Dark Metal

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    Rotting Christ - 35 Years of Evil Existence - Live in Lycabettus (2025)

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    Celebrating their 35 years of existence, Rotting Christ is unleashing a 25-track live release of their show in Lycabettus. If you have never seen the band live, the Tolis duo (and live musicians) always deliver a raw and powerful hypnotic experience that is very hard to describe. Luckily for all, this release brilliantly captures that energy and showcases the band’s very diverse and constantly evolving musical style with most of their popular songs.

    Not banking on having an overproduced release, but rather a more organic and direct approach, this live release showcases the band’s crowd interaction and live antics that brings songs to life in slightly different versions (to the studio ones), as one can hear on “Sorrowful Farewell”, “Dies Irae”, and “Shadows Follow”, some of our personal favorite tracks. However, all those sick riffs and melodic passages are always there, and we can’t help ourselves from starting to headbang here and there.

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    In the Woods… - Otra (2025)

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    As one of our favorite bands back in the late 90’s, In the Woods… is a band that has always been evolving and rediscovering themselves. Even with Anders Kobro being the only original member, “Otra” delivers yet another masterful release of highly melancholic Metal music with a healthy mix of melody and heaviness. Featuring seven tracks and 46 minutes of music, the band returns with their signature style and plenty of catchiness to release one of the most intoxicating releases of 2025.

    Opening with “The Things You Shouldn't Know”, you get a healthy mix of the band’s ‘newer’ emotional sensitivities with fast paced heavy passages that bring back the “Omnio” and “Heart of the Ages” feeling. Bernt Fjellestad’s vocals again deliver those very dramatic and hypnotic clean vocals that he surprised everybody with on “Diversum”, after James Fogarty left the band. At first we were skeptical of this change, but he has demonstrated both live with the old material, and on the new studio album that he was the perfect fit for the job.

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    Tribulation - Hamartia (2023)

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    Just when you think a band can’t get any better, Tribulation drops on un “Hamartia”, a four song EP that further consolidates their sinister sound. Creating very unique and decadent sounding tracks, this EP keeps their catchiness and darkness untouched with delivering harrowing atmospheres. With a signature sound that has gracefully evolved over time, this release will satisfy fans of the band and plant some fertile seeds of what is to come in the future.

    Opening with the title track, the band immediately creates a splash with ravaging and superbly catchy guitars alongside Johannes Andersson’s characteristic snarl and thumping bass guitar lines. Quickly creating that heavy and yet melodic bombastic vibe, the band’s firing on all cylinders as things get catchier and darker with the playful “Axis Mundi”.

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    Moonspell - From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep (2022)

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    Celebrating their 30th anniversary, today we have Portugal’s best Metal export: Moonspell, and their very unique and intimate live release “From Down Below - Live 80 Meters Deep”. Filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic days in a cave in Portugal, this is by far one of the more striking live releases ever recorded. Showcasing the band’s last release “Hermitage”, this release captures a very unique moment in the band’s storied career and brings it home to fans that have not been able to experience one of the band’s energetic live shows.

    In a very interesting setting, 80 meters below in a cave, the band delivers a very intimate show with not many visible participants all wearing headphones and face masks. This truly captures the essence of the years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges facing musicians and concert goers due to all the restrictions and uncertainty of the time. This to us is one of the interesting elements of this release as it is not captured on video for posterity.

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    Daidalos - The Expedition (2022)

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    Today we have one-man battalion Daidalos and their extremely dynamic and engaging Atmospheric/Symphonic Dark Metal sound. Creating a very cinematic and over the top aural experience, “The Expedition” is one hell of a debut release with elements from bands like Dimmu Borgir, Therion, and Fleshgod Apocalypse, just to name a few. However, the 52+ minutes of music here take a life of their own as they come to life with very lively arrangements and crafty tempo changes, giving Daidalos a signature extreme music sound.

    Slowly building momentum with the dramatic opener “Expedition”, we see the band crafting a very cinematic experience by perfectly layering atmospheric elements with crushing guitar riffs and massive drumming. As the album progresses to pieces like “Icewind” and “Sail into the Stars”, it is quite magical how immersive the music feels. The production is top notch, perfectly highlighting elements that need to shine across the well layered ‘Metal’ foundation.

