Behind The Artworks: Nihilo - Abyss (2026)
The starting point for the artwork of ABYSS was deliberately not a concrete image.
The album explores intense internal struggles connected to self-doubt, fear of failure, and societal pressure. Across the record, we deal with subjects including imposter syndrome, social anxiety, perfectionism, burnout, alienation, and other forms of psychological conflict. Although these themes are different, we saw them as different manifestations of the same fundamental idea: the abyss within a person.
When we approached Rodrigo Pereira S. of Absolute Desert to create the artwork, we therefore did not want to tell him exactly what the cover should look like. Instead, we gave him the conceptual background of the album and asked him to create his own visual interpretation of the word Abyss.
Our original briefing explained it like this:
“The cover should capture these deep inner abysses and emotions, without defining a specific figure. Instead, the concept of the ‘Abyss’ – the chasm – becomes the central theme, which the artist can interpret in their own way.”
This creative freedom was important to us.
We did not want the artwork to literally illustrate ten psychological conditions or to provide a simple visual explanation of the lyrics. The themes could influence the imagery, but they did not have to appear as recognisable symbols.
What mattered more was the atmosphere behind them: darkness, uncertainty, internal turmoil, invisible threats and the sensation of being trapped somewhere inside yourself.
That also reflects how we approached the album lyrically. ABYSS does not try to provide clinical descriptions or clear solutions to these experiences. The lyrics frequently turn them into physical or abstract imagery – voids, cracks, shadows, weight, suffocation, fractured bodies and disappearing ground.
The artwork needed to exist in that same world without defining exactly what the listener was supposed to see.
The word “abyss” itself was therefore the most important visual reference. An abyss can be a physical chasm, but in the context of this record it can also describe something psychological or existential: a place where certainty disappears and where you are forced to confront parts of yourself that may normally remain hidden.
That is why giving Rodrigo room for his own interpretation was essential. Rather than commissioning an illustration of a predetermined scene, we gave him the themes and emotional framework behind the record and allowed him to define what Abyss meant visually.
The result became the visual counterpart to what we were trying to achieve with the music and lyrics: something dark and unsettling that suggests an internal struggle without completely explaining it.
For us, that ambiguity is important because ABYSS is ultimately not about one specific person or one specific experience.
Everyone has their own abyss.
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