Folk

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    Hexvessel - Nocturne (2025)

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    Keeping things weird and unique as always, Mat McNerney is back with the current era of Hexvessel that has them playing a very frosty and powerful blend of Atmospheric Black Metal with some of the band’s earlier Dark Folk elements. In “Nocturne” the band shapeshifts a bit more, taking the BM elements of “Polar Veil”, and blending some harrowing bleak soundscapes with chilling vocals and a few guest appearances to keep things dreamy and weird.

    With a mood setting opener and the chilling keyboards of “Sapphire Zephyrs”, the band sets a very desolate backdrop that masterfully is reinvigorated with piercing Black Metal-styled guitars and harsh screams. The transition to “Inward Landscapes” shifts the momentum to more atmospheric territories alongside Mat’s eerie clean vocals. One of our favorite tracks has to be the moody “A Dark Graceful Wilderness”, which gives us some “Dawnbearer” and “When We Are Death” vibes.

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    Lux Interna - New Wilderness Gospel (2025)

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    Creating a truly haunting and intoxicating dark folk release with tons of influences from post-punk to gothic americana, Lux Interna is finally back with the immersive “New Wilderness Gospel”, full length release. Featuring nine tracks of fully immersive music, this release is full of crafty instrumentation and captivating compositions that need more than a few spins to fully unravel themselves to the listener. If you liked any of the band’s previous releases and/or outfits like Rome, Amber Asylum, King Dude, etc. you can’t miss out on this album.

    Opening with the somberness of “Dark Fire Revelator”, the band comes back after ten years in full force, unleashing a very lush onslaught. The richness of the band’s instrumentation creates very unique and engaging soundscapes that are fun to digest and very powerful, as tracks like “Over the Timberlines”, “Brittle”, and one of our favorites “Like Wolves”. There early vibe in this release is a mixture of King Dude with Tenhi, Nest, and even some non-Metal Empyrium hints, We love how Kris T. Force infuses melancholy to “Like Wolves”, creating a very mellow and yet sublime atmosphere alongside Joshua Levi Ian’s vocals and guitars.

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    Whispering Void - At the Sound of the Heart (2024)

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    Creating a very unique and intoxicating vibe, today we have Norwegian supergroup Whispering Void and their debut release “At the Sound of the Heart”. Featuring members Lindy-Fay Hella and Kristian "Gaahl" Eivind Espedal on vocals,Ronny "Valgard" Stavestrand on guitars and multi-instrumentalist Iver Sandøy handling the rest, this collective delivers eight magical tracks filled with dark/folk rock influences paired with lush vocal arrangements and enriched instrumentation. Think of Tenhi meets Hexvessel, this release is a gratifying aural experience.

    Opening with the sultry “Vinden Vier”, Lindy-Fay Hella instantly shines as this enigmatic track delivers waves of crafty string instruments alongside dreamy atmospherics and a very hypnotic pace. On “Vi Finnes” the band steps it up a notch with a solemn Gaahl being added to the vocal mix, amongst crafty percussion and a very hypnotic atmosphere. One of the best tracks in this release has to be the eponymous third song, which features some eerie vocal arrangements with a nice Post-Rock-ish vibe, creating a very unique and enveloping vibe.

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    Sylvaine - Eg Er Framand (2024)

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    Being huge fans of Sylvaine since their beginnings, we are quite excited to hear Kathrine Shepard taking a risk and releasing a very different release with “Eg Er Framand”. This EP features six tracks and nearly 30 minutes of dreamy Folk music, with absolutely no elements of Metal, showcasing a very different and raw side to Kathrine’s talents.

    The release opens with the solemn “Dagsens Auga Sloknar Ut”, and its very minimalist instrumentation that surrounds Kathrine’s clean vocals. If the organ didn’t create enough tension for you on the first track, “Arvestykker” introduces some excellent vocal layering alongside “Eg Veit I Himmelrik Ei Borg”, which features a bit more instrumentation and somber atmospherics.

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    Suldusk - Anthesis (2024)

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    Hailing from Australia, today we have Suldusk and their sophomore release “Anthesis”. Marking a transition from a Folk sound to Dark Folk with Blackgaze, Progressive and even some Doom influences, this release unleashes nine tracks of sublime music filled with raw emotion and mystery. For fans of more modern Post-Black Metal releases with a melancholic edge, this release will certainly catch many by surprise and take the scene by storm.

