Norway’s Dimmu Bongir is new to me, but you can tell by their moniker, the Hordanes Land-based album cover, and prior album titles like Hvis pipen tar oss and Dark Medieval Hash, what scene and bands they are parodying, all based around marijuana of course.

Even though the Jaldaboath songs are listed second, I’ll start with them. I thought they had called it quits after The Further Adventures…, They teased a comeback with three singles in 2023: the pub questing “Alehorn Battalions” (of which I am a member, owning the namesake shirt), bouncy “Fayre Robin”, and the catchy “Ogre of Ogmore” (though I can’t place the song it is parodying). Those three songs are contained here, as well as a new song called “Beefeater” (a very English food chain as well as the Royal Guard you probably know).

They deliver what you’d expect from Jaldaboath;  ‘Hammering Heraldic Metal’, \’Crusader-core’, ‘Tumultuous Teutonic Templar Thrash’. Their words, not mine. Though the first three are lacking the usual UK TV/ kids show stuff as before, they are still catchy, folky jaunts with sing-along moments. The new song “Beefeater”, however, does return to the band’s very English roots and references, even the child’s hymn “He’s Got the Whole World in his hands”, and another kids’ playground song you’ll recognize. I hope it’s a sign that a new album is in the works.

Dimmu Bongir‘s songs are all new, and as they have on their two albums (i.e “Bongblåst”), are much more pot parody-based, with song titles like “Her Ghost in the Smoke” and “Inno a Marijuana”. Of course, they play a tinny, early 90s form of Symphonic black metal, and it’s OK.

Early, more raw Dimmu Borgir is the backbone of the style, but certainly Satyricon, early Emperor, and Cradle of Filth are in their crosshairs. The keyboards are suitably and possibly intentionally hokey, but as they werer back then, they work. Sound-wise, if you didn’t know they were a parody band, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were just a band paying homage. Which they, of course, could be as well.

“Her Ghost in the Smoke” actually has nice riffs and synths I enjoyed (and a parody Dani Filth screech), and the mid-paced “Alt mekk er svunnet hen” is actually a pretty cool little song as well, with clear early Dimmu influences that could have been on Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. “Inno A Marijuana,” of course, has a take on the classic Emperor song’s clean chorus as well as a guest spot from The Grand Master Jaldaboath delivering his special take on TheLord’s Prayer.

I’m just glad to see Jaldaboath ‘back’, though they never officially went away. The Dimmu Bongir material was a pleasant benefit, if even if just for the sound they are parodying, as the whole weed theme didn’t do it for me.

The band has always been a Wintersun/Ensiferum-worshipping entity, but now, with a distinct lean toward more Viking/Pagan themes and lyrics, rather than cosmic, mystical, or nature themes, the transformation is complete. Song titles like “Raise All Thy Horns”, “Mystic Tavern”, or the Swedish sung “I skogens djup” (in the depths of the forest).

I know, they have always been sort of folky/pagan-y on some of their songs, notably on The Winter Way, but the last album was called Cosmic Warfare. But here, the song structures, while still certainly absolutely bombastic as fuck, and still with some of the most rousing keyboards around, are even more…..folky? The album just feels and sounds more like Ensiferum than ever before – but on steroids.

Especially vocally, where there are more beerhall-y cleans, choirs and chants. Which was a pleasant change, as I felt they were getting darker and heavier on Inane Ducum, and new member, backing vocalist Spencer Budworth, is far less involved with his deeper bellows than on the EP.

What you have on Old Gods Awaken is a peppier, bouncier, and, dare I say, ‘happier’ Atavistia. Along with Wintersun and Ensiferum, they line up even more with some of their Canadian contemporaries like Blackguard and Nordheim. Just listen to “Seeker of Time” (which could be an Ensiferum or Turisas song), “To A New World”, or “Goddess of My Dreams”, both more restrained and controlled tracks.

It’s still epic as fuck, and again, the keyboards of founder Matt Sippola are just downright brilliant. And the band still delivers 300bpm bombastic madness with tracks like “Mystic Tavern”, “Riding the White Storm” or rollicking “I skogens djup”, which feels like Finntroll on crack.

The epic 11-minute (the album’s sole ‘long’ song) album ending title track has a Finnish-sung chorus and delivers all sorts of folky atmospheres, riffs, and vocals blended in with the band’s core blistering pace and delivery, and it ends another great Avatistia album perfectly.

But then nothing for 5 years, other than an instrumental digital-only EP and a single. But, as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. And now on newly formed German label, Vesperian, and again produced/mixed by Arioch from Secrets of the Moon, I’m happy to report that The Nocturnes of Iswylm is indeed worth the wait, as the band continues on thier D & D inspired journey, and this time gets even more adventurous and confident.

As with the debut album, the band is still locked into 90s symphonic black metal with the usual suspects like Dimmu Borgir, Arcturus, Old Man’s Child, Abigor, and Emperor (heck, even the back panel of the album mirrors Emperor’s Nightside) as the base, and certainly at times, the development of the songs here mirrors Emperor’s growth from Into the Nightside Eclipse to Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and IX Equilibrium, with shades of more progressive, controlled and adventurous song writing interplaying with the symphonic metal bombast.

Clear examples of this can be heard on “Saccharine Subjugation” and surprisingly restrained”Imperious Sanguine Eroticism”, where Otheyn Vermithrax delivers some Ihsahn-ish croons (which also appear on closer “The Ballad of a Fallen Star”).

But for the most part, the songs are classically inspired symphonic black metal, like “The Black Dragons of  Iswylm”, which has a pure mid-era Dimmu stomp or the Ancient – ish canter of “Echoes in the Vasts of Sequestration”. The more furious “Carnal Tapestries of Nailtorn Flesh” covers all the bases and inspirations, including a little thrashing Cradle of Filth, into the album’s most direct track.

And there may even be hints of power metal, just with harsh vocals – for example, the opener “The Taste of Immortal Blood”. That’s a power metal chorus right there.

As the rangy and varied 9 and a half minute closer “Ballad of a Fallen Star” wraps up the album, I’m left impressed, but I prefer the more classic keyboard style from the debut, and I’m still wishing the band would write those one or two genre or career-defining songs. All the songs are great, but they need that “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse”, or “Inno A Satana”, to cement their legacy a little more (I will say, “The Seer” from the last album is really close).

