Hangman's Chair were a French doom metal band formed in , in 2005. The group's final lineup consisted of vocalist and guitarist , guitarist , bassist and drummer .
With roots in the hardcore punk scene and after participating in several local bands, , and formed Hangman's Chair. The band's debut album, (A Lament for...) The Addicts, released in 2007, featured on vocals. After 's departure and the group's reconfiguration in 2008, they released Leaving Paris in 2010. Both albums were more oriented towards stoner and sludge metal. died in 2010.
With a stable lineup in place, Hangman's Chair launched a trilogy, beginning with the 2012 album Hope /// Dope /// Rope, when they found a musical identity and worked to dissociate themselves from the stoner and sludge metal designations. This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive, released in 2015, marked the introduction of cold wave synthesisers into their sound. Their fifth album, (2018), showcased a pronounced use of reverb and chorus effects. Hangman's Chair have been praised for blending doom metal and post-punk atmospherics. They then signed with Spinefarm Records for releases in all territories outside France; they also benefited from media exposure in the country.
Hangman's Chair left Spinefarm and signed with Nuclear Blast Records in 2021. The following year saw the release of A Loner, which was characterised by more melody, introspection, and atmospheric and gothic sounds. The album was the first of a new trilogy and spawned the singles "Loner", "Who Wants To Die Old" and "Cold & Distant". 2025's Saddiction continued where A Loner had left off, blending their metal with gothic, cold wave, shoegaze, post-rock and other musical styles. It spawned several singles, including "2 am Thoughts". The band's themes are generally dark and gloomy, set amidst mysterious, "claustrophobic" urban landscapes, while their discography demonstrates a gradual transition towards a clean singing voice. Hangman's Chair suspended their activities in November 2025 for an indefinite period.
grew up in the department, south of Paris, in France. , born in Morocco (Maghreb), arrived in France at the age of 12. They met in 1992 at a college in , and they became friends. and were passionate about 1990s hardcore punk, heavy metal and grunge. The hardcore scene consisting of bands such as Confusion, Integrity, Only Living Witness, Section 8, and Sheer Terror, and the do-it-yourself philosophy associated with this culture, motivated them to perform music. found his path between the ages of 13 and 14 by beginning to play hardcore punk. The two friends first stepped onto the stage at around 15 or 16.
was a member of () and later a bassist in Drowning, which toured as the opening act for All Out War and Merauder. Over time, and performed in various local bands, including , and Rising Dust. was part of their circle; he was the singer of Knockoutz and the bassist of , and performed with . The bassist for Knockoutz and was . After playing electric bass for a while, switched to drums.
The members of wanted to move in a different musical direction, but had rehearsed very little with , the band's singer, before entering the recording studio. was less interested in the band's new direction. After a while, tried his hand at singing, then was put on hold.
In 2005, (guitar), (drums), and (guitar) formed the metal band Hangman's Chair in , .
The band's first album, (A Lament for...) The Addicts, was released in 2007 via the Bones Brigade Records label, with , , (vocals), (guitar), and (bass). Some songs originally intended to appear under the name appeared on Hangman's Chair's first album. Hangman's Chair's first bassist was originally the singer of the band Every Reason To...
later told of Rock & Folk that had not stayed in the band for long, as he went through "a lot of bad moments".
was a member of the band Inhatred.
In 2008, Hangman's Chair were joined by , who became the bassist, and , who took over as singer-guitarist.
In 2010, died in a car accident. Leaving Paris, the band's second album, was released the same year, through Bones Brigade Records, with , , , , and in the lineup.
In 2011, was busy for a few months with and was replaced by Every Reason To... bassist for concert dates.
The following album, Hope /// Dope /// Rope, was released in 2012. The album "marked a turning point in our history", said , the band having found, with the arrival of and , stability and a musical identity. With Hope /// Dope /// Rope, the band made a name for themselves on the metal scene.
On 1 February 2014, Hangman's Chair performed at the second edition of JP Fest, a festival that brought together six French metal bands to raise funds for the fight against cancer at the Splendid in Lille. All profits were donated to the (), the Lille-based research department of the Oscar-Lambret Centre and the association (ASP Omega) ().
The band's next album, This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive, was released in 2015. The album cover depicts French executioner .
At the beginning of March 2016, Hangman's Chair performed at , a major annual international tattoo convention held at the in Paris.
Hangman's Chair were in the habit of recording three or four additional tracks at each studio recording session for their albums, intended for split album releases. While was on tour in Japan with Arkangel, he met the members of Greenmachine. Hangman's Chair subsequently recorded a split album with Greenmachine, released in February 2017 through Music Fear Satan in France and Daymare Recordings in Japan. Jacob Bannon praised the Hangman's ChairGreenmachine split album.
