Behind The Artworks: ExpiatoriA - A History In Three Acts (2026)

How do you summarize 40 years of heavy metal into a single image? You try... and, every once in a while, you actually pull it off.

As we approached the idea of celebrating this huge milestone, which coincides with our appearance at the Italian festival Luppolo In Rock (sharing the bill with bands we grew up listening to, such as Death SS, Overkill, Stratovarius, Crimson Glory, Marduk... and many more), we wanted the release of "A History In Three Acts" to feel truly special. Our goal was to reconnect with the roots of heavy metal and rock music in general, before everything became digital.

That same philosophy also shaped the way we recorded the album. Goodbye, click tracks and recording every instrument separately to fit neatly into a grid; hello to playing together in the same room, capturing the true live essence of ExpiatoriA in 2026.

We wanted to apply the very same approach to the album artwork. Instead of relying on AI-generated images, we chose to work with a flesh-and-blood artist. This time, we felt that even a photograph couldn't do justice to what we had in mind.

Raise your hand if you grew up staring at Iron Maiden gatefold sleeves, trying to understand every little detail and losing yourself in that fantastic world where music and artwork became part of the very same experience. We certainly did. Our singer AngeleX came up with the original concept: creating an illustration in which every single detail references the lyrics and themes explored throughout "A History In Three Acts".

The album features newly recorded versions of four songs spanning every official chapter of our career, alongside a brand-new track, "The Incredible Worm Man". The opening song is also the very first track ExpiatoriA ever recorded back in 1987, "Underground Forever", which provides the overall setting for the artwork. The remaining elements are a little more self-explanatory... We'll leave the rest for you, dear reader, to discover as you explore every corner of the illustration.

None of this would have been possible without a great artist by our side: a true metalhead who immediately understood exactly what we were trying to achieve. His name is Marco Sparta, and you can check out his work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcospartax/

The artwork was entirely hand-drawn using Luminance coloured pencils. You can watch us unveiling the original artwork here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dac_4TgsbUh/

It goes without saying that Marco exceeded our wildest expectations. We're incredibly proud of what we've created together, and we can't wait for you to dive into the artwork and discover all the hidden details for yourselves.

"A History In Three Acts" is available as a limited-edition digipak (100 copies only), featuring a 12-page booklet telling the story of ExpiatoriA through rare archival photos spanning every era of the band.

Check it out: https://linktr.ee/expiatoria

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