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait 5 years to get it on the all-important third album.

But with 2019’s Embrace of the Godless Aeon, Joe Stamps was brought in on vocals, and he delivered a true homage to original Hecate Enthroned co-founder, vocalist, and  former Cradle of Filth member, Jon Kennedy (RIP), with his high-pitched screams and bellows, and thusly, the band returned to the style that they started with, with stellar results

Now, with the second album with Stamps, would the band stay true to their style, or dabble back with thrash and death metal? Well, I’m happy to report that Hecate Enthroned are still back to the sound of the first two albums, and as I said in my review of Embrace the Godless Aeon, considering the line-up and style change with Cradle of Filth, these guys sound more like classic COF than COF does.

Driven by original members Nigel Dennan and Andy Milnes (guitars) and bassist Dylann Hughes, as well as long-time keyboardist Pete White, the classic, bombastic Hecate Enthroned sound is in full force again, and at times it’s brilliant. Of course, Stamps’ shrieks, as Kennedy’s were all those years ago, as well as Dani Filth’s, are an acquired taste, but the songwriting (and production) here is top-notch.

Starting with “Spirits Stir Within Our Ancestor’s Tombs”, which, around the two-minute mark, gets a truly classic moment going, and the album never lets up for its near-hour run time. Standouts include “Steed of the Still Water”, with its stern opening stomp, then another truly classic 90s Slaughter of Innocence/Dark Requiems moment at around the 3:45 mark, as well as the savagely majestic “A Gallery of Rotten Portraits”, where Stamp’s deeper bellows dominate the vocals, and the emotive chord progressions near the track’s climax are really well done.

Another killer track, “Deathless In A Dryad Glade”, might be the most ferocious song the band has delivered, and the bridge into a regal arch at 3;25 is pure, classic Hecate Enthroned gold. And closer “Into the Vale of Endless Snow” really shows off Pete White’s synths with regal, sweeping intensity and bombast.

Only the 6-minute “Pwca” loses my interest a bit as it’s sort of a mid-album interlude and largely acoustic/ instrumental spoken word. And the band still tends to linger on a song’s intro/outro for a little too long (i.e., “The Boreal Monastry”). Get the fuck to those killer riffs, man (which “Into the Vale of Endless Snow” absolutely does).

I’ll come out and say it, this is waaaay better than Dimmu Borgir‘s Grand Serpent Snoozing, which I have not listened to, since I wrote the review. Also, with other former Hecate Enthroned members delivering 2 fine, expectedly Hecate Enthroned-sounding albums since 2019 with Argesk, Hecate Enthroned needed to come back strong and deliver a killer album, and indeed they have.

Now, Shagrath and Silenoz have dealt with major members leaving throughout their career, from Hellhammer and Nick Barker to ICS Vortex and Mustis. Now, they responded with the loss of Mustis and Vortex with the pretty by the numbers In Sorte Diaboli in 2007, but the addition of Galder seemed to stabilize the band after he found his feet on Abrahadabra and Eonian.

So how would the addition of session players in drummer Daray (ex-Vader), bassist Victor Brandt (ex-Entombed, Firespawn), keyboardist Gerlioz (ex-The Kovenant), and guitarist Damage (Chrome Division) affect the chemistry, which, based on press I’ve seen, touts Shagraz and Silinoz, doing the core writing over the last few years and  ‘getting back to their creative roots’ (there are two songs with Norwegian titles, harkening back to the band’s early albums), etc, etc.

It’s a Dimmu Borgir album. Take that as you will, based on your response to #2 in the opening paragraph. 

Like most, I feel the band’s discography up to Death Kult Armageddon is un-fuck-with-able, but, like most (I think?), everything after that seems to be treading water. And what we have here is an album that lines right up with the band’s last three albums; It’s a safe, sometimes really good, unmistakably Dimmu Borgir album.

First off, unlike Abrahadabra, where the band tried to overcompensate for something with a 100-piece orchestra/choir, the band has noticeably reigned in the choirs and symphonics, a fact Silenoz has publicly stated. But Gerlioz still delivers plenty, and they do add some bombast appropriately as needed; it’s just not utterly drenched like prior efforts, even with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra helping out on three songs and a full choir used sparingly. Second, the band has returned to Fredrik Nordström, who produced two of the band’s classics in Death Kult Armageddon and  Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. It sounds fantastic.

Now, song-wise, it’s similar to recent past efforts where you have a few bangers like “Born Treacherous,” “Ritualist,” “A Jewel Traced Through Coal”, and “Gateways” from Abrahadabra. Or “Alpha Aeon Omega” and “Archaic Correspondence” from Eonian. But also, like those albums, there is quite a bit of rather dull filler.

The bangers, as they tend to, hit all the Dimmu sweet spots with theatrical grandeur and veteran Norwegian black metal composition that just works; the blistering true opener “Ascent”,  the killer Abbath/ Immortal-ish stomp of “Ulvgjeld & blodsodel”, grandiose mid-paced “Repository of Divine Transmutation”, the almost pure/simple Norwegian black metal riffs of “The Exonerated” and “Recognizant”, and surprisingly melodic “Slik minnes en alkymist”. All quality Dimmu songs, but as with the last three efforts, of course, nothing is as classic/iconic as say “Mourning Palace” (still one of my top favorite songs in the genre of all time), “Kings of the Carnival Creation”, “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse”, etc, but what is, with that classic lineup?

But there are also completely forgettable, by-the-numbers tracks like “As Seen in the Unseen”, “The Qryptfarer”, “Phantom of the Nemesis”, “At the Precipice of Convergence”, “Shadows of a Thousand Perceptions”, or the wasted eight minutes for intro and outro “Trident” and “Gjǫll”. Also, the absence of an ICS Vortex, Snowy Shaw, or even an Agnete Kjølsrud means Shagrath’s mystical musings are all there is vocally. 

