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    Solfatare - Asservis par l'espoir (2025)

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    Unleashing a savage debut full length release, today we have Belgium’s Solfatare with “Asservis par l'espoir”. Featuring six tracks and over 40 minutes of crushing Black Metal, this release showcases that there are still bands pushing the limits of the genre and crafting releases that do not sound exactly like most. With a ferocious take on the genre and the musicianship to back this up, this release is as intense and fierce as they come.

    Starting with the blistering “Des monarques anhédoniques” we get that crispy Mgła-esque guitar driven style, but with some sinister twists, creating a very haunting experience. The harsh vocals masterfully add that extra level of desperation and aural abuse that songs like “D'hommes et d'isoptères” and “Du deuil affairé” need to be pushed over the edge. There is a certain intoxicating nature to the sneaky melodic undertones of the guitar work that makes them more effective.

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    Karg - Marodeur (2025)

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    V. Wahntraum (aka J.J) has been on a roll as of recently, not only with his exploits in Harakiri for the Sky, but also with this upcoming crushing Karg release titled “Marodeur”. With eight tracks and over 54 minutes of piercing music, this Post-Black Metal release is full of visceral rawness. Masterfully crafting highly melancholic music, this release is both punishing and demoralizing, creating a very bleak and yet lush atmosphere.

    Opening with the enigmatic “ Schnee ist das Blut der Geister”, which also features guest vocals from Perchta and solemn piano elements from Michael Eder, the band sets a very emotional mood. There are certain similarities to Harakiri for the Sky, due to the vocals and some of the guitar melodies, however, this band takes it further into darker and bleaker territories with more solemn and direct songs like “Findling”, “Yūgen”, and our favorite “Annapurna” and its very dramatic atmospherics and cathartic moments.

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    Liv Kristine - Amor Vincit Omnia (2025)

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    Returning with her enchanting vocals, today we have Liv Kristine’s latest solo effort “Amor Vincit Omnia”. Featuring eleven tracks and nearly 45 minutes of music, this release was composed with Sascha Dannenberger, creating very enchanting compositions that are slightly different from her previous release, but yet deliver her signature sound. Filled with melancholy and very captivating, this release masterfully showcases the magic of Liv Kristine.

    Opening with the album title track, we start strong with playful guitars, solemn vocal interludes, and a bit of a mixture of very old-school Theater of Tragedy (thanks to the harsh vocals) and the more modern influences of Liv Kristine’s latest solo efforts. This melodramatic tone continues through the dramatic “Ode to Life Pristine”, the melancholic and very dreamy “12th February”, and the catchiness of “Angel in Disguise”. Sascha perfectly leverages Liv’s vocal harmonies to create very engaging and powerful tracks that are very direct and effective.

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    Ahamkara - The Harrow of the Lost (2025)

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    Hailing from the UK, today we have Atmospheric Black Metal outfit Ahamkara, with their sophomore release “The Harrow of the Lost”. With a more than 10 year gap between releases, this outfit nicely delivers four tracks and over 42 minutes of music that blends elements from outfits like Saor, Fen, Fellwarden, and Panopticon. Creating a very organic and effective sound, this band masterfully crafts immersive atmospheres that will capture the listener’s attention.

    Creating a very mellow and intoxicatingly bleak atmosphere, “The Circle of Remembrance” opens this release with a slow burning approach that quickly is flanked by piercing riffs and harrowing harsh vocals. Austin Lunn of Panopticon fame handles the drums in this release, keeping things tight and very versatile as each track changes moods. The band’s atmospherics are subtle and never overbearing, thanks to Alexandra Blenkarn-Durning keyboards and effects, like on “Our Scars Shall Abide In The Thaw”, a very elegant track that blends in fierceness with Alcest-like dreaminess.

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    Fractal Universe - The Great Filters (2025)

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    Masterfully crafting intoxicating Progressive/Technical Death Metal songs, today we have Fractal Universe and their excellent “The Great Filters”. As the band’s fourth full-length release, this album unleashes nine tracks and over 46 minutes of perfectly balanced musicianship with melody and a good dose of heaviness. For fans of bands like Leprous and Opeth, to heavier outfits like Obscura and Allegaeon, this release has a bit for everybody with refined taste.

