Anaal Nathrakh played what could have been their final show at the Scala venue in London on December 14, 2022. At the time of the show announcement, Anaal Nathrakh stated that guitarist Mick Kenney would be absent as he experienced a "change of plan… which meant that his focus had to shift, for the time being at least."
Upon the show's completion, the band thanked everyone for coming and stated (with a note of hope for fans) that they were going to "take a moment to catch our breath, and then figure out what might be next, if anything." Fortunately, Anaal Nathrakh said they'd carry on and ultimately played a few shows throughout 2023. Or in the band's own words, "There's just too much endarkenment, too much unfinished business and too much visceral thrill, both for us and hopefully for fans, not to."
But what's next for the band? According to Anaal Nathrakh vocalist Dave Hunt, a Mick-less version of the band could continue to play live. And yes – there might be a new studio album too.
"Last time we spoke about it, yeah [there could be new material and shows]," said Hunt. "I live in Birmingham and Mick lives somewhere near Los Angeles, so it's not like we're around each other's houses for a cup of sugar every day, but we talk regularly and that was still the plan. It's possible that we would end up doing something in the studio and then I would continue with it in this live format. It's very much 'we will see what we will see'. It ain't over 'til it's over, and the spirit is still there, but if anything has been learned from the past few years it's to not try and predict how things are going to work out."
As for live shows, Hunt added: "Well, it was a one-off plan [to have a stand-in for Mick], but the response was positive. Mick and I had a chat, and the feeling was that we didn't want to say that that was it. But we did know that it would be a long time until Mick would be able to participate again. To go touring effectively on Endarkenment for the next 10 years would be taking the piss, but hopefully we can go out there and give people something they want to see. We're gonna do some stuff in 2024, and I'd have to think long and hard before going beyond that."
