As one of the most awaited releases of 2026 for us, “Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth” marks the return for Fen and their interesting mixture of Atmospheric Black Metal and more melancholic proclivities. Featuring six tracks and around 46-minutes of music, the band goes a bit back into their more mellow and dreamy sound, after the heavier and harsher 2023 release “Monuments to Absence”. Balancing both sides, Fen delivers one hell of a release filled with elegant atmospherics and a hearty dose of aggression, keeping the listener both engaged and entranced with their music.

Opening with “Glacier”, we have a very interesting progression from dreamy guitars and crafty percussions into heavier territories with additional intensity. With mastermind The Watcher handling guitars, we get a very diverse and engaging mixture of dreamy melodic interludes and harsh BM riffs, creating a very contrasting and yet intoxicating sound as “Tectonic” and “Massif” weave back and forth between styles and tempos. This latter track having an excellent progression from mysterious and ethereal to headbanging harshness.

Unleashing all hell, today we have Sweden’s finest Black Metal outfit, Dark Funeral, delivering a swift and brutal 70-minute live release: “A Beast To Praise”. As one of the most punishing and yet refined BM outfits, the band’s live shows are full of sheer intensity and sometimes crafty pyro, creating a very dense and hellish atmosphere that is masterfully captured in the 13-tracks presented in this release.

Opening with the devastating “Unchain My Soul”, we can immediately hear how crisp and clean the live-recording sounds with Lord Ahriman and Chaq Mol’s guitars being as piercing as on a studio recording. The pummeling drumming of Janne Jaloma masterfully frames the band’s onslaughts as they level the audience with blistering pieces like “The Arrival Of Satan’s Empire”, “My Funeral”, “Leviathan”, and one of of personal favorites “We Are The Apocalypse".

From mastermind Tor-Helge Skei (Manes, Lethe, Manii, etc.) today we have Holissstik, a highly experimental Avant-garde/tons-of-other-things collective and their debut release “Chapter 1: This Endless Solitude”. In a similar vein, but in a whole weirder and more expansive concept, than Manes and Lethe, this release features eight tracks and over 45-minutes of very emotive and highly expansive music that while hard to describe, it has a very cohesive and engaging vibe.

Opening with the dreamy “The Rhythm of Silence”, the release kicks off with an experimental piece featuring captivating electronics, and a wide variety of vocal contributions from people like Marita Hellem, Martyna Halas and Pierre Ripka. This song masterfully frames the band’s unique style, sometimes sounding like Lethe, other times like Manes, but also with some hints of bands like (experimental phase) The Gathering and similar outfits. As tracks like “My Salvation” and “Projections” further expand and showcase the amalgamation of elements, guest musicians, and styles, Holissstik’s true nature and core ideas start to become more evident.

Creating one of the most harrowing and eerie releases of 2026, today we have Dymna Lotva and their fourth full-length release “Vyraj”. Combining elements of Post-Black Metal with Doom influences, this release creates its own category as it is quite unique and engaging. Far from linear or normal, these guys know how to craft haunting music filled with crafty elements and some of the most intense vocals you’ll ever hear.

Opening with the pummeling “Zory”, the band creates a very chaotic and yet magical atmosphere with hellish harsh vocals perfectly flanked by clean vocal arrangements. This weird vibe nicely continues to the equally chaotic and weird “Veha”. Which features even more dreamy vocals that contrast the overall madness of the band’s style. The guitars are quite sinister and well crafted, but it's the atmospherics that further elevate the band’s sound, like on the brilliant “The Boat of Despair”, a track that features none other than Aaron Stainthorpe and its oozing of magical melancholy.

Unleashing one of the most awaited Black Metal releases of 2026, today we have Hulder and their latest opus “Verbolgen”. After their 2024 breakthrough release “Verses in Oath”, Hulder and company return with a more vicious and refined release. Featuring nearly 50-minutes of music, this release is harsh, punishing, and yet very cleanly produced and highly atmospheric. For fans of bands like Primordial, Wolves in the Throne Room, Satyricon, this release will make you think you are listening to Scandinavian BM with hints of Cascadian BM.

