While the first edition was still going strong last Saturday, Ankea Festival was already looking ahead and announced the first 7 names for next year’s edition with Igorrr, Alcest, Kalandra, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Long Distance Calling, Vulkan and Karmanjakah! Limited early bird tickets available now!
Hulder announced to be reissuing four released from their back catalogue via Season of Mist this autumn!
Flemish atmospheric black metal entity Drawn Into Descent shared an official live music video for the song ‘teloorgang’ from their third album ‘Onrust’, out with Immportal Frost Productions!
Italian atmospheric folk/black metal outfit Duir reveal their new video single ‘Di nessuno’, the second to be revealed from their upcoming album ‘Catarsi’, set for release in June with AOP Records!
Old Moon delivers yet again top quality blackened melodic metal with the title track of their upcoming album ‘Home To Nowhere’! The album is set for release next month with M-Theory Audio. Catch them live in their neighborhoud or this June in Finland!
Galibot unveil new single ‘Pénitent’ and video ahead of their upcoming album ‘Catabase’, out May 8 via Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions. A brutal and melancholic descent into Northern France’s mining history.
US black metallers Abigail Williams announced their European tour to take place in early summer with Shagor joining for the Europe mainland dates!
Atmospheric black metal act Sotabosc unveiled their haunting new single ‘Freyja’, a track from their upcoming debut full-length ‘El Batec dels Maquis’, set for release in a couple of weeks via Dunk!Records!
UK black metal legends Winterfylleth released their latest album ‘The Unyielding Season’ via Napalm Records and now unleashed a visualizer for the title track!
Polish black metal outfit Varmia shares with ‘dzień, pół nocy’ their anthem to the northern wilderness, the land of wolf packs, ancient forests and pure waters and another track unveiled from upcoming album ‘lauks’, set for release next week Friday via M-Theory Audio!
A new festival is on the horizon in Finland with Ankea Festival, so here are the details on what promises to be a pretty amazing event!
Ondergronds brings post-black metal/shoegaze legends Les Discrets to Antwerp!
The final day of Steelfest Open Air always hits differently. Fatigue, devotion and one last descent into the underground. We picked out 5 performances again that we think you should check out for sure tomorrow on Day 3 in case your energy level isn’t high enough to go see everything, going from Dutch black metal icons Cirith Gorgor, the icy pressence of Imperial Crystalline Entombment, doom and gloom from Shape of Despair, a rare and most likely very emotionally charged performance by Lifelover to extreme metal innovators Tormentor to close the weekend! See you there!
Steelfest officially opens its doors in about 3 hours and let the madness start. Between your first beers and first riffs, take a moment to check our Day 2 must-see bands, going from a first show from industrial black supergroup Antihuman Industries, the return of ukrainian atmospheric black outfit Severoth, the live madness of Concrete Winds, a nightmare-fueled Akhlys and as closer a now already legendary show by underground icons Beherit! Tomorrow will be massive!
The summer festival season is over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of exciting fests happening over the next couple of months this autumn/winter in Finland, starting with Cult of Darkness today, Helsinki Techfest, and HKI SKEPU FEST VI this month still, Pakanafesterit in October, Hellsinki Industrial Festival and Melancholy Mass Festivals in November, and John Smith Rock Frozen in December! And for the beer and music lovers, several Masis Beer & Metal events spread over the next couple of months all over Finland! Go get your tickets now!
After the team sent in their top lists at the end of last year, and calculating the results, we got to an interesting “albums of the year 2023” list featuring releases from Marduk, Kludde, Blink-182, Blackbraid, Orbit Culture, Gloryhammer, Ne Obliviscaris, Hypno5e, Periphery, Dying Fetus, Obituary, Avatar, Svalbard, VV and Sleep Token! Do you agree with any of these? What did you have in your top list?
Our resident extreme metal reviewer Mazen has a selection of stellar (mostly) black and death metal releases as his favorite of the year with Sulphur Aeon, Varathron, Moonlight Sorcery, Cruciamentum, Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Asphodelus, Marduk, …And Oceans, and Cirith Ungol!
