Changeling Release Blindfolded Guitar Playthrough

CHANGELING, the progressive death metal band led by guitarist Tom "Fountainhead" Geldschläger (ex-Obscura), is releasing a blindfolded guitar playthrough of "World? What World?". Shot in studio and taken from the band’s debut album, Changeling, the playthrough turns the song into a single uninterrupted performance, with Fountainhead navigating its shifting time signatures and tremolo-picked runs entirely by feel.

Watch the blindfolded guitar playthrough of “World? What World?” Below:

Changeling is out now on Season of Mist

Order & Stream

https://orcd.co/changelingchangeling

"World? What World?" is one of the most punishing songs on Changeling. Built on 260 bpm blast beats and a brass arrangement scored for an ensemble of Wagnerian tubas, it stages a confrontation with fear and the unconscious mind, Losing the visual reference point of the fretboard turns the new guitar playthrough into a demonstration of muscle memory as much as musicianship, a fitting angle for a song built around the collapse of perceptual certainty.

Changeling moves through four distinct chapters. The album opens in tech-death vocabulary, rooted in Fountainhead's work on Obscura's album Akroasis. It closes with "Anathema", the 16-minute successor to his own "Weltseele."

Catch Changeling on the band’s first European headline tour this November with Obsidian Tide.  

CHANGELING 2026 European Headline TOUR? WHAT TOUR?

with Obsidian Tide

Get tickets

linktr.ee/changeling_tour


November 12 – Hamburg, Germany @ Bambi Galore (+ Soulsplitter)

November 13 – Cologne, Germany @ MTC (+ 46 Forty Six Band)

November 14 – Arnhem, Netherlands @ Willemeen (+ Demichron)

November 15 – Den Haag, Netherlands @ Musicon (+ Hyla)

November 17 – Charleroi, Belgium @ MCP Apache (+ Laucean)

November 19 – Kaiserslautern, Germany @ Irish House ( + Magefa)

November 20 – Stuttgart, Germany @ Club Zentral

November 21 – Innsbruck, Austria @ Livestage (+ Virial)

November 22 – Vienna, Austria @ Escape Metalcorner (+ Pater Tenebrarum)

November 24 – Landshut, Germany @ Rocketclub

November 25 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Black Pes (+ Poppy Seed Grinder)

November 26 – Ostrava, Czech Republic @ Rock Hill (+ TBA)

November 27 – Warsaw, Poland @ Potok (+ TBA)

November 29 – Berlin, Germany @ Kulturhaus Insel

Changeling Release Stop Motion Video for "World? What World?"

CHANGELING, the progressive death metal project led by fretless guitar luminary Tom "Fountainhead" Geldschläger, are unveiling a stunning stop motion animation video for “World? What World?”. The song is one of the many highlights from the band’s critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album.

Bridging chaotic intensity with theatrical grandeur, “World? What World?” captures a pivotal moment in the album’s psychedelic journey. Repressed fears and horrors of the subconscious are confronted amidst a thunderous Wagnerian brass ensemble, a gospel choir that recalls Dark Side of the Moon, the whirlwind drums of Mike Heller (Malignancy, Raven, ex-Fear Factory) and a guest guitar solo from legendary axeman Andy LaRocque.

Watch the music video for “World? What World?” below:

Changeling is out now via Season of Mist.

Order & Stream

https://orcd.co/changelingchangeling

The video for “World? What World?” was created using stop motion animation, bringing the song’s nightmarish vision to life.

New Dolby Atmos Version

Following the success of Changeling’s self-titled debut, the Dolby Atmos mix of the album will arrive this week. Mixed with immersive spatial depth and precision, this version offers a fully enveloping listening experience. It places listeners directly inside the intricate orchestral arrangements, swirling fretless guitars and psychedelic soundscapes. Engineered by Tom himself and Atmos-mixing veteran Eric Horstmann, the Atmos release brings a new dimension to this genre-defying work.

The Dolby Atmos version was released May 30th.

