Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Behemoth - I, Scvlptor (2026)

    Behemoth - I, Scvlptor (2026)
    Behemoth - I, Scvlptor (2026)

    Keeping the band’s momentum going after the 2025 release of “The Shit ov God”, Behemoth returns with “I, Scvlptor”. This release offers two completely new songs, a couple of re-recordings from the band’s earlier demos, a live track and cover songs, and an outtake from their 2025 album. Showcasing the band’s explosive and engaging sound with older songs is always a blast, and the new tracks keep the expectations high for any upcoming releases.

    Opening with “I, Scvlptor”, we get the full power of Nergal and company with a brutal sinister piece that quickly explodes after an atmospheric opening. The band’s powerful style is undeniable as it instantly comes across the massive drumming and fierce riffing. Nergal’s harsh screams are nightmare inducing and greatly elevate the level of aggression in the band’s music. However, in “Lord ov the Horizons” he showcases his lighter side with haunting clean vocals to create a different mood, giving this track a creepy edge alongside Behemoth’s pummeling nature. There is also a rough studio mix version of this track that gives an equally effective, but cruder rendition of the piece.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sigh - Goh-ka (2026)

    Sigh - Goh-ka (2026)
    Sigh - Goh-ka (2026)

    Every time that I think we have Sigh figured out, they go and unleash a crazy and wacky release like “Goh-ka”. For over 55-minutes the band unleashes their madness in very quirky and unique ways, ranging from traditional Japanese passages to all-out-Metal harshness. In the 11 tracks presented in this release, the band weaves back and forth between ‘normal’ music and complete insanity with dramatic tempo and mood swings, and yet creates a very cohesive and a very Sigh-esque atmosphere. Definitely not for Metal purists, this release showcases how all kinds of disparate and different ideas create a very cohesive and expansive listening experience.

    Opening with the folky “Kuso-shi 1, 2, and 3”, we get that nice contrast between traditional instruments, distorted guitars and the monstrous drumming of Mike Heller. We also have Frédéric Leclercq handling the bass guitar, adding extra depth to pieces like “Jigoku-Zoshi 1: Unkamusho”, and “Anzenshokon” to name a few. The band’s inventiveness is always present, shifting the mood from dreamy atmospheric passages to chaotic crescendos of heaviness and vocal madness.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Tsirhic - To Satan I Reply (2026)

    Tsirhic - To Satan I Reply (2026)
    Tsirhic - To Satan I Reply (2026)

    Unleashing one of the most visceral and brutal debut mini-albums in quite a while, today we have one-man battalion Tsirhic with “To Satan I Reply”. Featuring five tracks and nearly 25 minutes of ravaging Black Metal, this outfit brings back the good old days of 90’s Scandinavian Black Metal with certain 90’s USBM influences, creating a raw and punishing sound that we haven’t heard in quite a while. For fans of retro BM, this release will make you dust off your old record collection to keep the nostalgia going.

    Opening with the ominous intro of “Blessed Be”, the release quickly unleashes some frosty rawness with some hellish Black Metal onslaughts. There is a certain crafty melody behind the harshness, making the music more visceral and punishing, this nicely continues with “H.I.P.C”, another super engaging track with intoxicating hooks and that lo-fi vibe that demos from the 90’s used to have. However, do not think this sounds like it was recorded on a port-a-potty, as the production is quite intelligible.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fen - Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth (2026)

    Fen - Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth (2026)
    Fen - Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth (2026)

    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Dark Funeral - A Beast To Praise (2026)

    Dark Funeral - A Beast To Praise (2026)
    Dark Funeral - A Beast To Praise (2026)

    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".

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Dymna Lotva - Vyraj (2026)

    Dymna Lotva - Vyraj (2026)
    Dymna Lotva - Vyraj (2026)

    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Hulder - Verbolgen (2026)

    Hulder - Verbolgen (2026)
    Hulder - Verbolgen (2026)

    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Chamber of Unlight - Avernus (2026)

    Chamber of Unlight - Avernus (2026)
    Chamber of Unlight - Avernus (2026)

    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Emptiness - Nowhere Speaks (2026)

    Emptiness - Nowhere Speaks (2026)
    Emptiness - Nowhere Speaks (2026)

    Creating a truly immersive and sickening listening experience, “Nowhere Speaks” delivers waves of minimalist textures layered in dissonant ways unlike anything you have heard before. Emptiness continues to surprise the listener with their highly evocative fractured approach to experimental Metal, while incorporating tons of decadent elements to perfection. For over 40-minutes, the listener will be challenged by this expansive and disturbing release.

    This album is more of a continuation of 2014’s “Nothing but the Whole”, as the release has that cavernous and more Avant-garde Black/Death Metal nature. Bringing back that darker and more punishing side of the band, tracks like “The Threat”, "Nowhere Speaks”, and the vicious “Darkness Commands”, layer crafty distorted guitars with minimalist rhythms and some enigmatic vocals. The band’s Black/Death Metal elements shine more than in their recent release, and create creepy tracks like the playful and funky “Words to Wind”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Inferno - The Anthropic Sophisms (On the Heights of Despair) (2026)

    Inferno - The Anthropic Sophisms (On the Heights of Despair) (2026)
    Inferno - The Anthropic Sophisms (On the Heights of Despair) (2026)

    Unleashing unrivaled cavernous darkness, today we have Czechia’s Inferno and their ninth full-length release “The Anthropic Sophisms (On the Heights of Despair)”. Featuring a crushing sound that is a mixture of Blut Aus Nord, Oranssi Pazuzu, Deathspell Omega, and some Akhlys, this release is as brutal and atmospheric as they get.

    Opening with the fierce dissonant riffs of “Fission of the Soul”, the band creates a very chaotic and yet piercing atmosphere that slowly builds up to deliver waves of devastating melody and harsh vocals. Clocking in at around 10 minutes, this piece sets a very hypnotic and oppressive vibe that blends into the decadence and obliteration of “Dekranos Katexochen”. With all tracks being quite long, the band can explore different movements and moods while creating a cohesive pummeling experience.

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