Hangman’s Chair

Hangman's Chair were a French doom metal band formed in Crosne, Essonne, in 2005. The group's final lineup consisted of vocalist and guitarist Cédric Toufouti, guitarist Julien Rour Chanut, bassist Clément Hanvic and drummer Mehdi Birouk Thépegnier. Coming from the hardcore punk scene, Chanut, Thépegnier and Sid-Ahmed Azzouni formed Hangman's Chair after playing in several local bands. Hangman's Chair released their debut album, (A Lament for...) The Addicts (2007), with Kéo Nackphouminh on vocals. After Nackphouminh's departure and the group's reconfiguration in 2008, they released Leaving Paris in 2010. Azzouni died in 2010. With a stable lineup in place, Hangman's Chair launched an album trilogy, beginning with Hope /// Dope /// Rope (2012). At the time, the band sought to dissociate themselves from the stoner and sludge metal designations and to establish their musical identity with that album. This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive (2015) introduced gothic melodies and cold wave synthesisers into their sound. On their fifth album, Banlieue Triste (2018), the band began to adopt a more introspective style focused on personal themes and to showcase their blend of doom metal and post-punk atmospherics. They then signed with Spinefarm Records for worldwide releases. The band also received media exposure in France. Hangman's Chair left Spinefarm and signed with Nuclear Blast Records in 2021. They commenced a new trilogy with A Loner (2022), driven by the desire for a different sound. Characterised by a more melodic, atmospheric style and gothic sounds, the album produced the singles "Cold & Distant", "Loner" and "Who Wants To Die Old". Picking up where A Loner left off, Saddiction (2025) saw the band further explore the sonic aspects and the post-punk and cold wave facets of their influences. It spawned several singles, including "2 am Thoughts". Their lyrics generally explore dark and gloomy themes, set against the backdrop of urban landscapes, primarily in Paris and its suburbs. Their discography demonstrates a gradual transition towards a clean singing voice. Hangman's Chair suspended their activities in November 2025 for an indefinite period. Julien Rour Chanut grew up in the Essonne department, south of Paris, in France. Mehdi Birouk Thépegnier, born in Morocco (Maghreb), arrived in France at the age of 12. They met in 1992 at a college in Essonne and became friends. Chanut and Thépegnier were passionate about 1990s hardcore punk, heavy metal and grunge. The hardcore scene consisting of bands such as Confusion, Integrity, Only Living Witness, Section 8, and Sheer Terror, and the do-it-yourself philosophy associated with this culture, motivated them to perform music. Chanut found his path between the ages of 13 and 14 by beginning to play hardcore punk. The two friends first stepped onto the stage at around 15 or 16. They grew up in the hardcore punk scene of the 1990s. Thépegnier was a member of Mouvement Colère (lit. 'Anger Movement') and later a bassist in Drowning, which toured as the opening act for All Out War and Merauder. Over time, Chanut and Thépegnier performed in various local bands, including Arkangel (band) [fr], Es La Guerilla and Rising Dust. Clément Hanvic was part of their circle; he was the singer of Knockoutz and the bassist of L'Esprit du Clan [fr] (lit. 'The Spirit of the Clan'), and performed with Es La Guerilla. The bassist for Knockoutz and Es La Guerilla was Kéo Nackphouminh. After playing electric bass for a while, Thépegnier switched to drums. The members of Es La Guerilla wanted to move in a different musical direction, but had rehearsed very little with Kévone, the band's singer, before entering the recording studio. Kévone was less interested in the band's new direction. After a while, Nackphouminh tried his hand at singing. In 2005, Chanut (guitar), Thépegnier (drums), and Sid-Ahmed Azzouni (guitar) formed the metal band Hangman's Chair in Crosne, Essonne. Es La Guerilla was then put on hold. Hangman's Chair began by releasing a split album with the [French] band Eibon. The band's first album, (A Lament for...) The Addicts, was released in 2007, via the label Bones Brigade Records, with Chanut, Thépegnier, Nackphouminh (vocals), Adrien Lederer (guitar), and Bernard Quarante (bass). Although the split with Eibon was released before (A Lament for...) The Addicts, as an introduction to the band, the actual recording took place after that first album's completion. Some songs originally intended to appear under the name Es La Guerilla appeared on Hangman's Chair's first album. Hangman's Chair's first bassist was originally the singer of the band Every Reason To... Chanut later told Clara Lemaire of Rock & Folk that Nackphouminh had not stayed in the band for long, as he went through "a lot of bad moments". Cédric Toufouti was a member of the band Inhatred. In 2008, Hangman's Chair were joined by Hanvic, who became the bassist, and Toufouti, who took over as singer-guitarist. In 2010, Azzouni died in a car accident. Leaving Paris, the band's second album, was released the same year, through Bones Brigade Records, with Chanut, Thépegnier, Hanvic, Toufouti, and Lederer in the lineup. In 2011, Hanvic was busy for a few months with L'Esprit du Clan and was replaced by Every Reason To... bassist Christophe Marconato for concert dates. Hangman's Chair were in the habit of recording three or four additional tracks at each studio recording session for their albums, intended for split-album releases. A split from Hangman's Chair and Drawers was released on 28 March 2012. The following album, Hope /// Dope /// Rope, was released in 2012, via Bones Brigade Records. The album "marked a turning point in our history", said Thépegnier, the band having found, with the arrival of Toufouti and Hanvic, stability and a musical identity. With Hope /// Dope /// Rope, the band made a name for themselves on the metal scene. On 1 February 2014, Hangman's Chair performed at the second edition of JP Fest, a festival that brought together six French metal bands to raise funds for the fight against cancer at the Splendid in Lille. All profits were donated to the Ligue contre le cancer [fr] (lit. 'League Against Cancer'), the Lille-based research department of the Oscar-Lambret Centre and the association Accompagnement en Soins Palliatifs (ASP Omega) (lit. 'Accompaniment in Palliative Care'). Their split LP with Acid Deathtrip was released through Reflections Records during the summer of 2014. The band's next album, This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive, was released on 15 September 2015 via the Parisian independent record label Music Fear Satan. The album's release was preceded by a music video for "Dripping Low". Lelo Jimmy Batista, writing for Vice France, described the album as "A kind of Black Sabbath lost at Porte de la Chapelle, an Alice in Chains stranded at Stalingrad". At the beginning of March 2016, Hangman's Chair performed at Le Mondial du Tatouage [fr], a major annual international tattoo convention held at the Grande halle de la Villette in Paris. During a tour in Japan with Arkangel, Chanut met the members of Greenmachine. Hangman's Chair subsequently recorded a split album with Greenmachine, released in France through Music Fear Satan and in Japan through Daymare Recordings in February and March 2017, respectively. Jacob Bannon expressed appreciation for the split featuring Hangman's Chair and Greenmachine. A music video for "Can't Talk" was released; it was made by Hanvic using excerpts from one of Brigitte [Lahaie]'s old pornographic films. Hangman's Chair's fifth album, Banlieue Triste (lit. 'Sad Suburb'), was released in March 2018 through Music Fear Satan. The album features two guest contributions: one from Marc De Backer of Mucky Pup on "Sidi Bel Abbes", and the other from French synthwave musician Perturbator on "Tired Eyes". Banlieue Triste spawned a music video for "Naive" released in April 2018, starring French actor Nicolas