    Opening with the proggy goodness of “The Void Above”, we get masterfully layered guitars and crafty tempo changes alongside a hearty growl and a very clean and direct atmosphere. This track has some serious Leprous vibes that gently make their way into most of the release, as heard on tracks like “The Great Filter”, “Causality’s Grip”, and “The Seed of Singularity”, nicely enhancing the band’s range and keeping things very lively and engaging.

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    Iggor Cavalera / Shane Embury - Neon Gods / Own your Darkness (2025)

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    Cranking out two tracks of chilling Drone/Ambient/Industrial music, today we have Iggor Cavalera and Shane Embury. Featuring dystopian music full of unnerving atmospherics and haunting passages, each track creates its unique atmosphere and slowly envelops the listener into alternative worlds that both Iggor and Shane do not get to showcase on their main bands.

    Opening with “Neon Gods”, this nearly 20-minute piece slowly creeps into the listener’s psyche with a disturbing Drone nature. Reminiscent of some of Masona’s and Merzbow’s work, this track delivers a slow burn that will be seared into the listener. Just think of the movie “Event Horizon” and you’ll slightly know what to expect.

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    Granitader - Schlachtenklang (2025)

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    Unleashing a crafty mixture of Melodic/Pagan/Folk Metal with atmospheric tendencies, today we have Germany’s Granitader and their latest EP “Schlachtenklang”. Showcasing 15-minutes of music in three tracks, this release shows a nice balance between power and melody, reminding us of outfits like Enid, Ensiferum, and User Ne.

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    Déhà - Nethermost & Absolute Comfort (2025)

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    Just when you think that Déhà’s music can’t get any darker and gloomier, he drops a release like “Nethermost & Absolute Comfort”. Creating a very intense and enveloping atmosphere, this release is sorrowful and demoralizing to almost a whole new level. For over 72 minutes, we get a master class in excruciatingly slow and painful Atmospheric/Funeral Doom, that elevates the genre to whole new levels.

    Opening with the 44-minute behemoth “Nethermost”, a track that makes all of Mournful Congregation’s 10+ or 20+ minute tracks seem like radio jingles, Déhà levels the human psyche with a mournful composition. This track delivers thunderous riffs, crafty tempo changes, alongside powerful atmospherics and haunting vocals, creating one of the most crushing songs we have heard in quite a while.

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    Christian Mistress - Children of the Earth (2025)

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    It’s been almost 10 years since Christian Mistress’s last release and we were pleasantly surprised to get this new album in our inbox a few weeks ago. For the uninitiated, Christian Mistress is a North American outfit that plays a mean old-school Heavy Metal, filled with attitude and an explosive nature. There are no fillers or fancy atmospherics, with “Children of the Earth” the band continues the demolishing path filled with crafty and catchy instrumentations and the gifted vocals of Christine Davis.

    Getting straight to the point, “City of Gold” delivers waves of old-school Heavy Metal catchiness with eclectic guitars and a powerful pace. Christine’s vocals perfectly fit this stripped down Heavy Metal music thanks to their flexibility and excellent range, as one can hear in the ripping “Voiceless” with its epic guitar leads or the superbly catchy “Demon’s Night” that brings back that vibe of 80’s Heavy Metal that has been slowly lost to time.

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    Sarmat - Upgrade (2025)

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    Always pushing the boundaries of Metal, bands on I, Voidhanger Records constantly challenge the status quo with intense releases. Today we have Sarmat and their insane Jazzy/Proggy Metal release titled “Upgrade”. Featuring two tracks and over 22 minutes of crazy music, this release has a very free-flowing vibe that is both aurally pleasing and yet very chaotic and contrived. If you like the more Jazzy side of Ihsahn with a splash of Maudlin of the Well and Dysrhythmia, do not miss out on the madness.

    Opening with the playful album title track, we get a blistering start with a crafty bass guitar line and intricate drumming. This quickly transforms into engaging riffs and funky tempo changes as the song transitions into more experimental territories with trumpets and some sparse vocals. The band’s sound is definitely quite unique and engaging as it keeps changing and leaving the listener always guessing what is around the corner for this 14-minute piece. Closing with a wall of dissonance, this track definitely gets the point of the band across.

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