And because the album ends with the boring “Shadows of a Thousand Perceptions” and then “Gjǫll”, the album ends with a bit of a forgetful whimper, which tends to be where I lean on the album ultimately as a whole when I take it all in. It’s just there with the last 3 albums as Dimmu albums I don’t mind, but simply don’t come back to, unlike the band’s early efforts.

The latest of their offerings that has caught my ear is Gladium Regis (King’s Sword), the solo project of ‘Svafnir’, formerly of Draugr. The bio tells me he is with a ‘Dungeon synth’ artist but only had an unreleased demo under the Svafnir moniker, and that some of his Dungeon Synth ideas made it to Draugr material.

Quest is his second album, and it’s the first effort where he has fully introduced black metal to his dungeon synth sound, as 2020s Kingdom was a pure Dungeon Synth affair, and boy does it pay off.

As you can tell from the moniker, cover, and song titles (the English ones) like “Quest”, Flight of the Hippogriff”, and “The Last True Night in a Broken Land”, this is medieval themed, and it’s melodic black metal with some gorgeous dungeon synth layering and interludes. It’s not full-on bombastic symphonic black metal, but think of a ‘happier’ Summoning as more of a baseline, melded with medieval black metal acts like Véhémence, Darkenhold, Riverflame, Obsequiae, Sühnopfer, Abduction, Hanternoz, and Passéisme- all with a heavy sparkling, flutey, dungeon synth presence.

This is triumphant, melodic, and at times truly a pleasant listen. The dungeon-synth moments/interludes and keyboards have a chamber-music-ish, calming presence, and the vocals are a mix of harsh shrieks and some sort of Garm/Vintersorg-ish clean croons.

And Svafnir has songwriting chops, as almost every song has some sort of cool moment, riff, or bridge that made me smile. Whether it is the delightful gallop that ends “La Audaci imprese io canto”, the uplifting main riff and vocals of “Durindana” and “Acriter Pugno!”, the haunty jaunt of “Crux Inversa Intra Lunam”, the somber sway of “The Last Knight in a Broken land”, or the epic title track. It’s all really well done.

And even if he tends to repeat /lock into a riff a lot (a la Summoning, I guess), they are enjoyable enough, so it’s not an issue. And ultimately, I am really enjoying Quest to the point that it’s got a good shot of making my year-end list.

Now, I did listen to Echoes of Primordial Gnosis to be able to compare Land of Darkness, Echoes, and this album, and it appears on Echoes, Soulreaper went in a very slight tangent, while still certainly 90s black metal, it was a bit warmer, and a little more experimental and progressive- just barely.

But on Unveiled Nightsky, as if you couldn’t tell from the album title, song titles like “Born of Winter’s Breath”,  and “Omen of the Cosmic Order”,  as well as the return to the blue Emperor hues of the artwork from Land of Darkness and 2019s Realm of the Bleeding Shadows, Unveiled Nightsky is a return to the more frosty, cosmic style of 90s black metal they have perfected on prior efforts.

The recipe is simple and clear on the influences: Emperor, Dissection, Gates of Ishtar, Unanimated, Sacramentum, Catamenia, etc. Melodic, frosty tremolo-picked riffs with howled vocals and a slight layer of keyboards, though certainly not full-on symphonic black metal.

The Dissection and maybe Dark Funeral (lite) element is particularly strong here, as heard on the second track “Omen of the Cosmic Order”, but all the songs certainly have plenty of hooky, melodic riffs. Especially “Nurtured by the Night”, “Unveiled Nightsky”, “Descent into Hades’ Embrace”, and more restrained, somber “Echoes of a Fallen Crown”. Closer “Drifting into the Depths of Oblivion” ends the album with a gorgeous violin/cello instrumental, an element I’d like to hear more of injected fully into other songs.

But at 30 minutes (28 minutes minus the outro), this feels a little like a long EP, rather than a fully fleshed-out album, and many of the songs just seem to end rather than finish with any sort of climax or closure. Still, what riffs there are are still really good, and Soulreaper has absolutely grasped the genre by the horns, and while very, very productive, I’d like to see him focus a little more on quality, not quantity, as there is something pretty special lurking here.

Hailing from Australia (not Norway like I originally thought) and formed in 2013, they have one other album under their belt called The Evil of Man that came out in 2019… that’s been a long minute ago, and I’ll go back and check it out later. Still, for now, I have The Great Elven War to talk about.

Constant reader! What an album this is! With a runtime of 1:09:49 it’s a big bite to chew, but it’s so epic that it doesn’t matter. There’s so much, and I mean multiple fucking elements to the songs that each one is an emotional roller-coaster. This is what Atmospheric Black Metal sounds like when you mix in the fiction of Tolkien and Martin (yes, I know that Summoning has made a career out of it. I am well aware of it, thank you very much).

First track “The Hunting Grounds” is a straight-up whip cracker. It’s pretty much right away that the Dimmu Borgir influences show up, and if I didn’t mention the vocals echoing Shagrath I’d be a shitty critic. It’s a blistering song that opens The Great Elven War with brutal intensity.

“Descendants of the Pale Moon” is where the Cradle of Filth-ish melodies creep in. There’s a cool Gehenna moment midway that elevates the track to this ridiculous level. The riffs, though… all Cradle of Filth-ish. Think of it like Cradle of Borgir or Dimmu Filth, what the fuck ever. I need to mention the keyboards at the beginning of the track and how it just brings you into its grasp; it’s ethereal and enrapturing. It’s even a tad bit Borknagar if you listen for the Quintessence moment at the 3:17 point.

“The Beast of Beauclair” is one of my favorite tracks. It’s completely unrelenting and just a continuous body blow from the pounding drums. The 2:30 point sees a bit of a martial pacing that reminds me a bit of Dark Requiems… and Unsilent Massacre by Hecate Enthroned. When the 5:30 mark hits, it becomes a gloomy, emotionally charged segue into a hypnotic battle hymn.

“Servants of Sauron” has a For All Tid vibe, and that’s not unwelcome at all. There are these badass flourishes around the 3-3:38 point that are diabolically well done.

This is a phenomenal album, the production is stellar, and the artwork is fucking sick. What more can I do to convince you to go out and brave the frigid cold so that you can own this nasty bastard?

