News Posts

Ukrainian collective Waidelotte is gearing up for the release of their debut album ‘Celestial Shrine’ via Debemur Morti Productions in some weeks by sharing the title track as a second taster!

German black metallers Naxen announces their upcoming new album ‘Descending Into A Deeper Darkness’ to be released in May via Vendetta Records!

Finnish black metal collective Night Shall Drape Us hail ‘The Queen of the Red Streams’ in their new single and video, a second offering from the upcoming debut album ‘Lunatic Choir’, set for release in April via Season of Mist!

Chilean extreme metal beasts Ater are set to unleash their volatile new album ‘Somber’ via Torque Records in April and shared a cataclysmic new single with ‘Ignis Immortalis’!

Spanish black metal outfit Atrexial unleashed the first single ‘Blackfire Liturgy’ from their upcoming album ‘The Serpent Abomination’, set for release later this month via Non Serviam Records!

Dark folk/blackgaze outfit Suldusk celebrated the release of their new album ‘Anthesis’ on Napalm Records with the new single and music video ‘Mythical Creatures’!

The by Amorphis’ bassist Olli-Pekka newly formed outfit Octoploid is set to release their debut album ‘Beyond The Aeons’ in July via Reigning Phoenix Music! Pre-save their upcoming single set for release in April now!

Dutch black metal duo Magistraal set the release date for their independent debut EP ‘Fantoom van de Deemsterburcht’ on April 16th. A first track will premiere on April 2nd.

Epic shamanic black metallers Darkestrah revealed the title track of their upcoming album ‘Nomad’, set for release via Osmose Productions on March 29th!

Album Reviews

Sweden’s Necrophobic returns with a staggering new album, “In Twilight Grey”. The songs here sound heavier, rawer, and more sinister, making them deliver one of their best studio albums of their career. Out via Century Media Records since last Friday!

Vltimas’ second full length album “Epic” deliver plenty of head-banging moments for fans of Morbid Angel, Mayhem, and Cryptopsy. This is a coherent record that showcases the chemistry between these veterans and takes what they already did expertly on their debut to a whole new level. Out since today via Season of Mist!

French black metal outfit Merrimack returns with its sixth album “Of Grace and Gravity” managed to capture atmosphere, aggression, and memorable riffs. Out on Season of Mist Underground Activists since March 8th.

Norway’s progressive Viking folk black metal quintet Borknagar returns with the stunning new album “Fall”. The 12th studio album captures the essence of Borknagar where the band continues its legacy, released last Friday via Century Media.

The fifth installment “Dismal Spells Part II: The Night Circus” from the project Druadan Forest invites us to traverse through this sonic creation of V-Khaoz’ visual worlds, released on February 23rd via Werewolf Records.

The Swiss atmospheric black metal/ambient act DarkSpace offer an interesting variation on the new album “Dark Space -II”. DarkSpace opted to a highly imaginative listening session, out via Season of Mist on February 16th.

The 9th studio album “Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence” of the Columbian black metal formation Inquisition offers everything the band has stood for, out since January 26th via Agonia Records.

The debut full-length album of Secrets, “Towards the Nightside”, captures the Norwegian black metal majesty in an unforgettable performance, the album comes highly recommended for fans of Emperor, Odium, and Limbonic Art. It is a fantastic album finely crafted by members of Gardsghastr, Chaos Moon and Ars Hmu, and offers a masterpiece of symphonic black metal, out now on Amor Fati Productions since January 23rd.

Hulder on its second full length album “Verses In Oath” presents an enthralling mixture of pagan/folk black metal with many unforgettable epic moments, out via 20 Buck Spin today, February 9th.

French black/death metal band Necrowretch returns with another blasphemous album. Their fifth album “Swords of Dajjal” is fast and hellish and arguably the band’s best offering to date, out since last Friday via Season of Mist.

Photo Reports

Cradle of Filth came by for a couple of sold out shows in Finland on their massive Europe tour with Wednesday 13 and Sick N’ Beautiful and we caught this spectacle at Tampere’s Pakkahuone a couple of weeks back!

The year got off with a good start at our very own Asgaard venue with killer performances by Gravekvlt, Bokkerijders and Traquenard! A night in collaboration with Return Bookings!

Abbath and company came to Munich to show how black metal is done at the highest level. In their luggage came the American Toxic Holocaust and the Scottish Hellripper, who opened the night like two big explosions.

Besides starting the new year properly looking to the future, this month we’re also still looking back at all the awesomeness that 2023 brought us. One of those awsome things was the already 3rd edition of the by Bloodred Hourglass curated festival Black Box Mikkeli. They were able to bring a killer line-up again on the 2nd day of their event with besides a fantastic show by themselves, Insomnium, Gaerea, Balance Breach, I Am Your God and Lastout!

The second night of John Smith Rock Frozen 2023 was pretty epic with some of the best of the Finnish scene with Red Eleven, Kiuas, Finntroll, Turmion Kätilöt and headliners Amorphis! Throw on top of that the Swedish up-and-comers of Orbit Culture, and you know it was good!

Pictures of the visual spectacle that was Witch Club Satan in Helsinki.

The Polish black metal institution Batushka brought their unholy sermon to the halls of Helsinki’s Vanha Ylioppilastalo and brought with them the Russian pagans of Arkona, the pretty epic Canadian Aeternam and Latvian vikings of Varang Nord!

Hexvessel turned, with the support of Unfyros, Kuudes Linja in Helsinki into a magically doomy place filled with smoke, and darkness.

The last day of a long and exhausting weekend of great music and atmosphere with some of the most extreme music around on the Swamp Stage from Serpents Oath, Archspire, Kataklysm and Bloodbath!