Avant-Garde

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    Årabrot - Rite of Dionysus (2025)

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    Creating a very weird and hypnotic Dark/Noise Rock atmosphere with tons of pastoral elements, Norway’s Årabrot returns with the magical “Rite of Dionysus”. Featuring ten tracks and over 43 minutes of music, Kjetil Nernes and Karin Park take the listener on a very unique aural journey, through moody atmospherics and catchy madness. As one of the most unique sounding bands we enjoy, Årabrot always proposes something different and with teeth, providing a unique listening experience to any Rock fan.

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    Sigh - I Saw the World's End - Hangman's Hymn MMXXV (2025)

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    As a re-recording and re-imagining of their 2007 masterpiece “Hangman's Hymn”, Sigh return with their usual madness, while giving this release a refresh with a (slightly) better production and infusion of their newer influences, elements, and band members. While we are great fans of the original version and its impact, at the given time, this refresh brings the album to a more modern context (in terms of the band) and will certainly appeal to any nostalgic fans.

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    Thy Catafalque - XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek (2024)

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    Always pushing the envelope and creating some truly unique releases, Tamás Kátai’s Thy Catafalque returns with their latest opus “XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek”. Featuring eleven tracks and over 50 minutes of very diverse and dynamic music, this release is truly an Avant-garde music lover paradise. With each track, the album explores a wide palette of sounds ranging from crafty folky elements to traditional Death/Black Metal, to more atmospheric and explorative pieces.

    The release opens with the playful and dreamy “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”, which features live vocalist Martina Horváth alongside Attila Bakos, creating a dynamic and yet somewhat folky vibe. Shifting gears into heavier territories, “Mindenevö” delivers powerful guitars and harsh vocals, providing a nice contrast to the first track while keeping the band’s dynamic sound thanks to lush choir arrangements. This playfulness and exploratory nature continues as “Vasgyár” delivers more heaviness with some weirdness, “Világnak világa” keeps things atmospheric, and “Nyárfa, nyírfa” unravels that Folky catchiness that the band always exploits.

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    Doedsmaghird - Omniverse Consciousness (2024)

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    Not satisfied after releasing the best album of 2023 (“Black Medium Current”) with DHG last year, Vicotnik returns with Camille Giradeau under the moniker Doedsmaghird, to push things even further and weirder. With a more raw and less bounded perspective “Omniverse Consciousness” unleashes nine tracks and over 50 minutes of Avant-garde Black Metal madness that is chilling, trippy, and extremely awesome.

    Setting a very tormentous mood, “Heart of Hell” delivers harsh riffing, funky atmospherics, and the unique vocal antics of Vicotnik. Of course there are some inevitable DHG elements in this release, however they are merely components to a more complex and chaotic palette of sounds that tracks like “Sparker Inn Apne Dorer” and “Then, to Darkness return” showcase. With some songs being as fierce as they can, to others exploring weirder and more psychedelic territories, like “Endless Distance”, this release features a bit of everything for everybody.

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    Soror Dolorosa - Mond (2024)

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    Unleashing the most intoxicating and catchy release of 2024, today we have France’s Soror Dolorosa and their latest opus “Mond”. Featuring nine tracks and nearly 50 minutes of sultry Post-Punk/Cold Wave/Gothic/Dark Rock music, this band will hypnotize listeners with their uniquely enthralling sound. For fans of outfits like Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode and Joy Division, this is one release you don’t want to miss.

    Led by Andy Julia, this release immediately sets a very engaging tone with the magical “Tear it Up” and its crafty beats that surround the deep and mysterious vocals. There is just a certain magic on how the band creates a very dark and enveloping world that as songs like “You’re Giving Me”, “Red Love”, and “Souls Collide” unleash their sultriness and atmospheric brilliance. However, it is the vocals that tie everything together alongside dramatic tempo changes.

