News Posts

Finnish horror blues punks Black Totem are back to haunt your lives with their upcoming third album ‘III: Sacrifice Tonite’, to be released via Svart Records in June, and unleashed the title track upon this world!

Brume shared the new sludgy melancholic, doom-dripping track ‘How Rude’, another single from their upcoming album ‘Marten’, set for release in May via Magnetic Eye Records!

Indigenous death/doom metal act Tzompantli to release their second LP ‘Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force’ via 20 Buck Spin in May and unleashed a first track with ‘Tlayohualli’!

Heavy Temple dropped a respectfully tasty nod towards doom giants Candlemass with their catchy new single ‘House of Warship’, another track from their upcoming album ‘Garden of Heathens’, set for release in April via Magnetic Eye Records!

Insect Ark announced their new album ‘Raw Blood Singing’ to be released in June via Debemur Morti Productions and shared a first song with ‘Youth Body Swayed’!

Wolfheart signed with Reigning Phoenix Music, joining an excellent roster of amazing artists and bands, embarking on a new chapter in their career!

British death/doom legends My Dying Bride shared the new single & video ‘The 2nd Of Three Bells’, another track from their upcoming 15th studio album ‘A Mortal Binding’, set for release in April via Nuclear Blast!

Italian psychedelic doom trio Ufomammut announced their new album ‘Hidden’ to be released in May via Neurot Recordings and Supernatural Cat Records and share the animated video for the single ‘Leeched’!

Finland’s gothic/doom shapeshifters Hanging Garden shared the first single from their upcoming EP ‘Citylight Seassons’, set for release in April via Agonia Records. Watch the video that comes along with the new rendition of ‘The Fireside’ now!

Lists

In Helsinki and still looking for something to do this weekend? Don’t hesitate and start your festival season early by going to Desert Hel 2024 that has a stellar line-up with Finnish bands Heezer, Orbiter, Polymoon, Kairon; IRSE!, Dome Runner, Skyjoggers, Mansion and Maan Tomu and excellent visitors from abroad with Italian doom rockers on the rise Messa and stoner rock legends Truckfighters! If that doesn’t convince you enough, be sure to read more details on why we think you should go!

Samoht was clearly somewhat inspired by dark Americana and country inspired music looking at his albums of the year 2023 list featuring artists like Dorthia Cottrell, Osi and the Jupiter, Wayfarer and The Coffinshakers, but also massive albums by bands like Frozen Soul, Serpent’s Oath, SLOW, OAK, Smoulder and Bell Witch!

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!

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 with Helsinki Techfest and Kaamos Metal Cruise already this weekend, HKI SKEPU FEST V, Lost In Music, Steelchaos, Hellsinki Industrial Festival 2023, Fall Fest 2023, Black Box Mikkeli, Melancholy Mass Festival 2023 and Unholy Winter Fest!

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!

February 2022 is yet again brimming with great releases, here’s a small selection of our most anticipated ones!

Album Reviews

Japanese death/doom four-piece Coffins return with their most anticipated album “Sinister Oath”, released on March 29th via Relapse Records, and deliver a dark and oppressive piece, highly recommended for fans of Autopsy, Asphyx, and Hooded Menace!

20 Buck Spin brings forth the full-length album “Chytridiomycosis Relinquished” of the Est Yorkshire death doom quintet Slimelord. The seven epic songs reach the peaks of innovative composition defining the mysteriousness of the music, out since last Friday!

Kings of cavernous death doom Spectral Voice return with one of the year’s most monolithic albums. “Sparagmos” borders into the spectral realms and portrays the band’s unique take in a more crushing and dismal manner, released via Dark Descent Records on February 9th.

Montréal-based death metal band Phobocosm shows great intellect in blending the modern dissonance with cavernous death doom style. The third album “Foreordained” was released via Dark Descent Records yesterday, December 8th.

20 Buck Spin presents the latest split album “Starpath”, unfolding the blissful serene and grim nature of Dream Unending and Worm in a special release, integrating the light side of yin and the dark side of yang in a beautiful symmetry. Out on November 24th.

After embedding their sound in the realms of blackened death/doom, U.K.’s quartet Strigoi returns with a short EP “Bathed in A Black Sun”, presenting fans with exclusive and unreleased tracks out via Season of Mist.

Sorcerer returns with an epic dark album on its fourth installment “Reign of the Reaper” and brings an absolutely great slab of late 80s and early 90s heavy metal out since yesterday via Metal Blade Records.

U.S. heavy/doom metal veterans Cirith Ungol return with their sixth epic studio album “Dark Parade”, presenting eight thundering hymns of glorious 80s heavy metal, out on October 20th via Metal Blade Records.

On their full-length debut album “Mass Grave Horizon” Portland, Oregan quartet Excarnated Entity delivers am oppressive slab of crushing death/doom metal. The album was released on September 8th, via Nuclear Winter Records.

From Albion’s shores hails ‘The Devil and his Wicked Ways’, the debut album from Roots of the Old Oak’, treating you to some undistilled death doom straight from the nineties. Out on September 15 via Hammerheart Records.

Gig Reports

With Turmion Kätilöt you always get an amazing disko metal party and with supporting acts Japanese black metal outfit Sigh and the Finnish melancholics of Marianas Rest we got quite the diverse musical evening at Pakkahuone in Tampere, Finland to start a long Easter weekend! An event organized by Nem Agency.

Gig report of Turmion Kätilöt with Sigh and Marianas Rest in Pakkahuone on March 28th 2024 in Tampere (Finland), organized by Nem Agency.

Gig report of Turmion Kätilöt with Sigh and Marianas Rest in Pakkahuone on March 28th 2024 in Tampere (Finland), organized by Nem Agency.

Friday the thirteenth might not be the ideal time to go sailing the seven seas, but nevertheless we cried ahoy and steered our schooner towards the shores of Antwerp to meet up with Captain Ahab and their local mateys of Juneau at the Kavka Oudaan.

At the end of February, Insomnium released their new album ‘Anno 1696’ and celebrated in style with 2 completely sold out shows at the legendary Helsinki rock club Tavastia, with support from the new doom collective The Abbey!

The co-headline tour of Dark Tranquillity and Ensiferum made a stop in Helsinki with support from Marianas Rest and Gwendydd and packed Vanha Ylioppilastalo to the brim for a night of pure and wholesome energy to lift our spirits!

A welcome reunion with Bloodred Hourglass, MyGrain, Marianas Rest and Balance Breach for the top of the Finnish up-and-coming scene!

Darken The Moon XII

We’re back, baby! Our first proper show at Asgaard without restrictions brought a proper amount of doom with the festival Darken The Moon XII!

Crimson Sun and Red Moon Architect came together and played a streaming concert for the whole world to enjoy and show the talent that lives in Finland!

It’s been about a year since I last saw Children Of Bodom, perfect timing for another show by them!

Celebrating 20 years of Shade Empire with their “songs by request” Hatefeast show in Helsinki!

We crossed the Great Plains of the Old West in search of enlightenment, but instead ended up in orbit around Jupiter with a bunch of freaky Fins. No Peyote, just musical highs at Het Bos.