“The North Remembers” starts with some light keyboards before the jogging drums get going; it’s a colorful centerpiece for The Great Elven War and runs headlong into “Horns of the Buffira.” What is a Buffira? I have no fucking idea, but the song fucking rips along with suitable bombastic delivery, and that’s all I need to know.

“The Great Elven War” the song is fucking epic. I’ve recently gotten back into playing Skyrim, and this album is the best soundtrack for the game that I have found. There are tempo changes galore, and as it ends, “Wrath of the High Heavens” takes its place to finish you off… The end is utterly mesmerizing, and this is another album that I just listened to on repeat and am still digging it.

Apparently, Elves are horrible bastards. At any rate, The Great Elven War is a blistering sophomore effort, and that’s all you need to know. You should get the album and find out for yourself, like now. You’re already on your phone…

For the hordes that love Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child, and Cradle of Filth, you know who you are. The fog-kissed mountains are calling you!

Formed by members of some acts I have not heard of like Mortal Filth, Wartroll amd Horrorborn, the band appears to be the brainchild of Valira Pietrangelo, as she does the vocals, lyrics, guitars, and piano/keyboards. She is joined by Ron Graves on Bass and Nick Brown on drums.

I don’t know what her other projects sound like, but Vesseles has some clear influences from the likes of early/mid Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Agathodaimon, Ancient, and Dismal Euphony. That’s to say, very theatrical, almost gothic, symphonic black metal from the 90s, and they do it quite well.

They make no bones about originality, preferring to lean pretty hard into the genre’s tropes, especially the excellent and heavily present piano work from Pietrangelo (i.e., start of “Home”, “Perpetual Chasm of Black Mirrors”), which is front and center throughout. The production is thick and glossy, there are a few decent clean vocals, and there’s the requisite atmospheric piano interlude (“They Wither”)- it’s all here in dramatic, vampyric, costumed glory.

The album takes a couple of tracks to get going, but around “The Beneath” and the title track, the album really takes off with some strong songwriting to back all the symphonic, grandiose bombast and theatre. Tracks like “Until They Are Dust”, “Scriptures Etched Into the Mind’s Pillars”, and the excellent, more restrained closer “This is Not Home” all could have come from any of the bands above from the late 90s and early 2000s.

This, along with Saille’s upcoming Forebode,  and upcoming Ruins of Faith and  Nazghor releases, looks to make sure 2026 continues where 2025 left off with some excellent symphonic black metal.

With a lineup that features former and current folks from the likes of Nightrage, Night Crowned, Avsmak, Dark Funeral, and Torchbearer, it’s no surprise that this is high-quality stuff, and these guys can shit this type of music out in their sleep. The nine songs all deliver razor-sharp, tightly wound, fierce, yet melodic black/death metal, featuring some keyboards, gruffer vocals, and a crystal-clear production.

From opener “As Humanity Falls” to closer “Luciferian”, there isn’t a weak song on the album, in particular “Regnum in Tenebris” and “Människan till kol”. And like its predecessor, some female vocals pop up here and there to make tracks like “All Shall Become None” and  “Ascend into Ruin” even better.

A fine follow-up to the debut and a veteran act that should truly take off when they release album number 3.

Now, I have not heard 2021’s Last Contact, but it appears co-founder Christophor Grimes’ time in fellow Chicagoan war metalers Blood Of the Wolf since 2018 has rubbed off, as Withering Soul is much more abrasive and intense than I recall.

Still largely black metal and certainly strains of symphonic black metal are there, with keyboards still scattered generously around the material, but this is less Dimmu Borgir-ish than the first two albums, and leans a little harder into the black/death Blood of the Wolf  (i.e. “The Monolith Embodied”, “Gallery of the End”) sound mixed with Grime’s early Veneficum (one of the USA’s early entries into symphonic black metal) days.

It results in an excellent album from the tail end of 2025, with more than a few highlights or standouts, especially when the band gets a little more aggressive as heard on “Attrition Horizon”, searingly melodic personal favorites “Grievance Eludes the Light” and “Gallery of the End”, or the 7-minute “Trajectory”.

The album ends on a nice, beefier, more militant number in “Burden of the Valiant”, and the album has been a nice reminder of a band I had forgotten about, but is certainly back on my radar again now.

A few years ago, I blindly grabbed Haimad’s EP 2017 The Return at a random sale at a distro somewhere. I really enjoyed it, and researched the band to find that this Swedish act has actually been around since 1995, with a demo and three EPs in the 90s, before an extended break where then sole member, Azradan (ex-Impious), reformed the band, adding keyboardist Szhethil.

So, despite the 30-year existence, this is the band’s debut album, and it follows the 90s melodic /symphonic black metal hues to a ‘T’, as if the material was stuck in a time capsule since 1995-1998 and is just now being unearthed.

The Scandinavian influence of the early mid-’90s scene is deeply imprinted here; Dissection, early Arturus, Emperor, early Dimmu, Abigor, Limbonic Art, Old Man’s Child, the list goes on.

The keyboards of Szhethil have that starry, cosmic, yet slightly classical and majestic feel, and the overall sound has that cold, slightly tinny, shrill, almost bassless tone that recalls the genre’s early days to a ‘T’- think In The Nightside Eclipse.

That’s all you really need to know, really. Though the album takes a couple of songs to really warm up, as it’s not until ” Where Serpents Wait in Withering Ruins” that my ears really perk up, but then, tracks like the moodier “Naur”, the fiercely frosty “Voice of the Dread Abomination”, or the epic almost 8-minute standout, “Of Smokeless Fire and Smouldering Ash”, just scratch that 90s melodic/symphonic black metal itch perfectly.

I would say these guys are similar to other recent nostalgic bands that pay homage to the style, like Northwind Wolves, Winter Eternal, Warmoon lord, etc, but these guys were actually around for the genre’s birth, and it certainly shows on this long, looooong-awaited debut album.

The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy is their 4^th full-length after a slew of demos from 2019-2020, and the release of their first full-length Ecliptical Romanticism in 2020. I’m not going into this completely blind since I saw them live prior to getting the promo. Still, I’ve become an Insta-fan (just add blood), and I love The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy.

