Death metal is a punishing genre, especially when it’s of the extremely technical variety. But there’s a beauty that arises when the sworn members of its sacred crypt spring back to life as a new nocturnal creation.
The relentless storm of Swedish black metal strikes once again. MÖRK GRYNING, undeterred by the passage of time, reveals their latest single Fasornas Tid from their eponymous upcoming album. It’s a declaration of war, a journey through the tumultuous realms of the human soul.
Their identities remain hidden, but this year, Gaerea are out to prove that they’re no longer strictly a black metal band. With their upcoming new album, the Portuguese masked sensations are surfacing to the top of extreme metal. While the pensive, post-rock passages only heighten its crushing blows, the latest single off Coma is the first song in the band’s mantle-worthy discography to feature clean singing.
Norway is known for pioneering a legendary branch of extreme metal, but no band embodies the scene’s epic resolve quite like Keep of Kalessin.
In the shadows where desolation meets defiance, GAEREA beckons the daring, the pilgrims of darkness, to traverse realms marked by haunting beauty and devastating intensity. Celebrate the descent with Coma, as Gaerea announces their 2025 European tour—a symphony of anguish and transcendence.
Bordeaux’s own titans of technical death metal, EXOCRINE, are set to traverse the realms of auditory obliteration with their highly anticipated ‘Legend Tour 2025’. Prepare yourselves for a labyrinthine voyage through the uncharted territories of sonic complexity, where ferocious riffs and labyrinthine compositions converge to create an otherworldly experience.
Gaerea thrive on the purging of raw emotions, but on their upcoming fourth album, the Portuguese masked sensations prove that they’re no longer just a black metal band. With Coma, they’re surfacing to the top of extreme metal.
After fine-tuning their signature tech-slam combo for the better part of a decade, last year, Wormhole came writhing out of the Baltimore underground with their third album, Almost Human.
Eivør performs on the world’s largest stages. She has serenaded crowds at the UEFA Champions League, bowled over The Game Awards with her songs from God of War: Ragnarök, starred in the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom and opened for Heilung at a sold-out Red Rocks.
Autarkh are locked in a state of constant evolution. After the dissolution of Dodecahedron, in 2019, frontman Michel Nienhuis assembled a new band of innovators for his blackened, electro-shocked vision of the future on Autarkh’s debut Form in Motion. Just last year, the contemporary metal band pushed their cybernetic view on the digital age to even greater extremes.
In this era of relentless superficiality, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX stand as a beacon for those broken by an indifferent world. This latest masterpiece, Self Control, extracts the haunting essence of Branigan’s classic and weaves it into a poignant tapestry of raw emotion and relentless defiance. With the ever-captivating Belinda Kordic giving voice to our shared darkness, Justin Greaves and his band of rebels breathe new life into a song that resonates with the tortured soul of the modern age.
Already, on their debut album, HELGA weaved together a dark and enchanting assortment. Wrapped in Mist shifts from progressive, Ennio Morricone-inspired folk to abrasive black metal and booming post-rock. “Simply put, this is an incredibly strong debut from a very talented group of musicians” New Noise wrote in a 4-star review.
From the feral fjords of neo-Norse mythology, EIHWAR barrels onto the scene like a berserker storming a tranquil village. They didn’t choose the warrior’s path; it tore through their souls and left behind a sonic battleground that marries ancient gods with unapologetic modern chaos. This is Viking War Trance—a titanic clash of techno fury and primal beats, designed to send your senses careening into the stratosphere.
Returning like a phoenix from the ashes, French dark progressive metal band THE OLD DEAD TREE unveil the harbinger of the upcoming album Second Thoughts — the soul-stirring single, Unpredictable. Unpredictable delves into the chaotic maelstrom of life’s twists and turns. Musically as hauntingly beautiful as it is merciless, a mirror reflecting the unpredictable nature of existence. The morning dawns, casting light on the twisted ruins we wake up to every day. But on Unpredictable, the light is more than just the break of day; it’s a call to arms. With lyrics bleeding raw emotion and riffs that cut through the white noise of apathy, THE OLD DEAD TREE summons us to embrace the chaos that life throws our way. “No one really knows what life will bring; it’s just unpredictable,” Manuel Munoz sings with an urgency that demands you to hear the ticking clock of existence. Carrying the band’s signature weight—the amalgamation of progressive extreme music and dark rock-pop—Unpredictable captures the essence of living on the edge. It’s a powerful reminder to seize the moment, to rise against the constraints of rationality and be prepared for the unplanned, the unexpected. The haunting vocals and relentless rhythms pull you under and lift you out, breaking through the frame of what was once seen as possible.
