Xasthur is the black metal project of American musician Scott Conner, who was known by the pseudonym "Malefic". Although similar in terms of lo-fi production and the wearing of corpse paint, musically and lyrically Xasthur's focus is usually not on paganism, Satanism or anti-Christian blasphemy – as is common in the genre – but rather on astral projection, darkness, despair, suicide, hate, and death. Malefic has toured with Sunn O))) and has joined Nachtmystium on stage, but stated in an interview for Pitchfork Media that he "will always keep Xasthur a band that will not play live". In 2010, Scott Conner announced the end of Xasthur. In 2015 he wrote on his official Nocturnal Poisoning Facebook page that Xasthur has returned and a new album will be possibly available in 2016. It will be a continuation of Nocturnal Poisoning's acoustic driven music.