Hangman's Chair's fifth album, (), was released in March 2018 through the Parisian independent label Music Fear Satan. It includes a collaboration with French synthwave musician Perturbator on "Tired Eyes". The album, characterised by profuse use of reverb and chorus, spawned a music video for "Naive" released in April 2018, starring French actor . , who was part of the Parisian hardcore scene with his band Cry Havoc and is a longtime friend of Hangman's Chair, stated: "I didn't hesitate for a second. They're such a negative band, and I love it" He played his part as a volunteer. In June 2018, the band performed at Download Festival France in .
was "already very noticed", said of , and the band was therefore courted by the Spinefarm Records label. On 28 September 2018, the album was released by Spinefarm Records in all territories outside France. A special double-vinyl edition of the album was released simultaneously, following the signing of the quartet , , , and to Spinefarm Records, thereby guaranteeing worldwide distribution for their future recordings.
The album was a continuation of This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive, with personal themes. Hope /// Dope /// Rope, This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive and "are part of a whole", said. On , Hangman's Chair addressed the same thematic elements but less metaphorically, taking a more straightforward approach. The lyrics evoke a band member's overdose with his narrowly averted death in 2016 on "04/09/16" and the loss of family on "Negative Male Child" and mental health and its associated difficulties on "Touch The Razor". The instrumental "" was a tribute to .
enabled the band to appear on the French television channel Canal+ in (), as well as on FIP and France Inter, and to obtain articles in the mainstream press. While the band frequently toured the Upper France region during the winter of 2018, they opened for Zeal & Ardor at in Lille and for Samael in Dunkirk. They regularly performed in Belgium and the Netherlands because their manager was based in Lille.
On 16 August 2019, Hangman's Chair performed at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in the US, and later that year released a four-track EP, (), featuring two unreleased tracks and two remixes. It was preceded by the single "Lost Brothel" in line with the dark themes addressed by the band: "Prostitution, night, suburbia and unhappy loves".
A joint performance by Hangman's Chair and the black metal band took place in Paris on 25 September 2019 during the Major Arcana evening as part of the Red Bull Music Festival. It was due to be repeated at the Roadburn Festival 2020, but was ultimately cancelled.
Hangman's Chair recorded the album A Loner between December 2020 and January 2021 for an October release, but concert cancellations delayed it. The band returned to record with for the sixth time, at his in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.
said that the band's relationship with their former labels, Bones Brigade and Music Fear Satan, had always gone well. They had high expectations for Spinefarm Records, but ultimately, things did not go as planned. "Communication with Spinefarm has become very complicated", said . To amicably terminate their contract, Hangman's Chair initiated negotiations through their new manager. They were approached by the German and French offices of Nuclear Blast Records. The deal had accelerated after the opening of the French office because the band had already been in contact with the German office since This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive.
Perturbator asked Hangman's Chair to collaborate on his song "God Says", taken from his 2021 album, Lustful Sacraments. Following their signing with Nuclear Blast Records, Hangman's Chair released a single titled "Cold & Distant" on 21 May 2021, accompanied by its music video featuring French actress . In early October 2021, the band released a new single titled "Loner", which was accompanied by a music video. Hangman's Chair had set aside two songs from the recording sessions for their last album, including "Judge Penitent". The song then became the soundtrack for the fifth season (2021) of the podcast Gang Stories by JoeyStarr, the French rapper from the group NTM.
On 3 January 2022, Hangman's Chair appeared on the Culturebox program on France 4. The band released the single "Who Wants To Die Old" along with a music video, directed by Oscar Bizarre, and filmed before "Cold & Distant". A Loner was released in February 2022. of Rolling Stone France said that Hangman's Chair "experiments, plays with effects, textures and nuances". At this stage of their musical evolution, the band demonstrated a greater presence of melodies and introspection and was sometimes more atmospheric. A piece was finally performed by the pairing of Hangman's Chair and at the Roadburn Festival 2022 in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Arte Concert and Rolling Stone France teamed up to broadcast the band's performance at Hellfest 2022 on YouTube. On 26 June 2022, the band collaborated once again with the Nantes-based band for a concert on the Valley stage at Hellfest. On 16 July 2022, Hangman's Chair performed at the annual multi-genre music festival in , France. The band toured with Paradise Lost and then spent another five weeks performing at festivals.
