Stellar Rot is an atmospheric black metal project from Baltimore, formed in 2025 by Scott Ferguson and Mike Connors, both members of Unendlich. Their debut album, Where The Formless Ones Dwell, blends atmospheric black metal, blackgaze, traditional black metal and darker ambient passages, inspired by the Grimdark universe.
For Serial Metal Fanzine, Scott discusses the origins of Stellar Rot, their approach to songwriting, their influences, the concept behind the album, and their plans for the future.
This interview was conducted before the album’s release on September 25th.
Asmoth: Could you start by introducing Stellar Rot to our readers? How did the two of you come together to form the project, and what made you decide to create Stellar Rot alongside your experience in a traditional black metal band?
Scott: Sure! Thanks again for the opportunity, we greatly appreciate the support. Stellar Rot was formed in 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland by two members of a USBM band called Unendlich, Mike Connors and myself (Scott Ferguson). We are an atmospheric black metal duo, but we tend to jump around black metal sub-genres as the music dictates (more on that later!). Mike and myself have been playing together in Unendlich since 2019, and he founded Unendlich since 2011 (it is technically a solo project of his and I am the live drummer). We have both been lifelong black metal fans and musicians, and I came up with the idea of Stellar Rot and brought it to Mike in 2025 to do a project centered about Warhammer 40k lore and themes that would also lean towards the blackgaze and atmospheric black metal genre.
Before we came up with the name of the band, I created the motto "All Shall Wither And Fade" as a way of conveying the feeling that we were trying to portray with our music. We lean heavily in the existential and cosmic dread territory--embracing the crushing feeling of an unfathomably cruel universe which we are all doomed to be consumed by eventually.
Asmoth: You describe Stellar Rot as an atmospheric black metal project, but the album seems to draw from several different approaches, from brutal and ritualistic passages to darker ambient and chaotic sections. How would you personally define Stellar Rot’s sound?
Scott: You hit the nail on the head! It's really hard to specify one genre--and there is a reason for that. Essentially, this album, "Where The Formless Ones Dwell", transports the listener into a sinister, corrupted world as you enter the void and are faced with the 5 gods whomst each embody a different characteristic. For copyright reasons, we avoided using a single character name, event, or place from the 40k universe, but those who know would quickly pick up on what we are referring to and the vague references. What we have done is each of the 5 tracks are solely composed around every fiber of that gods being--every note, lyric, synth--they are all created to match the exact portrayal of that entity we are seeking to explore.
The listener should be able to close their eyes and listen and immediately feel transported into the specific realm of that god and be faced with unfathomable horrors that exist there. If I had to pick, I would call us something like blackgaze or atmospheric black metal, but there are parts where we lean really heavy into traditional BM or go slower into the DSBM route.
Asmoth: The Grimdark universe is at the heart of Stellar Rot’s identity. What initially attracted you to its lore, and what aspects of this universe did you find most inspiring when developing the project?
Scott: I personally have been a lifelong 40k fan, playing the tabletop for many years growing up and eventually consuming the Black Library materials and horror stories and really any media I could find. While bands such as Bolt Thrower did a fantastic and incredible job of showcasing and singing about the war and brutality aspects of the universe, I was much more interested in the extremely sinister and insidious parts of the lore.
When you go a level deeper beyond the war and bloodshed, there are unspeakable horrors in the void (I avoid using the "W" word for copyright reasons) that have really good stories to explore. Again, for any LAWYERS reading this (Games Workshop, I'm looking at you)--we did not use a single piece of IP. We rather choose the path of exploring the themes presented--the eventual corruption of mankind, the greed and hatred that consumes humans, the cosmic annihilation that awaits us all--these are the stories we want to explore with our music.
Asmoth: You mentioned that you spent years studying and discussing the art and media surrounding this universe before writing a single note. How did this long period of research and immersion influence the way you eventually approached the music? How did you translate the identity and characteristics of each god into riffs, melodies, vocals, drums, and atmosphere?
Scott: I sort of touched on this in the previous question, but yeah, I have essentially been surrounded by the lore my entire life. Mike has been really consumed in the media, books, and games the last 6-8 years as well. We both have a huge love of the lore and universe and thought it would be a perfect match for blending the blackgaze/atmospheric style of music that I wanted to explore with.