“The Fires of Seduction” serves as the introduction before the trippy as fuck “Forest of Hallucinations”. It’s unrelenting delivery hits from the get-go with some Dissection feels circa The Somberlain. It’s not a short song either, clocking in at 9:12. But it doesn’t feel like forever because Lamp of Murmuur keep shit interesting throughout, not just this track, the whole album is full of surprises.

“Hategate (The Dream-Master’s Realm)” is a blistering 2^nd wave Black Metal attack. A bit Watain-ish and that’s al-fucking-right with me. Lamp of Murmuur fuck with tempos from deathly gloom to howling at the blackened moon. These riffs are cold as graveyard dirt, cold and heavy.

“Reincarnation of a Witch” pulses with the heartbeat of the night. This is a crushing and straightforward blasterpiece. No frills Black Metal, and that’s really what we’re talking about here. There’s this cool Diabolical Masquerade centerpiece with swirling guitars and keyboards, and then boom, those remorseless riffs come pounding back over the thrashing drums. It segues into “Angelic Vortex”, a quiet respite from the unholy beating you just received… but it’s not over yet.

I love mid-paced Black Metal as much as the next guy, and “The Dreaming Prince in Ectasy Part I – Moondance” delivers that right off the bat, but then it speeds up before the main riff comes rushing back in and they go full on Fields of the Nephilim for the solo bit, but then at the 5:42 point it mellows for like, one minute and it’s back to the blasts till tracks end.

“The Dreaming Prince In Ectasy Part II – Twilight Orgasm” begins in truly epic fashion, big assed riffs against the backdrop of haunting keyboards. It sits like a coiled serpent from 2:43-3:21 when it comes on with this swaggering, mid-paced burner, it’s one of my favorite tracks on The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy. “The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy Part III – The Fall” is the end of that little trilogy, I guess that’s what you’d call it. It’s unrelenting, like being stabbed to death by a million tiny knives as the staccato riffing and artillery shell drums take over. At the 4:49 point, there’s some massive gang vocals and some killer blasting.

“A Brute Angel’s Sorrow” sees them slow down considerably; it’s another Dark Wave track with some gorgeous tapestries hung in the keyboard’s notes. This is such a somber pace, and it closes the album beautifully.

As I said earlier, seeing Lamp of Murmuur live made me an insta-fan. The energy that they have on stage translates to the album perfectly and makes for an attention-grabber from start to finish. The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy is a fucking powerhouse Black Metal album. It has a massive production that makes everything crisp and concise.

At the end of the day, I wholeheartedly recommend this album. If you like Watain, Dissection, and the 2^nd wave of Black Metal, you’ll eat this one up. Getting it will increase your blood flow and get your heart racing.

Add the third album from the Netherlands’ one-man (J.M.K.P) act, The Gloomy Radiance of the Sun. This Dutch act is new to me, but I’m intrigued by their more chaotic, yet still old school take on Symphonic Black metal that culls a little from Obtained Enslavement and early Emperor, but also from slightly more out there, chaotic, discordant bands in the genre like Ebonylake, Caedeous, or Order of Riven Cathedrals.

Now, admittedly, the album’s 35-ish minute run time is essentially the same feral, but spacy, cosmic pace and gait from start to finish, and the drums are programmed. But there is something about the keyboards that comes across like the titular character from The Phantom of the Opera playing two church organs at once while on bath salts that is clicking with me, even if they are also mostly the same gait and pace throughout.

From opener “Where Serpents Slither Through Endless Night” to closer “To Surrender to the Eternal”, the album just goes pretty full throttle. And while none of the tracks really jump out or change the momentum, and also many of the tracks end suddenly like J., M.K.P. couldn’t figure out where to take the song, it all sort of somehow hits too. Especially on headphones, where the synths sort of overwhelm you.

But still, I did enjoy late album tracks like “The Fallen Light”, “Ruins of a Thousand Sunless Aeons” (which adds some dramatic choirs), and “To Surrender to the Eternal”, as they do inject just a smidgeon of pacing amid the cacophony, that make this a rather unique entry into the years standout releases in the genre.

Hexenbrand 1486 sees the band once again flexing their Symphonic Black Metal muscles. This is album eleven for these unholy Germans, and this is really feeling like it could be my favorite release.

From the opening track “Luciferian” with its old school horror samples that give way to this slick Black Metal beat, and then tearing into some savage, blistering blast beats. It’s the perfect way to kick off this barbaric album. It’s followed hot on the Devil’s heels by “The Scarlet Queen of Harlots” and this is the point where they go down a Cradle of Filth-ish rabbit hole, courtesy of guest vocalists Sarah Jezebel Deva (ex-Cradle of Filth, The Kovenant) and Karo Hafke (Umbra Et Imago, Giants Causeway).

But it’s not all Cradle of Filth all the time, as “Boogeyman” comes ripping in with striding blasts right into some insane time changes that keep things interesting throughout this raging track. “In The Sign Of The Goat” is more of a mid-paced Black Metal monster with some captivating female vocals in the chorus that sort of reminds me of Lord Belial and their Enter the Moonlight Gate album. The keyboards battle with the guitars for dominance, and it’s just fucking awesome. There is blasting, but it’s sparse on this song.

“Ghost Of Whitechapel” gets your head moving right from the get-go. It’s one of those haunting tracks that make Symphonic Black Metal such a great sub-genre. I will admit right here and now that Hexenbrand 1486 already has a spot on my end-of-the-year list (they just don’t know it yet).

“Institoris (Heinrich Kramer)” is the creeping mid-album point for 1:23 seconds and then “The Bible of Witch Chase” takes off on demons wings and those gorgeous female vocals are all over it, adding some emotion to counter Beelzebub’s harsh, yet incredibly understandable rasp, his bile filled delivery leads the way through Hexenbrand 1486 alongside his longtime friend and bandmate, A. Blackwar.

“Blutschande Unzucht Sodomie” is my favorite track simply for what they do mid-track, and that is about a minute and a half of creepy as fuck Electronica before shredding with flurries of blast beats. Hexenbrand 1486 also contains the band’s 100^th song, “Dance On The Wings Of Black Magic,” a song where Lord Belial meets Cradle of Filth in a bar and a brutal slap fight breaks out. It’s incredibly brutal with some Death Metal growls thrown in for impact. “Zeugnis Der Verachtung (Outro)” closes things up with a black bow, and then the album starts over and grabs you by the throat again.

