Mick Kenney

Michael "Mick" Kenney, also known as Kordhell (born 18 January 1980), is a British musician and record producer. He first became known in the extreme metal scene as the founding multi-instrumentalist of Anaal Nathrakh, where he performed under the pseudonym Irrumator during the band's early years and has handled all studio instrumentation, drum programming, and production since 1999. In the 2020s, he gained mainstream recognition as the electronic artist Kordhell, producing drift phonk tracks that have amassed hundreds of millions of streams worldwide, most notably "Murder in My Mind".

Early life and education Kenney was born in Birmingham, England. He grew up in the city during a period when its underground scene was producing some of the most extreme music in the country, and has cited discovering Napalm Death through John Peel sessions listened to with his father as a formative influence, naming them his favourite band around the age of 12 or 13. He studied illustration at the University of Birmingham, and by his mid-teens was already experimenting with recording alongside future Anaal Nathrakh vocalist Dave Hunt. The band began as a raw studio project, with Kenney—performing under the alias Irrumator—serving as the sole instrumentalist and producer. He performed all guitars, bass, drums, drum programming, and other elements, drawing initial inspiration from Norwegian black metal acts such as Mayhem, Burzum, and Darkthrone. Kenney continued to use the Irrumator pseudonym on credits through the mid-2000s but later transitioned to his real name while retaining full studio control. The group subsequently assembled a live lineup without Kenney to continue touring and festival appearances, while he retained his role as the band's sole studio instrumentalist and producer.

Kordhell In 2021, Kenney launched his solo project Kordhell, focusing on aggressive drift phonk characterised by Memphis rap samples, horrorcore influences, heavy 808s, and dark cinematic production. He has described the genre as aligning with his prior work in extreme metal, explaining: "Phonk sounded similar to what I was already doing. It was super dark, with almost a horror vibe, but in a hip-hop way."

Early releases included the instrumental albums Beat Tape 1 and Beat Tape 2 (both 2021) and the EP Phonkageddon (2021). Singles such as "Live Another Day" built momentum, but widespread recognition came with "Murder in My Mind" (2022), which became one of the most-streamed phonk tracks of all time, surpassing one billion combined streams across platforms in August 2025. The track charted internationally, reaching No. 7 on the US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, No. 56 in Austria, No. 83 in the United Kingdom, and earning RIAA Platinum and BPI Silver certifications. The track's success on TikTok—where it soundtracked over a million videos—helped Kenney amass over 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify, placing him among the platform's top 500 artists worldwide.

Subsequent output has included collaborative albums like PSYCHX (2022, with Scarlxrd) and MUSIC FOR THE FUNERAL (2024, with DJ Paul), as well as A MILLION WAYS TO MURDER (2023), slowed/remix projects, and numerous singles through 2025–2026. In 2024, Kenney contributed to the official companion EP of Netflix's Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, alongside artists including Black Coffee and TOKiMONSTA.

Kenney co-runs FETO Records with Shane Embury of Napalm Death, which has issued releases by Anaal Nathrakh, Mistress (where Kenney performed as Migg), Fukpig (also as Migg), Lock Up, Cripple Bastards, and Ramesses.

"lost" featuring Mupp and Leah Julia (2023) "BALLE BALLE" featuring RVDENT (2023) "HEAVEN" featuring yatashigang (2024) "SANTINHA" featuring Bibi Babydoll (2024) "Fuku" featuring ZWE1HVNDXR (2024) "Glitch Krush" (2024) "Revolution" (2024) "FICA DE 4" featuring DJ FKU (2024) "XEREQUINHA VAI" (2024) "JUNBI" featuring anar (2024) "K-SLIDE" featuring 2KE and 808iluli (2024) "RAVE HELL" featuring killanoia and KUTE (2024)

Additional production credits Motionless in White – Infamous (writer/producer, 2012) Motionless in White – Reincarnate (writer, 2014) Motionless in White – Graveyard Shift (writer/producer, 2017) Motionless in White – Disguise (writer/producer, 2019) Carnifex – Slow Death (producer/writer/programming, 2016) Carnifex – World War X (production, 2019) Carnifex – Bury Me in Blasphemy EP (producer/recording/programming) Bleeding Through – The Great Fire (producer/writer/mixing/mastering, 2012) Bleeding Through – Love Will Kill All (producer/writer/mixing/mastering, 2018) Eighteen Visions – XVIII (producer/mixing/mastering) Dawn of Ashes – Theophany (producer/writer/mixing/mastering) Dawn of Ashes – Daemonolatry Gnosis (mixing/mastering) Aesthetic Perfection – Into the Black (writer) Fukpig – Belief Is the Death of Intelligence (writer) Fukpig – Spewings from a Selfish Nation (producer/writer/mixing/mastering) Aborym – With No Human Intervention (guest appearance)