Before we began writing the album, we spent months sending each other youtube clips, excerpts and quotes from books, artwork that matched the vibe we wanted, and ultimately I put together files of all this material for each of the 5 tracks as a sort of "vision board" (I hate that term), to help visualize what we were trying to achieve. This goes back to the genre-blending point. Each song was created note-for-note to specifically capture a very distinct feeling, and we really hope that comes across with this album! If we had a riff that was killer but didn't match the emotion we were trying to invoke?
Throw it in the drive and save it for another project! This was written and created very, very differently than most projects we have worked on in other bands where the riff always comes first. That was not the case at all here--in fact there were many times where either the drums or the vocals came first, and we matched the guitars to give it the ambient sound we were seeking that would match that specific god.
Asmoth: What artists, albums, or other forms of art have had the greatest influence on the way Stellar Rot sounds and creates its atmosphere? Are there any particular influences that might not be immediately obvious to listeners?
Scott: Good question, man! We both have a huge range of influences, and I think Mike and I are extreme compliments to each other in the best way possible. It might not be obvious to the listeners, but that is why we have worked so well together over the last 7+ years. His strengths are my weaknesses as a songwriter, and vice versa. This also comes into play with our influences. I am about 8 years younger than Mike, so we both grew up listening to and influenced by different waves of metal subgenres over the years.
Some of Mike's favorite bands are Danzig, Slayer, Deicide, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Samael, Rotting Christ, etc. For me, I am mainly influenced by bands such as Iron Maiden, Emperor, Children of Bodom, Dissection, Dark Funeral, Bell Witch, Insomnium, Dark Tranquility, that sort of stuff. While we both love black metal, we definitely branch out to all the subgenres of metal and are not afraid to admit it! For non-obvious influences, I would say that Mike is really deep into the dark electronic music world, and for me I definitely enjoy power metal a lot and love bands like Blind Guardian and Hammerfall.
Asmoth: Where The Formless Ones Dwell will soon introduce Stellar Rot to listeners for the first time. What would you like people to understand about the project when they hear the album, beyond its connection to the Grimdark universe?
Scott: Other than the 40k connection, I would say that we are really creating something here for every metal fan--the genre-blending may be annoying for some listeners, but it also gives every person something they might find enjoyable in the album. Track 2 isn't your favorite? Try track 3 and it might hit you in a completely different way and scratch that musical-itch you are looking for. We really don't want to put ourselves in a box, because at the end of the day, the songs are crafted SPECIFICALLY to convey an exact god's realm and emotion and portrayal in the track.
Outside of that, I just want to make the note that if you know nothing about 40k, this is absolutely still for you! In fact, I would say without these interviews, the listeners would honestly have no idea that the songs and tracks are based around the lore. Even if you read the lyrics, it is vague enough that you can't really tell unless you are really in-the-know. The last thing I will say is that this is a DEBUT album, and it is so, so incredibly hard to launch a new band from ground zero Creating those fresh social media accounts, explaining to labels who we are and how we came from Unendlich (massive shoutout to Hypnotic Dirge Records for taking the chance on us!!), trying to connect with early fans, and getting the music out there is absolutely exhausting and soul-crushing at times. Every single media member, early fan, PR page, friends, family, other bands, etc who has helped us get the word out about this album or shown us support, we owe an immeasurable amount of gratitude and thanks to.
It is because of all these incredible people in our community that we are able to make this music and have people listen to and connect with it. Seriously--thank you from the bottom of my heart if you are reading this or have listened to the tracks, we truly appreciate it.
Asmoth: Finally, with the debut album about to be released, what are your plans for Stellar Rot after its release? Are you already thinking about new material or further developing the universe you have created?
Scott: 2 major things for us next! First, as soon as the album hits on September 25th, we are going to line up a bunch of shows for late 2026 and all of 2027. We really want to look for some side stage/support acts at larger festivals, so that will be a major goal for us (if you are reading this and know someone--hit us up!). There are tons of awesome black metal festivals that we would absolutely love to take part in, so we are really hoping we will get some offers there for 2027.
Secondly, yes--the plan is absolutely to continue the material and keep exploring themes and stories about the grimdark universe! Our goal is definitely to release another album in late 2027 or early 2028, and this time we will likely explore another aspect of the lore. There are so many cruel, dark, and evil themes that would be perfect for a Stellar Rot 2nd album, and similar to this debut album, we have already begun putting together files with themes and artwork that might help piece together the puzzle pieces for album 2.