For the second day of Alcatraz 2023, our team picked out 13 bands we believe you shouldn’t miss out on with Schizophrenia, Crystal Viper, Brand of Sacrifice, Twilight Force, Gaerea, Predatory Void, Midnight, Tribulation, Belphegor, Biohazard, Godflesh, Exciter and Amorphis! Who are you especially looking forward to on the second day of the festival?
The first Tuska 2023 day is here! In a handful of hours the gates will open and 3 days of heavy music will begin! Besides the headliners and some big names, we’ve picked out about 10 bands and artists we believe you should give a shot while you’re at Tuska this weekend with Vended, Kouta, Foreseen and Miseria Ultima today, A.A. Williams, Orbit Culture, Dirt and Nakkeknækker tomorrow, and Vermilia and URNE on Sunday!
Our editor-in-chief Vaim’s selection of albums of the year has turned into an eclectic mix that brings both unbridled chaos and extremes while maintaining a level of catchy with releases from bands like Blackbraid, Cabal, Zeal & Ardor, Machine Head, Wolfheart, Wiegedood, Doodseskader, Malevolence, Psychonaut and The Callous Daoboys!
As usual, Mazen’s top albums are a mix of death metal, black metal and a touch of doom metal, heralding everything that is underground and extreme with bands like Phobophilic, Autopsy, Stormruler, Watain, Shape of Despair, Ars Hmu, Sedimentum, Chaotian, Trolldom and Immolation!
2023 starts off with quite the bang with new releases from VV, Anti-Flag, Imperium Dekadenz, Turmion Kätilöt, Katatonia, Kiberspassk, …and Oceans, Obituary, Suasion, Dropout Kings and Vėlių Namai!
Venture once more into Albion’s rich past on Winterfylleth’s ninth studio album, ‘The Unyielding Season’, out via Napalm Records.
Old Sorcery’s newest album “The Outsider” presents an ambient dungeon synth perfection while exuding atmospheric black metal majesty. The musical arrangements are unlike anything you have heard in past studio albums. Out since January 30th, via Avantgarde Music.
The Scottish Gaelic project Fuath, on the third studio album “III”, offers an appealing composition of atmospheric black metal that combines chilling ambiance. Out since January 2nd through Northern Silence Productions.
On seventh opus “Tempelschlaf”, The Ruins of Beverast blends multiple musical inspirations from ambiance to haunting dark atmospheres of blackened doom. Alexander von Meilenwald demonstrates versatility as a songwriter, the result is a more focused album. Out via Ván Records since January 9th.
Blut Aus Nord’s sixteenth studio album ““Ethereal Horizons” takes the listener to outer-space realms. The French stalwarts demonstrate their skills in writing catchy songs that combine dark and futuristic elements. Out via Debemur Morti Productions next Friday November 28th.
Tolkien-inspired black metal outfit One of Nine returns with their sophomore release, “Dawn of Iron Shadow”, offering vast musical dimensions full of dark, grim, and somber moments. The fantasy flair merges the gateways of epic, glorious atmosphere that evoke bands like Summoning. Out via Profound Lore Records since last Friday, October 31st.
Put your raincoats on as Krigsgrav’s eighth studio album ’Stormcaller’ is predicting some very heavy blackened thunderstorms. Pouring down on you via Willowtip Records since last Friday!
Gygath is yet another side project band formed by Sortilege and Swartadauþuz. The debut full-length album ‘Ablaze above the Forest’ stems from the 90s heritage of atmospheric and symphonic black metal. Out via Nightbround Records.
The symphonic and menacing black metal debut “The Cursed Oak”, by Alex Poole side project band, Kveldstimer invites you to wander through ancient woods under the moon, out via Bestial Rape Records!
The long-awaited album “Shadow Play” sees Drudkh embracing its melancholic atmospheres and delving into Pagan and raw black metal. Out now via Season of Mist!