In March 2023, they presented their six-minute single "Spleenwise", a previously unreleased track. In 2023, Hangman's Chair were encouraged by their label to release a short, three-minute documentary titled A Portrait, directed by Kendy TyOrder, in which the band members recount their career and the A Loner era in a condensed and introspective way. For the documentary, the musicians returned to their neighbourhood, the school, and the playground where they grew up. In July 2023, the band performed at the Dour Festival in Belgium.
At the beginning of February 2024, Hangman's Chair returned to perform at Tattoo Planetarium, which brought together 500 tattoo artists from around the world, at Paris' . In October 2024, the band released the single "2 am Thoughts" and its music video, taken from the upcoming seventh album, Saddiction. "2 am Thoughts" features a guest appearance from of . The music video follows , the original singer of Hangman's Chair, through a day in his life, three years after he adopted a healthier lifestyle combining sport and spiritual exploration. He is the author of the video's closing line. Other singles followed: "Kowloon Lights", "In Disguise", "Healed?", and "The Worst is Yet to Come".
On 14 February 2025, Hangman's Chair's album Saddiction was released via Nuclear Blast Records, with the group's lineup remaining unchanged: , , , and . Saddiction continued in the vein of A Loner by being "more personal, more introspective", with stating that these albums would be part of a new trilogy. wrote that Hangman's Chair "continues to weave their simultaneously heavy and hovering ambiences amidst mysterious urban landscapes". He added that while A Loner "hovered at 10,000 feet in an ethereal cloud, Saddiction brings back the riffs, reminiscent of the harshest ambiences of ".
In mid-November 2025, Hangman's Chair announced on their social media that the band was going on hiatus "for an indefinite period" and that their online merchandise store would close on 31 December. The band stated that the store will reopen "as soon as the band becomes active again".
Coming from a hardcore background, the members of Hangman's Chair appreciated the similar trajectory of Type O Negative, with particularly liking the way CarnivorePeter Steele's previous bandsounded on the album Retaliation. The band also appreciated Saint Vitus' approach, who had themselves been influenced by Black Flag. Emerging from , the group of musicians who would form Hangman's Chair naturally gravitated towards a "really slow, sung, obscure" style of music.
Hangman's Chair cited Crowbar's Odd Fellows Rest as an early influence. The band were influenced by Type O Negative. Other influences include 1980s post-punk, Asylum Party, Nothing, Sad Lovers & Giants, Slowdive and Soft Kill. "Our influences remain very broad", said in 2016, the band acknowledging that they listen to very little metal, but a lot of neofolk, such as and Blood Axis, as well as a lot of hip-hop.
The band were inspired by cold wave music. and also cited Alice in Chains, Chris Cornell, and Dax Riggs as musical and artistic inspirations.
Daily events in Paris have influenced the band, while their lifestyle in the city is reflected in their music by a more pronounced "urban mood" and a "cold atmosphere" than is usually associated with this type of "dark metal".
cited Type O Negative's style as inspiring, describing their music as "urban cold wave hardcore" that blended their Brooklyn urban ambience with "dark" gothic metal, a combination he said was mainly apparent in their lyrics and album covers. For Hangman's Chair, the city of Paris is a source of inspiration. The band initially drew inspiration from "old Paris", particularly from neighbourhoods like , and . However, their 2018 album, , focused on the suburbs where they grew up.
was musically influenced by the Sound's From the Lions Mouth and its lyrics by Adrian Borland when composing 2022's A Loner. For the sound of his electric guitar on this album, he cited Slip by Quicksand and Brighter Than a Thousand Suns by Killing Joke for guitar effects. thought that the influences on the band's sound in general, and that on 2025's Saddiction, were probably a combination of their aggressive hardcore punk background and a strong interest in UK post-punk, as well as cold wave and new wave, which produce cold sounds and textures.
They cited the works of authors such as , , and , as well as true-crime stories and French magazines such as () and () among their thematic influences. In addition, documentaries such as Black Tar Heroin, Cut Up Kids, Dope Sick Love, Streetwise and Whores' Glory influenced Hangman's Chair.
Hangman's Chair have generally been considered a doom metal, stoner (rock or doom), sludge, doom rock, gothic metal, progressive, and coldwave band.
In 2018, Rich Hobson of Metal Hammer wrote: "Hangman's Chair are masters of utilising a blend of doom metal riffs and moody post-punk atmospherics". In 2022, Distorted Sound Magazines Rich Webb noted their "shoegaze/doom metal hybrid songwriting" on their albums. Journalist said the same year that the band dares to experiment beyond doom, sludge "or at worst that muddy stoner which they will never claim". In 2022, Angela Davey and Nick Ruskell of Kerrang! wrote that the band blends "gothic rock and epic doom metal". Hobson described their music the same year as "80s-tinged goth-doom". The newspaper L'Alsace echoed these statements in 2023, describing the band's sound as a "melancholic doom tinged with cold wave".