Opening with the instrumental “Drie Raven”, the band sets an enigmatic vibe with its strumming guitars and lush instrumentation. However, as soon as “The Crowning” rolls around with its sinister guitar riffs, that old-school Black Metal fury starts flowing alongside crafty atmospherics. The use of dreamy clean vocals alongside a drastic change of pace, create one hell of a sinister introduction to this release, and it’s only the second song.

Delivering one massive slab of Doom, today we have Canada’s Yeti on Horseback and their latest full-length “Traditional Addictions”. While featuring a very traditional musical core, the band masterfully explodes genres like Post-Metal, Sludge, and modern Extreme Metal, creating a very unique and punishing amalgamation of sounds. If you like things heavy, hectic, and aurally haunting, these guys manage to create something that feels familiar and yet is quite dynamic and unique.

Opening with the piercing distorted guitar of “Drug Addict”, one would think this release will go the same way as the heaps of bands that live by the ‘power of the riff”. However, once the song continues to progress, the listener quickly discovers these guys are not your run of the mill band as hellish vocals, Sludge/Post-Metal elements and crafty tempo changes switch things around. By the time “Mariner’s Lament” rolls around with its masterful momentum building guitar work, one can quickly tell this release is special as it is weird and magical in its own atmospheric way.

Featuring one of the most stacked line-ups in Black Metal, today we have Finland’s Chamber of Unlight with their sophomore release “Avernus”. Featuring a fierce and yet melodic BM sound, this release unleashes over 35 minutes of crafty music with plenty of atmosphere and harshness. While not as flashy as outfits like Moonlight Sorcery or Vargrav, these guys have a very punishing BM core that happens to be adorned by crafty synths and melodic passages.

Unleashing all fury with the whirlwind “One With the One”, we get a masterful guitar-driven piece with piercing atmospherics and a very raw and punishing vibe. Blistering past “Wraithlike”, and “Night Chasm”, we get that old-school Dimmu Borgir-meets-Tartaros vibe as the keyboards shine alongside crafty melodic riffs and pummeling drumming. The band’s sound is relentless, but masterfully adds melancholy and melody into the mix, creating a very powerful wall of sound.

Hailing from North America, today we have one of the best local Progressive/Power Metal outfits with Novareign. Unleashing their sophomore full-length release “Shifting the Axis of the World”, the band delivers seven tracks and around 53-minutes of high=octane music, filled with catchiness and craftiness. Showing tons of influences from bands like Dragonforce, Sonata Arctica, Evergrey, etc. this outfit’s sound is more focused on proficient instrumentation rather than atmospheric/symphonic elements, making their music quite engaging to fans of the genre.

Opening with the epic “Ode to the Masses”, we quickly get the band’s very cinematic and explosive sound delivering some killer guitar leads alongside crafty drumming. While many bands in the genre are overdoing it with symphonic elements, these guys have a more compact sound that is as epic, thanks to the excellent vocals of David Marquez alongside engaging tempo changes. Tracks like “Sun & Moon”, “Ironsides”, “Blood of the Game” are straight up bangers filled with intricate technical work and some old-school catchiness.

Australia’s finest Tech Death Metal export, Psycroptic, is finally back with another heavy hitting release “The Pulse of Annahilation”. Constantly improving and refining their craft, I don’t think this band has any bad release, and with this new one, they showcase their abilities to write crafty songs that are engaging, intricate and never overdone. For over 38-minutes the band mixes fierce brutality with technical proficiency in a very balanced and powerful way.

Unleashing a collection of early Death/Mantas tracks brought up to modern standards, today we have super group Left to Die with the full-length release “Initium Mortis”. Having seen original Death members Terry Butler and Rick Rozz, alongside Matt Harvey and Gus Rios, from Gruesome fame unleash all her with their live appearances playing Death’s seminal releases “Spiritual Healing” and “Leprosy”, this release takes the band further. If you like that old-school Death Metal vibe, this is one release you can’t miss.