwaukee-based solo project Liminal Spirit, helmed by multi-instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa (also of Deorbit), has released its third EP, “Unwell,” today, October 31st, ushering in a chilling new chapter of doom-laced, cinematic storytelling just in time for Halloween.
Described as “grandiose, cinematic, epic, heavy, unique,” “Unwell” deepens Liminal Spirit’s signature style of immersive “seance music,” conjuring a soundscape that channels spiritual unrest and psychological collapse. This latest release invites listeners into the unraveling consciousness of Phillip, an elderly man suffering from dementia and haunted by the ghosts of two children who accuse him of a long-forgotten crime. As Phillip’s reality fractures, the music mirrors his descent, growing more distorted, chaotic, and emotionally volatile with each track, culminating in a violent confrontation and a final plunge into damnation.
The EP opens with “Admittance,” a deceptively serene, jazz-tinged piece that captures Phillip’s arrival at a nursing home, comforted by his son’s performance of “Welcome to My World.” The mood shifts in “Unwell,” where microtonal guitars and fragmented rhythms evoke Phillip’s disorientation and fading identity. “Visiting Day” introduces a sinister presence as ghostly figures confront him with accusations, setting a countdown to judgment. The chaos peaks in “EOLC,” a brutal and frenzied track where Phillip is tormented and killed by the spirits. The closing piece, “A Better Place,” drags the listener into a bleak purgatory, with chromatic descents and oppressive textures that echo Phillip’s fall into hell. Together, these tracks form a tightly woven narrative of psychological horror and spiritual reckoning.
Three of the five tracks feature microtonal guitar work, lending an alien, foreboding atmosphere that enhances the EP’s psychological horror. Hauppa’s writing process begins with a thematic concept and unfolds as a unified narrative, with lyrics drawn from the characters’ spoken words. The music and story are inseparable, each amplifying the other’s emotional weight.
“My goal with this record is to explore ideas that represent some of my greatest fears. Having worked in nursing homes, I know how miserable they can be. The thought of losing my faculties and facing spiritual judgment terrifies me, and that’s what Unwell is about,” says Hauppa.
Liminal Spirit is a progressive doom/avant-garde metal project known for its ritualistic, story-driven compositions. Influenced by artists like Skepticism, Anata, My Bloody Valentine, Jesu, and Confessor, Hauppa’s sound defies easy categorization, blending old-school death metal with psychedelic electronic textures.
“Unwell” is available now on all major streaming platforms.
YouTube Album Stream – https://youtu.be/rORD2LIsavk
Add to your Spotify Playlist – https://distrokid.com/
Digital Download – https://liminalspirit.
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Track Listing:
1. Admittance (5:27)
2. Unwell (6:52) (single)
3. Visiting Day (8:01)
4. EOLC (8:26)
5. A Better Place (5:42) (single)
EP Credits:
All songs written, performed, produced, and mixed by Jerry Hauppa.
Mastered by Jeff Wojtysiak at Spiral Sound Mastering
Lineup:
Jerry Hauppa – Guitar, microtonal guitar, bass, violin, synth, vocoder, drum programming
More Info:
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“The song we’re premiering, “A Better Place“, is that closing track. In its narrative, Phillip passes into a purgatory where he is judged for his actions, and ultimately cast into hell — not the better place he hoped for. The music manifests this denouement with sounds of mangling discordance and ruthless pounding. The hammering and thudding beats don’t create an easy rhythm, but instead generate a pattern that takes away any sense of balance. Shrill ethereal tones rise up and strangely quiver from within the dissonant, mangling morass of sonic oppressiveness. Wailing vocals rise up too, adding to the song’s hallucinatory and haunting ingredients. The experience is unsettling and unearthly. Warbling spoken words come and go. The dense backing noise is cruel and searing as well as abysmal. The pounding is as vehement as it is destabilizing — until it vanishes, yielding to a cacophonous and indeed hellish finale in which the music itself seems to descend. Siren-like bursts of sound and tormented screams close out the nightmare.” – No Clean Singing
“The title track from this latest concept EP – being released on Halloween – from Milwaukee-based multi-instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa is an appropriately unsettling exploration of themes such as memory, guilt and spiritual reckoning delivered via a fusion of progressive doom metal with avant-garde narrative techniques, crafting what the composer and musician describes as “seance music”, a genre-defying sonic ritual meant to stir movement between spiritual realms:” – THE ÜBER RÖCK SINGLES CLUB DAILY PICK – LIMINAL SPIRIT (Oct 11, 2025)
“Fusing Progressive Doom Metal with avant-garde narrative techniques to create a genre defying sonic ritual meant to stir movement between spiritual realms with title track “Unwell”” – Metal Noise
“A portrait painted by multi instrumentalist Jerry Hauppa in Progressive Doom Metal and avant-garde narrative techniques, the record plays out the deterioration of Phillip’s memory, culminating in death and spiritual judgment before he is cast into hell for all eternity. Known for his work with Deorbit, Hauppa performs the piece using guitar, microtonal guitar, bass, violin, synth, vocoder and drum programming having written, produced and mixed. They call it a genre defying sonic ritual meant to stir movement between spiritual realms….. If someone is needed to write the soundtrack to the next Silent Hill incarnation then Hauppa has just submitted his curriculum vitae” – Metal Noise
“Unwell is a fearless act of musical necromancy. It’s unsettling, artful, and deeply personal—doom metal with a philosopher’s pen and a filmmaker’s eye. Fans of Jesu, Skepticism, and Cynic will find much to admire here, but Liminal Spirit ultimately exists in its own spectral orbit.” – See Rock Live Magazine (Unwell – 2025)
“It’s dense. It’s dark. It demands your full attention. But give it that, and you’ll walk away changed—or at least slightly disturbed. Fans of Skepticism, Kayo Dot, or anyone who enjoys having their psyche gently disassembled: this one’s for you.”- Metalpapyjeff
“I would characterize this is something for Metal fans who think outside the box and don’t need to be spoon fed the typical Metal sound. ” – Metal Temple
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