Hexenbrand 1486 is a symphonic Black Metal fan’s wet dream, and if you love the bands I’ve already mentioned, then you should automatically know that you need this album in your life.

And as I stated in my review of their excellent 2020 debut, Realm of Eternal Night, they make no bones about their influence and sound, being a very, very Hecate Enthroned-sounding band, down to the very high-pitched screams and bellows of vocalist Matt IH. But that makes them no less enjoyable, and Moonlight Pyromancy is really, really enjoyable.

There’s been a change at guitarist and bassist from the debut, but the band is still clearly Ben, Matt, and Leth’s (keyboards) show, and the material on Moonlight Pyromacy is even catchier, epic, and downright addictive. It’s arguably one of the most catchy, and dare I say ‘fun’ (despite its usual black metal tropes and themes) symphonic black metal albums I’ve heard in a long time.

The catchy/memorability factor has been upped from the already catchy debut. I mean, some of the riffs here are just downright fucking earworms; The clean vocals in opener “Servant of Fire”, with its classic Hecate stomp and gait, the main riff and absolutely gorgeous synth/choral bridge in the title track (one of my favorite tracks in the genre of the year), the clean vocal segue in “Tempest”, the alluring sway of “Black Castle Waltz”, the nifty chord progression that ends “Wreathing Serpent”. It’s all fantastic.

As if to further cement the Hecate influence, Dan Seddon, who supplied the banshee screams for Hecate Enthroned’s Kings Of Chaos and Redimus albums, appears for some guest vocals on a bonus second version of “Black Castle Waltz” to close out this killer album that will possibly make an appearance on my year-end list

Not a bad thing, but the band’s style of chuggy, sometimes Bolt Thrower-y death metal has all but gone, in favor of full-on symphonic black metal. Not kidding. Costumes and all.

And they actually pulled the shift off very well, with a sound that now compares to the likes of recent bands like Argesk– so leaning a little into the Hecate Enthroned, early Cradle of Filth sound. And this is immediately prevalent on the vocals of ‘Silence’, who has adopted a hawkish shriek akin to Dani Filth and Jon Kennedy (RIP).

He uses a deeper, gruffer bellow here and there (i.e, “The Devil’s Verdict”, “Nailed and Forgotten”), as Kennedy did with Hecate, but when you throw in the full-on keyboards, tremelo-picked riffs, and more blasphemous/anti-religious black metal themes rather than death metal ones, they are a completely different-sounding band. “Valak Regnat” is the only track that seems to have some death metal remnants, as far as the bare-bones riffage, but even then, it’s layered with synths.

But I’m still digging it, as they knock out some bangers such as “Gods Falling Kingdom”, “Lucifer’s Dawn”, “Death Hunts Us All”, ” Monument Without Fears”, and even a cover of members’ former band Atrium Noctis, “In Memoriam Moriendi” to end the solid album on a moodier note.

But if you want something that truly and authentically imbues the 90s nostalgic spirit and sound of Emperor, Gehenna, Ancient, Abigor, Old Man’s Child, old Dimmu Borgir, Obtained Enslavement, and others, the debut from anonymous new act Achathras is the one for you.

Supposedly involving members of the original ’90s scene, Achathras, much like modern bands like Pestilent Hex, Warmoon Lord, Moonlight Sorcery, The Mist From the Mountains, and I Am The Night, is unashamedly influenced by the ’90s second wave black metal scene, and certainly Emperor’s seminal debut, In the Nightside Eclipse.

The song structures, the guitar tone, and the atmosphere all reek of that sound and cement the band members’ alleged past and projects. It’s austere, majestic, and regal, but with a frosty, mystical, and menacing layer that will take you back to 1994. The keyboards, in particular, deliver that classically inspired sound without being full-on bombast or theatrical.

The 43 minutes are comprised of 6 songs and 3 windswept instrumentals, which again really lock into the band’s primary influences.  I  mean, just hit ‘play’ to hear the first intro, “The Weaving of the Worlds” and the first real track “Annoited With Moonfire”, and tell me that doesn’t instantly take you back to “Intro/ Into the Infinity of Thoughts”, especially when the vocals kick in.

And the whole excellent album is that way, carried by ethereal keyboards and chilling, majestic riffs; “A Cerement of Flame”, “Emanation of Chaos”. “The Curse of Supremacy” and 7+ minute “A Lamenting Presence” are all top-notch. And even “The Despiser Triumphant” gets into Emperor’s, later, more complex sound.

And thusly, the perfectly named A Darkness of the Ancient Past is a must-have for fans of the genre.

And now, 17 years later, the band is revisiting the local tale and legend that spawned the debut (The White Lady from Schinveld), and introducing some new twists in the way of the new ghastly antagonist from the same legend called ‘Kariba’.

The 4 songs and 1 intro deliver everything you’ve come to expect from Carach Angren‘s masterful tale telling, wrapped in symphonic, theatrical, symphonic black metal, with all manner of spooky synths and over the top voices playing their parts; I’m pretty sure they got a Michael Caine impersonator to narrate the intro “A Malevolent Force Stirs”.

3 of the songs (“Draw Blood”, “The Resurrection of Kariba”, “Venomous”) are excellent, in line with the band’s better works like Death Came Through a Phantom Ship , Where Corpses Sink Forever or Franckensteina Strataemontanus. Especially closer “Venomous 1666” with its killer violin lines and soaring orchestration at 2:45, it might be one of the best songs of the band’s discography.

That said, “Ik kom uit het graf” is a little clunkier, choppier, more industrial and less epic, reminding me of the This is No Fairy Tale album, their worst effort in my humble opinion.

While only 20 minutes, the EP bodes well for a forthcoming album, as Carach Angren looks to show the world they are still one of the genre’s top dogs.

Maahes is an ancient Egyptian lion-headed god of war, protection, and the weather, and Nechacha, their second album, is an Egyptian symbol of dominion held by pharaohs and gods. However, despite all that going on, this doesn’t beat you over the head with Nile-esque instrumentation or atmospheres, staying well within the realm of 90s Symphonic Black metal’s sound, although there is a Middle Eastern influence here and there.