In a significant development in early 2024, Fountainhead, now branded under the name CHANGELING for his new project and album, signed with the label Season of Mist. This venture marks a new chapter in Tom’s career, amplifying his visionary approach to music. Accompanied by an all-star band featuring members from Fear Factory, Alkaloid, and Virvum, the project CHANGELING showcases a 60-minute concept album that takes all aspects of Tom’s artistry to new heights.

The album, sharing its name with the project, blends progressive metal, death metal, jazz/fusion, and world music, enriched with complex orchestrations by a 50-piece ensemble of guest musicians. It includes the eagerly anticipated “Part 2” to his renowned composition “Weltseele,” an orchestral metal epic from Obscura’s billboard-chart-entering “Akroasis” album, which broadly introduced Fountainhead to the metal community in 2016.

Core Lineup:
Tom Fountainhead (ex-Obscura, Amogh Symphony, Belphegor, Defeated Sanity) - Fretted & fretless electric & acoustic guitars, oud, keyboards, composition and arrangements.
Mike Heller (ex-Fear Factory, Malignancy, Raven) - Drums.
Arran McSporran (Vipassi, Virvum) -  Fretless bass.
Morean (Alkaloid, Dark Fortress) - Lead vocals & lyrics.

Guest Musicians:
Bill Hudson (Trans-siberian Orchestra, Doro, I am Morbid) - Guest guitar solo
Jason Gobel (ex-Cynic, ex-Monstrosity)- Guest guitar solo
Andy Laroque (ex-Death, King Diamond) - Guest guitar solo
Yatziv Caspi (ex-Orphaned Land) - Tabla, hangdrum, dabouka, riq & shakers
Ally Storch (Subway To Sally)- Violins, viola & cello
James Dorton (The Faceless, NeObliviscaris, Black Crown Initate) - Spoken words
Alexander Kerski (Vianova)- Backing & harmony vocals
Matthias Alexander Preisinger - Piano and glockenspiel, violins & viola
Martin Matiasovic - Horns & Wagnerian Tube
Jan Ferdinand - Vibraphone & marimba
Chris Rützel - Flutes
Ivar Ludvig Nitzler - Cello
Shiho Murano - Tuba
Juliane Erding - Wagnerian tube & horn
Eduard Cortez - Wagnerian tube & horn
Tillmann Schulz  - Wagnerian tube & horn
Ava Bonam - Female vocals
Moran Magal - Piano
Cydney McQuillan-Grace, Lauren Gill, Shannon Bedford, Sara Robalo; Tenor and Bari - Ben Francis, John Schaffer,  Alice Williams, Cyd McQuillan-Grace; Alto - Lauren Gill, Sara Robalo; Tenor and Bass - James Schouten & John Schaffer - Choir vocals
Krassimir Jossifov - Trumpet
Brandt Attema - Trombones & bass trombones
Kristian Petkov - Bassoon
Stefan Prost - Church organ
Seonghyeon Park - Clarinet
Arnfried Falk - Oboe
Rouven Haliti - Upright bass
Dalai Cellai - Cello

Recording Studio:
FountainheadHQ, Hellersounds, Saforill, Klanghafen, Landesmusikakademie Berlin, Musikhochschule Carl-Maria-Von-Weber, Muziek Studio Beeld, Sonictrain.

Production Credits:
Produced & Engineered by Tom Fountainhead.
Mixed by Tom Fountainhead at FountainheadHQ.
Mastered by Leon Schmidt at his home studio & FountainheadHQ.

Cover Art:
Aaron Pinto (Gutslit) / KidSquidy
 
Photography:
Alexander Kerski / Comicsans_ultra

Stream & Order: https://orcd.co/changelingchangeling
 

Follow Fountainhead & Changeling:
Website: http://www.thefountainhead.de
Facebook: http://facebook.com/tomfountainheadgeldschlaeger
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/changeling.official
Bandcamp: https://changelingofficial.bandcamp.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/fountainheadtv
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/changeling/294821510
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MbRUvwQcEBzryOhWMHkvV