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    Saphath - Ascension of the Dark Prophet (2022)

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    Creating a very unique mixture of Black/Death/Gothic Metal, today we have Russia’s Saphath and their debut full-length release “Ascension of the Dark Prophet”. Delivering over 44 minutes of music, the ten tracks in this release nicely blend elements from bands like Behemoth, Moonspell, Epica, Dark Tranquillity, and creates a very bombastic and engaging listening experience with tons of hidden details to discover.

    Opening with the lush “Children of the Night”, the band delivers vibrant guitars alongside a mixture of aggressive vocals and crafty tempo changes. The music is heavy, but with enough room to incorporate melodic passages and fierce guitar solos. This more melodic and bombastic nature comes front and center in pieces like “Outcast of Eden”, the gothic “Darkness Unleashed”, and the Moonspell-esque “Broken Mirror”. All tracks blend their influences quite well, and still manage to deliver a certain modern Metal edge as shown in “The Daughter of Ice Pains”.

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    Kaamos Warriors - Spirit from the Void (2022)

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    Always keeping us posted of new and up-and-coming bands from the flourishing Finnish Metal scene, today we have Kaamos Warriors and their fourth full-length release “Spirit from the Void”. As a band from Mikko Ojala of Dark the Suns fame, this outfit creates a very interesting sounding mixture of Symphonic/Gothic Metal elements with a Dark/Black Metal core.

    The atmospheric side of the band is laid out quite thick since the opener “In Blood And Spirit”. However, this atmosphere is not your standard one as it has some slight Industrial and even Gothic Metal undertones, creating a very unique vibe when complemented with the growls and Doomy tempo. Things continue to get more dynamic and engaging as tracks like “Vapus”, “The Flames of the Dragon” and “Varjojen Vaeltaja” are introduced.

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    Déhà - Ave Maria II (2021)

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    By far one of the most productive musicians in the Metal scene, Déhà’s creativity is probably just bounded by time as he continues to unleash massive albums under his solo project, Wolvennest, Slow, and plenty of other bands. In “Ave Maria II”, he continues work he released over 10 years ago under his side project Yhdarl. Featuring one monumental track of 42 minutes, this release is both haunting and completely harrowing, mixing up dense atmospherics, punishing screams and all mighty riffs.

    Separated into two movements, the first part, “Morituri Te Salutant” sets a very cavernous mood that suddenly turns with the introduction of Thergothon-level distorted riffs alongside dramatic vocal arrangements, similar to what Elend did in the past, but with a heavier dose of distortion. The angelic female vocals are masterfully flanked with incisive guitars and massive growls/screams, perfectly turning beauty into nightmare.

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    Shadows - Shadows (2021)

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    When it comes to weird and out of the ordinary music, we are always on looking for the next weirdest thing. Today, via Agonia Records, we have Shadows and their self-titled debut EP. Led by Alex Bouks of Incantation and Goreaphobia fame, this band unleashes a very intoxicating and unique release with a blend of musical styles within Metal and bordering with Rock and Goth elements.

    Opening with the somber “Ghosts of Old”, we get an interesting mixture of crafty drumming, firm riffs and a very moody tempo. The clean vocals remind us a bit of the band EverEve, with a certain twang added to them. The album’s atmosphere is quite dark and enjoyable as tracks like “Shadows”, “Night of the Goat Winter Moon”, and “Elders” have a nice mixture of warm and fuzzy psychedelic distortion with engaging tempo changes and very solemn vocals.

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    Moonspell - Hermitage (2021)

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    Portugese legends Moonspell mark their return with a very unique and captivating release titled “Hermitage”. Featuring over 52 minutes of very emotive and dreamy music, the band will surely surprise their fans with this melancholic Gothic/Dark Metal release. With a darker edge to their sound, this release takes a bit to sink in, but once it does, it delivers some of the finest musical moments the band has ever produced.

    The release kicks off with the mysterious “The Greater Good” and its crafty drumming alongside enigmatic atmospherics and subtle layered guitars. Fernando Ribeiro’s signature deep vocals give that extra element of mystery to this track as he goes from clean passages to harsh sections. The enigmatic atmosphere continues with the hard rocking opening of “Common Prayers”, a song that slowly introduces additional atmospheric elements and a very epic bass guitar line.

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