Regardless, Nechacha is a solid effort that I thoroughly enjoyed and has some standout moments amid its hour-long-ish runtime. There are 8 songs listed, then a couple of bonus tracks and a hidden track, which is a bit convoluted, but all are good tracks.

“Magic Slave” and “The Resurrection” open things up, and you immediately feel the Dimmu and OMC influence in the riffs, synths, production, and vocals (as well as their costumes). Horus has the requisite black metal rasp, and the synths of Osiris are epic, yet understated, being not quite as obtuse or theatrical as Dimmu, but when they do appear, they are effective.

For example, “Lord of the Underworld”, “Morbid Love”  or standout track “The Crown and the Sceptre”  which has a really killer keyboard and choral bridge, and moodier “Keeper of the Secrets”, they never go full bombast, but they are there and effective.

The two bonus tracks, “Patron Saint of Pharohs” (which does lean into more Middle Eastern sounds), more fierce “Medusa”, and the 7 minute ‘hidden’ track “Nephthys Tears” (a previously released single), deserve more than being tacked on, as all three are good, especially after the album has already had a song called ‘Outro’ before them.

A solid addition to the autumn of 2025’s solid symphonic black metal offerings from the likes of Old Machines, Gjallahorn’s Wrath, Achathras, Carach Angren, Argesk, Rotting Demise, Echoes of Gloom, Execrari, and Withering Soul.

But the new project has a very clear, very obvious new influence and fan base they are going after, and it’s immediately apparent from the opening strains of “Wiccan Wyrd”: SepticFlesh and Rotting Christ.

I mean, there are, of course, some other influences at play, such as modern Dimmu Borgir, but the big bombastic, cinematic/dramatic style of symphonic black metal here is beefier, burlier, and has a little more death metal in it. And the deeper vocals, grandious orchestration, and general pacing just scream SepticChrist‘s bigger, brasher take on the genre.

And a good take as well, as The Silver Key is a pretty damn solid debut. The 9 songs (and 1 intro) have a pretty good sense of dynamics, orchestration, and choirs coming together for a very listenable album with some notable highlights.

Tracks like “The Abysswalker”, “Mistletoe’s Secret”, personal favorite, the more vicious “Fangs of Fate”, really do hit the spot as far as that sound goes. Throw in some confident songwriting that is catchy and epic, and occasionally pretty furious (“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”).

“The Falcon of Darkness” breaks the album up a bit with a somber 3-minute instrumental before “With Souls Reborn” brings some massive choral bridges to one of the album’s more stirring tracks, and “Pain Remains the Core of This World” brings a more controlled, big, militant march.

“Silent Scream” ends the album with a more traditional, purely 90s styled symphonic black metal track, and cements the album as one of my favorite symphonic black metal albums of 2025.

However, the promotional email for the debut from Portland’s Old Machines dropped that tagline, so I, of course, checked it out, setting low expectations. Can a band from Portland, Oregon, with members from bands like Skeletal Remains, Infernal Realm, Ænigmatum, Oxygen Destroyer, Dominus Nox, Mamorlis, and Thirsting Altar really capture the essence of one of the UK’s greatest metal exports?

Well, as I delved into the songs and saw titles like “Extinguishing the Light of the Preludian Empire (Upon the Apex of Their Glory)” and “The Sundering of the Irradiated Sons, and the Rebellion Sparked by the Gene-Plague”, my hopes got raised, even with the Sci Fi heavy themes rather than The Hyperborian World, Cthulu or muscled up barbarians (Though Bal Sagoth certainly went sci fi for The Power Cosmic.

Then we got a lengthy instrumental/atmospheric intro to the 11-minute opener “Twilight of the Old Gods, and the Dawning of the First Cycle”, and then the final nail on the coffin that got me was in “Extinguishing the Light of the Preludian Empire (Upon the Apex of Their Glory)” on board was when vocalist ‘Greavis’ delivers a spot on over the top, Lord Byron spoken word and keyboardist ‘Old Machine Stares’, delivers some classic Jonny Maulding keyboards.

And that’s all before we get to tracks like “Crescendo of Carnage: Warsong of the Singing Swarm (Swarm Wars I)”, where the elements above, and even the riffs, which could have been lifted from the band’s latter half of their hexology, are even more Bal Sagoth-y, but again with more of a Sci Fi lean.

And at this point, I’m in hog heaven, as the promotional email was indeed correct. This is damn good Bal-Sagoth worship, as well as your other standard 90s symphonic black metal influences (Abigor, Emperor, etc), and even some traditional heavy metal, but the riffs, epic keys, vocals, leads, and even tinny guitar production clearly point to one major influence more than the others.

I mean listen to “The Sundering of the Irradiated Sons, and the Rebellion Sparked by the Gene-Plague” and “They Are Legion: The Tragic Exodus of the Veiled Creators” and closer “Glory to the Terrans of the First Contact War” (I mean, go to the 2:52 or 4:36 minute mark, c’mon!). It’s easily up there with the bands mentioned in the opening paragraph, but doing just a little enough to put their own sci-fi take on things.

‘By the Ice Encrusted Star Blades of the Shimmering Legions of Hatheg Kla, the Blood Gods are Sated Once More!!!!’

Both enjoyable, but not the usual regal, medieval-sounding French black metal I have come to expect from the label, as well as a couple of purely instrumental/Dungeon Synth acts in W​ÿ​nt​ë​r Ärvń,  Ornit, and Le Cercle du Chêne of late (kudos for them for branching out a bit though). Though I haven’t quite fully delved into the label’s last effort before this release, Au Loin‘s self-titled effort.

That brings me to Eminentia Tenebris (eminence of darkness), a French duo consisting of Cryo (all instruments) and Erroiak (vocals), both veterans of numerous other black metal bands, but none of which I am familiar with. They play a form of melodic and atmospheric/ symphonic black metal, though the symphonics aren’t full-on bombast or theatric, but more a subtle layering, leaving the atmospheric side as the more prominent style.