In 2025, stated that the band did not like tags, though they appreciated the term "cold doom" to describe their music.
told : "Our first two albums were a bit of tests. We were very Sludge, very Stoner, with influences not well digested yet". Hangman's Chair have been described as a "French doom rock band" or, in its early days, as sludge or even "stoner", which led to acknowledge that being categorised within the doom scene did not bother the band members because their instruments are tuned "very low" and they play at slow tempos. "We sounded Sludge in our beginning", he said, adding, "I think we moved away from that pretty quickly". refuted any association with the "stoner" genre, further saying, "We are very far from Stoner, both in terms of imagery and the 'psychedelic rock' side".
stated that 2012's Hope /// Dope /// Rope had enabled "to detach ourselves from all this stoner stuff, sludge, that sticks to us". 2015's This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive marked the use of cold wave synthesisers in Hangman's Chair's sound, which would become an important sonic layer. Kerrang! described (2018) as an album whose sound displays "a darkness that comes not from the wilderness that so often makes up doom, but a more gritty, claustrophobic urban setting". In October 2021, Toulouse radio host wrote that Hangman's Chair's has "found and refined" their own sonic identity over the years, "blended with a certain street credibility linked to the band's roots in hardcore". In their respective analyses of 2018 and 2021, Hobson and drew comparisons between Hangman's Chair and Type O Negative, Life of Agony, and the Sisters of Mercy.
While the band blended various doom sounds to create an atmosphere on This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive, Hangman's Chair sounded like a different band on A Loner (2022) than in their early work, with gothic sounds closer to goth rock and cold wave at this stage. Their past as a "stoner band", however, had left some traces. A Loner features moments leaning towards shoegaze and gothic rock, with heavier passages, the melodies primarily serving "to sustain the gloom". of the French magazine Guitar Part wrote that Hangman's Chair "have gone even further" with A Loner, "as if to free yourselves a little more from the stoner/sludge/doom tags that have stuck to the band's skin since their beginnings". For the recording of A Loner, used an old Marshall JMP head to add more upper mids, giving the sound a more defined character. He used his Rivera in the studio for a "really fat sound". For the electric guitar parts, the band wanted a "bright sound" with less gain and "to remove this flattering aspect" of the sub-bass characteristic of sludge or doom metal.
of wrote that Saddiction (2025) is "still rooted in metal but with numerous more atmospheric, gothic, even 'cold wave' passages". used a Bass VI to record Saddiction, an instrument he described as a cross between an electric guitar and an electric bass, which he said brought "much more consistency" to the sound. He was able to approach their music "from another prism" by changing his guitar's tuning, which boosted his creativity. "Post-punk is almost perfect ... It just needs bigger riffs", the band members said, as this was the guiding principle of the album. On Saddiction, the band continued in the same artistic direction initiated on A Loner. Saddictions sound encompasses dark metal, gothic, shoegaze, pop, alternative and post-rock. In 2025, Metal Hammers Matt Mills drew a parallel between their melodies and those of the Sisters of Mercy, but with guitar distortion and drums' "fierceness" turned up in Hangman's Chair.
did not consider himself a singer when recording 2010's Leaving Paris. At that time, he was mainly inspired by the "slightly broken, slightly gravelly" vocals over stoner and bluesy riffs, mentioning the band Down. On Hope /// Dope /// Rope, his bandmates encouraged him to abandon that vocal style and sing, telling him, "think crooner", which led him to learn to "desaturate" his voice. 's voice retained a certain harshness on this album, though it was "clearer"; he continued the improvement sought over the next albums to reduce saturation as much as possible.
Webb said that the bassline coupled with the guitar tones on "An Ode To Breakdown" provides "the perfect platform" for "to lay his beautiful, soulful singing over". In their review of Hangman's Chair's concert at DesertFest 2022 in the UK, Davey and Ruskell wrote that the band's music "culminate[s] in soaring riffs which serve to bolster the raw emotion of 's cleanly sung vocals".
writes his lyrics in English for convenience and because of the language's inherent fluidity. According to , certain French consonants are more abrupt than English ones. added that most of the bands they listen to sing in English. Conversely, Hangman's Chair enjoys using French album or song titles for their sonority.
The lineup listings are adapted from the Hard Force website, a former magazine published from 1986 to 2000.