{"id":425589,"date":"2026-05-13T12:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425589\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T12:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:35:12","slug":"julie-christmas-the-story-of-her-solo-album-ridiculous-and-full-of-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425589\/","title":{"rendered":"Julie Christmas: the story of her solo album Ridiculous And Full Of Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2024, avant-garde metal solo act Julie Christmas<\/a> released Ridiculous And Full Of Blood<\/a>: her first album since 2016 Cult Of Luna<\/a> collaboration Mariner. Catching up with Hammer later that year, she explained why she came back \u2013 and why she thought it could have been her \u201cfinal blow\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Julie Christmas crashed back onto the avant-metal scene with a vengeance this year. Weaponising banshee howls, jagged distortion and sludgy vitriol, Ridiculous And Full Of Blood wasn\u2019t for the faint of heart. \u201cI\u2019m going for high trauma,\u201d she smirks. \u201cYou\u2019re leaving with at least one Band-Aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Julie made her name as frontwoman of New York noise rockers Made Out Of Babies in the 00s, has also sung for post-metallers Battle Of Mice and post-prog collective Spylacopa, and released solo record The Bad Wife in 2010. While she reared her head in 2016 to work on Cult Of Luna\u2019s seventh album, Mariner, her return this year came as quite the surprise.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEverything I do takes a long time to make, because I wanna do it right,\u201d she explains. \u201cSometimes in music there\u2019s a focus on \u2018being relevant\u2019\u2026 but I never care. Why speak if you have nothing to say?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ridiculous And Full Of Blood certainly had a lot to say; it was a biopsy of the human condition, ruminating over the ever-trickling hourglass of time, feelings of inadequacy, and even probing the existence of a higher power. From Not Enough\u2019s abrasive clatter, to the blasphemously doomy Seven Days, it was an existential wrecking-ball, forcing you to heed its maniacal wails as it clawed at your heartstrings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a lot of rage to unleash when I was younger, but nowadays I\u2019m overwhelmed by a whole spectrum of emotions,\u201d she admits. \u201cI\u2019ve learnt that there are other feelings beyond rage that deserve to be unleashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every track was delivered with more intensity than 2010\u2019s The Bad Wife \u2013 and Julie chalks that up to experience. \u201cWhen you\u2019re younger, you think that getting older will make you more frail, but I have found it\u2019s the opposite,\u201d she explains. \u201cYou become stronger. Now, I can deal with anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

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An impressive entourage rounded the project off \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s under my name, but this isn\u2019t \u2018my\u2019 record,\u201d Julie insists. One collaborator was Cult Of Luna\u2019s Johannes Persson, who lent some menacing riffs and vocals.<\/p>\n

Julie Christmas – End Of The World, feat. Johannes Persson – YouTube
\n\"Julie<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis album wouldn\u2019t exist if I hadn\u2019t toured with Cult Of Luna,\u201d Julie explains. \u201cTheir manager was pretty instrumental in me writing another album. He was like that peer-pressuring friend at a party: \u2018Oh no, you\u2019re not leaving right now, are you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While Julie \u201chates writing\u201d, this release was necessary. Howling her throat raw is an addiction she can\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think I\u2019d keep screaming until a trickle of blood came out,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt happens to singers who trash their voices. Sometimes I think, \u2018This is gonna be the final blow.\u2019 But it hasn\u2019t happened yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sentiment Julie hopes people can take from Ridiculous And Full Of Blood \u2013 if you\u2019ve still got gas in the tank, give it your all.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou only get one life,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is no better embodiment of constantly fucking up than me \u2013 but tough bitches cry, then we get back up again. Just go and feel something. Live, be human. It\u2019s never too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in Metal Hammer issue 395, December 2024. Julie Christmas will headline Arctangent festival with Cult Of Luna in Bristol this August.<\/p>\n

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