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    Trelldom - .​.​.​by the Shadows​.​.​. (2024)

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    Unleashing one of the most unexpectedly interesting releases, today we have Trelldom and their long awaited fourth full-length release, titled: “.​.​.​by the Shadows​.​.​.”. While many will be waiting for a traditional Black Metal release, the singles have steered people in a completely different direction as the album is more of an avant-garde/experimental release. Featuring a sound reminding us of the later stages of The 3rd and the Mortal, Lethe, and similar outfits, this release features seven tracks of unconventional and highly engaging music.

    Setting a very chaotic and contrived tone with “The Voice of What Whispers”, this release starts its aural explorations with a jazzy and a bit proggy piece that clearly signals this is going to be a very different release than expected. As “Exit Existence”rolls in, we get a sultry sax playing alongside Kristian Eivind Espedal’s (Gaahl) haunting vocals, creating a very eerie and yet intoxicating effect. We particularly love how this track transitions into sinister Black Metal riffs and a heavier nature as it progresses.

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    Ulcerate - Cutting the Throat of God (2024)

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    Abundantly delivering on one of the most awaited releases of 2024, Ulcerate returns with another incisive release titled “Cutting the Throat of God”. Featuring seven tracks and nearly one hour of punishing music, filled with raw brutality alongside crafty instrumentation and hypnotic melancholy. Slowly getting better and better over time, we thought it would be hard for the band to surpass “Stare into Death and Be Still”, but they managed to completely leapfrog it and set a whole new standard.

    Opening with the crushing “To Flow Through Ashen Hearts”, the band over the years has moved away from a more traditional Technical/Brutal Death Metal into more expansive and experimental Avant-garde territories and this track is one perfect example of that. The mysterious mood is perfectly flanked by textured guitars, pummeling drums, and harrowing harsh vocals, however, it's the crafty tempo changes and sinister melodies that make it interesting.

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    i Häxa - Part 1 (2024)

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    Unleashing a short but very interesting release, today we have i Häxa and the chaotic and yet lush “Part 1”. Featuring four songs and over 16 minutes of music, the listener is taken on an aural journey that weaves between ambient, darkwave, avant-garde, and highly atmospheric passages. If you like weird and yet cohesive and engaging releases, with no Metal elements whatsoever, give this one a spin.

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    Nebelkrähe - Ephemer (2023)

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    Hailing from Germany, today we have the strange but quite awesome Nebelkrähe and their first release in ten years “Ephemer”. Combining elements from bands like Eisregen, Pensées Nocturnes, Devil Doll, The Vision Bleak, User Ne, etc., this outfit delivers seven tracks and over 50 minutes of catchy, melodic, and yet odd music. Full of blistering onslaughts alongside a wide range of different instruments like saxophone, harp, dulcimer, the band creates a very melancholic atmosphere that is quite bleak and exciting.

    Opening with “Tumult auf Claim Abendland”, the band sets a dissonant mood thanks to its lush acoustic opening that suddenly tours dark and sour with the distorted guitars and harsh snarls. With the band singing exclusively in German, the vocals sound harsher than average, reminding us of Eisregen. While not being soft or too melodic, tracks like “Nielandsmann” and “Ephemer” have a very theatrical vibe, with lush melodic passages alongside creepy clean vocals creating a doomy atmosphere.

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    Bolt Gun - The Tower (2023)

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    Continuing the tradition of uncovering and promoting some truly unique artists around the world, Avantgarde Music is set to unleash Bolt Gun and their latest release “The Tower”. With five tracks and over 50-minutes of music, this release is quite intoxicating and mysterious, brilliantly covering everything from Doom Metal to Post-Rock to Ambient. Recommended for fans of bands like The Ocean, Cult of Luna, and Neurosis.

    Slowly setting a very unnerving mood with “The Tower”, the band patiently unravels their layers as they transition from Ambient territories into heavier Sludgy/Doomy land alongside jazzy Saxophones and harsh vocals. The band excels at creating magical tempo changes that could go into dark territories or just all-out aggression, perfectly weaving together long masterfully crafted tracks with many angles and dynamic shifts like the brilliant “The Vulture”.

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