Black Metal

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    Waldgeflüster - Knochengesänge (2025)

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    Unleashing a massive double full-length release, Waldgeflüster showcases their multiple facets in a very emotional and devastating manner. With the first album clocking in at nearly one hour and the second around 50 minutes, we get to hear the band’s heavier and more complex amalgamation of Black Metal with Post Metal/Rock elements in the first, and a more stripped down version of them in the second. Very emotionally charged, this release is truly a journey into the band’s psyche and trajectory.

    Opening the first album with “Krähenpsalm”, we get lively Post-Black Metal riffing and massive atmospherics, reminding us a bit of outfits like Austere, Heretoir, and Harakiri for the Sky. This style is very predominant in this first album, with highlights of very emotional tracks like “Bamberg, 20. Juni”, the hypnotic “Von Hypnos und Thanatos”, and the dreamy “Lethe - Der Fluch des Schaffenden”. The mixture of harsh screams, fast riffs, is very nicely offset by lush clean vocal arrangements, and crafty atmospherics.

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    Häxär - Teufelskult (2025)

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    One-man battalion Häxär is ready to unleash its third full-length release titled “Teufelskult”. Featuring an interesting combination of different Black Metal subgenres, like Atmospheric, Melodic to some Pagan influences, this release delivers over 36 minutes of uniquely crafted and very engaging music. With the scene releasing more than one album a day, on average, it is refreshing to find releases like this one that challenge the status quo and mark their own path.

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    Outlaw - Opus Mortis (2025)

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    Hailing from Germany, but with Brazilian members, today we have Outlaw and their late 90’s/early 2000’s inspired ravaging Black Metal onslaughts. With “Opus Mortis”, the band brings back the days of crafty BM similar to Old Man’s Child, Thulcandra, and Dissection. Featuring seven tracks and nearly 45 minutes of intricate music, the band showcases creativity and masterful execution while creating interesting atmospheres and plenty of headbanging moments.

    Blasting things wide open with the pummeling onslaughts of “Blaze of Dissolution”, we get that nice old-school BM vibe, with melody oozing from the band’s guitar attacks. There is something magical about melodic guitar driven BM, as the band showcases in “Through the Infinite Darkness”, “The Crimson Rose”, and “A Million Midnights”, creating some blistering tempos while adorning them with subtle atmospherics, bringing those Dissection vibes front and center.

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    Bianca - Bianca (2025)

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    Creating a very unique blend of Black Metal with Doom Metal and a heavy emphasis on atmospherics, today we have Italy’s Bianca and their self-titled debut release. With a very unique sound that could be considered adjacent to bands like Ponte del Diavolo, this release unleashes eight tracks and over 43 minutes of captivating music that is both hypnotic and punishing.

    After the atmospheric opener “The Dawn”, the release fully unravels with Doomy riffs and dreamy clean female vocal antics of “Abysmal”. However, it's the fierce Black Metal onslaughts that provide a brilliant contrast to a very sultry atmosphere. Keeping the vibes quite sultry and ethereal, “Somniloquies” continues to build the album’s atmosphere as the ravaging BM shrieks, blistering riffs, and crafty drumming keep things weaving back and forth from aggressive to melancholic.

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    Mystic Circle - Hexenbrand (2025)

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    Since their 2021 return, Germany’s Mystic Circle has come back with a vengeance, releasing several full-length albums. With “Hexenbrand”, their latest effort, the band returns with their explosive Melodic Black Metal onslaughts for over 45 minutes in ten masterful tracks. Featuring an old-school sound with modern production values, the band creates very theatrical and playful atmospheres along the way.

    The release blasts away with the superbly melodic “Luciferian”, setting a very engaging and crafty pace. Pummeling through “The Scarlet Queen of Harlots” and its lush atmospheric arrangements, “Boogeyman” with its playful interludes, and the melancholic “In the Sign of the Goat”, the band takes the listener back to the early days of the genre, when bands like (early) Cradle of Filth, Hecate Enthroned, Theatres des Vampires and Agathodaimon were starting this subgenre of Black Metal.