For the past three decades, Defiled have kept their blade sharp. Ever since Tokyo’s underground lost their minds over the band’s grotesque arsenal of finishing moves, Yusuke Sumita and his death metal samurai set off on a war path that’s left nothing but inevitable ruin in their raw wake. They’ve ransacked Milwaukee Metal Festival and joined forces with their fellow legends in Mayhem, Incantation, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse.
It is with profound reverence and anticipation that Season of Mist announces HELGA‘s ethereal performance at the ‘Rising Metal Talent Showcase’ during the IFF this year.
Even during its initial gestation period, Thy Catafalque had already expanded beyond the perceived limits of extreme metal. With each album, Tamás Kátai and his band of collaborators have taken another step beyond the genre’s boundaries, bringing the world’s most vile art form into conversation with the avant-garde.
In the raw, unyielding embrace of doom metal, few bands have tread the line between despair and catharsis as poignantly as FUNERAL. The Norwegian titans of sorrow unveil their newest single, Procession of Misery, from the upcoming album Gospel of Bones, a requiem carved out of the ice and darkness of the human soul. Hailing from the desolate climes of Norway, FUNERAL have built their legacy on crafting epically melancholic soundscapes that resonate with the profound depths of grief and loss. As stalwart guardians of the funeral doom metal genre, their tones are as weighted as the bowed boughs of winter. In Procession of Misery, they carry forward this legacy, leading listeners through a morose symphony of sorrow. With Anders Eek’s crushing riffs and the ethereal lament of Eirik Krokfjord, the track embodies the soul-crushing bleakness that defines FUNERAL‘s sound. The track is a dirge, a solemn march into the abyss, punctuated by relentless funeral drums and melodies that etch sorrow into the night sky. Produced by the venerable Børge Finstad, Procession of Misery leads the vanguard of an album that declares FUNERAL’s sovereign command over the genre. It’s a song that doesn’t shy away from staring into the void but rather finds a haunting beauty within it.Listen to Procession of Misery now on the Season of Mist YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/ygYotAPsFDc
Despite the many accolades that they’ve received over the past decade, Oceans of Slumber have never rested on their laurels. The Houston heavies have come to redefine the Southern Gothic by casting their tales of hope and despair against an ever-shifting backdrop of progressive metal. While it was produced by their long-time collaborator and GRAMMY nominee Joel Hamilton, the band’s sixth album and first for Season of Mist expands their vision to dark, cinematic new heights.
The legendary MÖRK GRYNING emerges once again, ready to obliterate all pretenses with their latest single, Tornet. Taken from their impending album Fasornas Tid, it’s a brutal homage to the raw ferocity and timeless spirit that has defined this band since their inception in the ’90s. Brace yourselves, for this is a relentless onslaught you won’t escape from. MÖRK GRYNING stands as a shrine to the raw, untamed essence of the Swedish black metal genre. Tornet storms ahead with unbridled fury, featuring the savage vocals of C from AVSLUT. This track seethes with the combined venom of death metal and melodic black metal, a tortured symphony that captures the essence of facing impassable psychological hell. In the haunting words of MÖRK GRYNING, “The Tower” – symbolic of the ultimate torment – rises to test your very threshold of suffering. Fasornas Tid is MÖRK GRYNING‘s visceral journey through the abyss of the human psyche. From the apocalyptic harmonies of Before The Crows Have Their Feast to the nostalgic nod to their Tusen år har gått… era, this dystopian symphony plunges deep into themes of inner turmoil, the eternal conflict of good versus evil, and the insatiable hunger for self-destruction. Each track is meticulously honed at Wing Studios by Sverker Widgren, with artwork by the enigmatic C-G, making this album an epitome of the band’s rebellious creed.