Church Of The Cosmic Skull

A sinister cult of maniacal zealots, or righteous disciples of the rock’n’roll gospel?

For anyone reading this magazine: rock’n’roll is our religion, right? Well, now there’s a new altar for worship, and it belongs to Nottingham seven Church Of The Cosmic Skull. The robes are white, the riffs are Fleetwood Mac, Thin Lizzy and ELO-shaped, and everyone is welcome to attend under its inclusive, multi-hued policy.

“I had a bunch of songs which weren’t suitable for any of the bands I was in,” explains songwriter and guitarist ‘Brother’ Bill Fisher. (Bill’s usual gigs are as bassist with doomsters Mammothwing or drummer with post-rockers Dystopian Future Movies.) “I got a few friends from other bands together and realised I wanted harmonies. I like the sound of Mahavishnu Orchestra too, so I wanted to bring in a string element to the more classic rock music I already had.”

So far, so epic. But the Church add a twist. “I really like the idea of subversion,” Fisher says. “I like a lot of the bands in the doom scene, but we present the idea in a very light way, with a similar darkness behind it.”

Their subversion also takes in Fisher’s childhood exposure to religion – which he prefers to keep mysterious. “We’re not a Christian rock band, as some people think, but we’re open to everything. We don’t encourage the worship of any higher power other than those of your own invention, but we need more dialogue between spiritual people, scientists and atheists. There are some questions that science alone can’t answer.”

With a white wardrobe and the prismatic 70s New Age as visual inspiration, it’s been a whirlwind for the Church since they congregated in 2015 and recorded at Fisher’s Doom Room studio. “Things went quickly,” he says. “The first album, Is Satan Real? came out in 2016 and we went big for the launch, hiring the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham without anyone even having heard the record,” he says, laughing.

The good word was then spread online and on paper by specially-made COTCS pamphlets that explained the cryptic background of the Church. Result: a 450-capacity sell-out.

Seven months on, Classic Rock caught the Church at their fourth show in London. But despite industry clamouring, they remain independent, with album two, Science Fiction, already committed to the electronic holy scriptures.

“The attention was a surprise,” says Fisher. “We don’t have a manager, but we have Ben Ward [from Orange Goblin] booking our shows. I buried myself in music-industry learning, and noted that in other scenes independent artists can get huge. It’s not a barrier – in fact it could be easier. Independence suits our vision, and what we can bring to the ever-growing Cosmic Family.” JK Science Fiction is out now via Bilocation. Sign up to the Cosmic Family at churchofthecosmicskull.com

“I like a lot of bands in the doom scene, but we present the idea in a very light way.”