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    Afsky - Fællesskab (2025)

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    Having taken the Black Metal scene by storm in the last few years, Denmark’s Afsky returns with another piercing release filled with violence and oozing melancholy titled “Fællesskab”. As a one-man battalion, Ole Pedersen Luk, has managed to unleash some of the rawest and most demoralizing BM of the last couple of years and the tradition continues with this masterful release and its over 45-minutes of punishing music.

    Opening with a playful children’s song sample, “Velkommen til livet” quickly transitions into a full-on cavernous exercise of intricate riffing and unsung melancholy. The blistering guitars and melancholic tempo immediately lets the listener know they will be in for a treat. Ole’s ability to create crushing melodies is front and center as “Den der ingenting ved tvivler aldrig” and “Arveskam” continue leveling everything in their path. The band’s signature guitar driven nature is even more precise and deadly as on their previous releases.

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    Carach Angren - The Cult of Kariba (2025)

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    Delivering a very cinematic and elegant Symphonic Black Metal release, today we have Dutch duo Carach Angren and their EP “The Cult of Kariba”. Keeping up with their very elaborate and lush style, for over 20 minutes and five tracks, the band fully immerses the listener in their own horror-themed world thanks to powerful arrangements and crafty progressions. It has been five years since “Franckensteina Strataemontanus”, and the band showcases they were just getting started with their intricate and highly elaborate music.

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    Fauna - Ochre & Ash (2025)

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    Creating one of the most harrowing and primal releases ever, today we have Fauna and their long awaited “Ochre & Ash”. Thirteen years have passed since the release of “Avifauna”, and fans have been craving for a new album from this Pacific Northwest duo. More than worth the wait, this release unleashes nearly 70 minutes of crushing music that creates discomfort and hands out punishment from the opening atmospherics all the way to the closing riffs.

    Opening with the ritualistic “A Conjuring”, the band sets a very feral and Heilung/Wardruna-esque atmosphere that masterfully transitions into the crafty drumming and dissonant riffing of “Nature and Madness”. Shifting gears, the duo unleashes hell with great intensity and violence. The drumming and screamed vocals remind us a bit of Mike Rekevics in Vanum/Fell Voices. As the dense atmosphere dissipates a bit, the track moves into a cavernous direction with enthralling atmospherics and a wall of distortion.

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    Mesarthim - Isolate X (2025)

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    We have always been fans of pretty much any band that Avantgarde Music discovers, as they always find completely unique and totally awesome outfits and releases. However, around 10 years ago, the label released in CD Mesarthim’s debut “Isolate”, a very forward thinking and completely captivating release that mixed Atmospheric Black Metal with electronic/trance elements.

    Fast forward to today, the label is unleashing the ten year anniversary of this masterpiece with a special extra disc, featuring reinterpretations of the songs via other Avantgarde outfits. The release opens with Remina’s reworking of “Osteopenia”, a masterful piece that not only takes you to outer space, as it also features the enchanting vocals of Heike Langhans, giving this song a whole new level of dreamy and ethereal vibes.

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    Heretoir - Solastalgia (2025)

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    Having previously made fans wait for around 6 years between full-length releases, David Conrad and company returned in just two years with Heretoir’s fourth full-length release “Solastalgia”. Featuring 11 tracks and over 60-minutes of music, the band unleashes an interesting mixture of their old Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze style, with a cleaner and dreamier Shoegazey and Post-Rock edge. Creating a very moody and atmospheric release, this album takes the band to new territories while consolidating their standing in the scene.

    Starting with the multi-layered “The Ashen Falls”, we get some of the band’s traditional melancholy very quickly as lush guitars and dreamy vocal arrangements. While there are definitely Heretoir staple elements, this track also has many SOM and Mountaineer Shoegaze/Dream pop vibes, making an evolution for the band. This evolution permeates excellent songs like the demoralizing “Season of Grief”, and the very emotional and melodic “You are the Night”.

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