But when the synths do kick in, they are pretty enjoyable, such as the nice little brass sections in “Through Chaos and Shadow” and “Embers of Glory”. But for the most part, this is a pretty tempered style of black metal that’s more reliant on atmospherics and mood delivered shrill, melodic tremolo picked riffs more akin to a band like Lightlorn or Numeron, or even some of those early/mid 90 black/death melodic acts like The Embraced,  Sacramentum, Embracing, though they never quite match those levels of top notch melodicism for me.

Still, the album is solid, and provides a few moments of starry beauty, namely as mentioned above, or “Marching as One” or bouncy standout closer, “Time’s Cruel Reign” when some of the ‘brassy’, but still subtle keyboards kick in a little more. In fact, the album’s second half is definitely where some of the tracks capture my attention a little more, maybe due to more keyboards? Knowing me, probably.

That all said, I can’t say I’m fully enamored with the album. It’s solid to OK, and has a few nice tracks, but like the Belnejuom, it’s nothing I’m clamoring for or craving. But that is partly due to the expectations the label has set with releases from the likes of Véhémence, Hyver, Moisson Livide, Passéisme, Tour d’Ivoire and such.

Case and point; Anfauglir is another name for Carcharoth or ‘Red Maw’- the horrifying Giant Werewolf of the First Age and Akallabêth (their second album since 2008, after some time off) means ‘The Downfallen‘ in Adûnaic, the language of Tolkien’s Númenoreans. How many of you casually knew that? I fucking didn’t.

Either way get ready for some Tolkien deep cuts as Akallabêth is based on Tolkien’s less known books “The Silmarillion” and “Unfinished Tales“, and is set in the Second Age of Arda as it follows the rise and fall of Númenor, the island kingdom gifted to the race of men by the Valar, the gods of Middle-earth. A number of voice actors an guests lend their voices to tell the tale, giving it a truly epic scope.

OK, now how about the music?

Well, as you’d expect, its as epic and as grandiose as the subject matter, lurking somewhere between Summoning’s somber, Tolkien based plodding atmospherics and Aquilus’ more vast, classical music based epics. Now granted, it more urgent and bombastic than both especially when the duo does get a little more intense such as the finale of 20-minute opener “The Rise of Númenor”, but there are certainly strains of both in here.

The 4 sprawling songs cover over 70 minutes, so strap in. But like the hugely successful movies, there could be a little editing here and there. But for the most part the mix of mid paced, brooding marches, more urgent melodic black metal and triumphant Howard Shore-esque ethereal choirs and orchestration keep largely entertaining, even if there is some wading to do to get to the really good stuff, like getting through all the talking and walking from LOTR trilogy films to get to the battles of Helms Deep of Pelennor Fields.

For example, it takes second track “The Inevitable Truths of Time” five or so minutes to deliver a pretty astounding choral/orchestra laden blast beat that’s really impressive that only appears again 12 minutes later. The 22 -minute “Defying the Doom of Men” takes the opposite approach with the pretty killer bombastic opening few minutes, then meanders around for a while before it gets epic as fuck again around the 17 minute mark. The closer “The Downfall” even has a very “Sauron/The Great Eye” theme,  Shore-ish sound to the orchestration, and rousing moments at its halfway point, and at 11 minutes has a little less wasted time, being focused more in the epic music throughout.

The orchestration of Lord Bauglir is top notch cinema score worthy though his programmed drums are clearly programmed sounding. And I was aware of some hawk-ish black metal vocals, the vocal never really affected the listening experience and seemed pretty back ground sounding.

The the extended editions of the LOTR franchise of films, there is a lot of world building and exposition here so also like the films, there is some absolutely magnificent stuff here- but it also can bog down into slightly boring territory here and there. Either way, Anfauglir has has the potential to be one of the premier Tolkien themed bands out there, they are already one of the deepest.

But I do try to open as many emails as I can, and it’s pretty random as to how and why I open any of them and check out the music contained within. Sometimes, it’s my mood, sometimes it’s whatever the tagline email is, and if it’s in the style I’m currently immersed in, etc. But I can’t tell why I opened the email from ‘J’, the vocalist/guitarist from a very obscure (to most, I’m sure) Slovakian black metal act Obšar, while in bed checking the promotional emails, as I often do.

But boy am I glad I did! Even though the email was short and polite, it didn’t tell me anything about the music, just a Bandcamp link, which I, again, for reasons unknown – (fate, destiny, the way of wryd?) opened and listened to.

I’m rarely surprised by any music I get nowadays; very little is truly unique or different anymore, either re-runs, retreads, established genres, and copy cats, which is fine, I like what I like. But this 4-song 22-minute EP is more of the more unique and blissfully delightful pieces of music I’ve heard recently.

Loosely residing in the symphonic/folk black metal realm, the internet tells me these guys were a more traditional folk/symphonic black metal act for three prior albums since 2018. However, on this EP, there appears to have been a bit of a shift.

When I pressed play and “Sucha rokyta” started, I was greeted with a sort of bouncy, catchy, new wave, synth pop black metal. Still harsh and residing in black metal’s atmospheric/melodic realms, especially vocally, but with these 80s sci-fi movie sort of cyber-y synths, rather than epic or sweeping orchestral arrangements. I think if you took Poland’s Furia mixed it with bands like Australia’s Metharsim or Ukraine’s Labyrinthus Stellarum, and even get hints of Covenant’s Nexus Polaris, you might get sort of close to this uniquely fun sound.

Second track “Sľipa vira” is a more mid-paced industrial stomper, cheesy 80s sci-fi, ‘hero walking through the rain in a neon-lit dystopian underground city’ vibes (Blade Runner/Deus Ex games, anyone?). The female ‘ahhhhhhh aahhhhh’ croons, cements the Nexis Polaris vibe too.

My personal favorite is the third track, “Falošnŷj prorok” a wondrously cosmic, airy. galloping track, before the EP ends with a tense, instrumental number that could be a chase scene in the aforementioned sci-fi movie/game.

I know this is a lot of words for a mere 22 minutes of music, but man, am I enamoured with these guys, especially this newer, neon-lit, cyber/sci-fi direction (I have checked out the band’s back catalog).