    Opening with the solemn “Astraeus”, the band quickly changes gears with the brutal initial onslaughts of “Verdalet”. Once the band settles in more melancholic territories, their stylistic duality is masterfully revealed. Emily Highfield’s vocals are just the right amount of sweet and mysterious to carry a very lush instrumentation including dramatic violins and intricate guitar melodies.

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    Hexvessel - Polar Veil (2023)

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    From the mind of Mat McNerney, aka Kvohst, Hexvessel has been a very unique and engaging band throughout their multiple stylistic changes. From the dark and eerie occult folk/doom/rock days of “Dawnbearer“ and “No Holier Temple”, to the more psychedelic rock edge of “When We Are Death”, “All Tree”, and “Kindred”. The band has always had a very mysterious and eerie core that now fully unravels alongside piercing Black Metal riffs and creepy atmospherics. With only a handful of bands being able to drastically transition into (or from) Black Metal, “Polar Veil” showcases a very powerful aural experience that shows the band morphing into yet another version of themselves and unleashing one of the best releases of 2023.

    Opening with “The Tundra is Awake”, we get vicious and raw Black Metal riffs, for a moment you will be taken aback as this is not where the band seemed to be going on their last release. However, after McNerney’s signature vocals come into the mix, that whole ‘Hexvessel vibe’ is immediately felt as it brilliantly blends together. This release is heavy and yet quite atmospheric, as pieces like “Older Than The Gods” seem to be pulling one way with the guitars and yet the lush vocal arrangements pull a different way, creating a very intoxicating and yet perplexingly harmonious sound.

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    Tenhi - Valkama (2023)

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    After all the new releases and surprise returns from many of our favorite bands, Tenhi was the one we least expected. Marking their first release in nearly 12 years, after the excellent “Saivo”, the band returns with “Valkama”. Featuring 12 tracks and 70 minutes of solemn and enigmatic music, it is like the band never left as the melancholy and mysterious beauty of this release oozes through your speakers. Needing no introduction, if you are into Dark Folk/Neo-folk music, and never heard of Tenhi, you are missing out.

    The release kicks off with the gentle and immersive “Saattue”, the band always crafts dark and powerful atmospheres with very minimal instrumentation and this track is a clear example of this. Fully enveloping the listener in the band’s world, “Valkama”, “Kesävihanta”, and “Rannankukka”, are tracks that mix lush acoustic guitars with hypnotic Finnish-only vocal arrangements and very subtle atmospheric arrangements.

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    Frøkedal / Sâver - Split (2022)

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    Delivering a very interesting concept of covering tracks from each other, today we have Norwegian artists Frøkedal and Sâver. In this split release we get two very unique pieces, one highly atmospheric, the second with a Folkier edge, creating a dark and engaging release that we found ourselves playing in repeat a few too many times.

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    Grift - Vilsna andars utmark (2022)

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    Delivering to solemn and very well crafted Folk/Neofolk tracks, today we have Sweden’s Grift and their latest 7-inch “Vilsna andars utmark”. While fans of Black Metal and DSBM will not find what they are looking for here, this is still a very eclectic and moody release that quite fits Erik Gärdefors style of calmer and yet dark and sinister music.

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    Haavard - Haavard (2022)

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    Set to be released on Prophecy Production’s sub-label Auerbach Tonträger, today we have Håvard Jørgensen and his Neofolk release “Haavard”. Labeled by promotional materials to the closest thing to Ulver’s masterpiece “Kveldssanger", this album delivers 13 tracks of very melancholic and somber music. Yes, the music style is similar to Ulver’s second album that shocked many, but it is also on the lines of records released by outfits like Empyrium (“Weiland”) and Tenhi to name a few.

    Opening with the lush “Printemps” and “Heartwood”, we quickly got chills as it has plenty of Empyrium’s purely Neofolk phase thanks to its solemn acoustic guitars and very unsettling and somber mood thanks to additional string instruments. The folky nature of the music is further appreciated in the lively “Oberon” and the transition piece “The Chase”, just before the minimalist and mysterious “Snhetta”.

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