In just under two weeks, Defeated Sanity are finally hitting North America live and in the flesh with their latest Billboard-busting album. The brutal technical death metal innovators are leveling major cities across the U.S. and Canada alongside Sanguisugabogg, Despised Icon and Corpse Pile, along with some eye-popping special guests.
After 35 years of evil existence, Rotting Christ still stand the test of time. Sakis Tolis, his brother Themis and their Greek brothers-in-arms have risen from the Athenian underground to become one of the metal world’s most reliable forces, backed by a pantheon discography that has both defined and defied black metal.
Backed by their defiant and critically-acclaimed new album, Mawiza continue to serve as a guiding force for indigenous metal. Fresh off a spirited European tour with fellow Chileans Ater, the modern day Mapuche warriors recently received a new medal from the LIT Music Awards. “Mamüll Reke”, the towering single from ÜL, was named the Silver winner in the category for Metal/Hardcore Songwriting.
Ever since they came rumbling down from the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2013, Bask have sounded of their very own time and place. But on their critically-acclaimed new album, the Asheville natives have taken their homebrewed Heavy Americana to a whole new dimension. The LIT Music Awards recently recognized The Turning as the Gold Winner in their category for Best Rock Album.
While they hail from the City of Angels, Abysmal Dawn remain one of death metal’s most consistently crushing creative forces. Two decades removed from their very first tour, next month, the L.A. mainstays are hitting the road hard once again with the mighty Krisiun. Only this time, they’ll be raising hell with their first new song since 2022.
No band embodies the spirit of black metal like Mayhem. In the wake of violence and scandal, the Norwegians set the standard for the genre with their canonical 1994 debut. Other influential acts were quick to follow in their footsteps, but these iconoclasts defied convention by making a truly bold statement on Grand Declaration of War.
After much soul searching through the Canadian wilderness, last month, Anciients kicked off their first U.S. tour in eight years behind their latest JUNO Award-winning album. Upon returning home from a hard-hitting run through the American West, Southeast and ProgPower USA, the heavy, heady and heartfelt Canucks were greeted with some shiny new hardware. During the annual BreakOut West music festival and conference, The Western Canadian Music Alliance awarded the band Metal & Hard Music Artist of the Year in honor of their latest prog metal opus Beyond the Reach of the Sun.
For more than two decades, Hooded Menace have stood as the pillar between two realms of underground metal. The Finnish band are still transfixed by classic horror on their monumental new album. But Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration only goes to show that these stewards of death-doom remain far from stuck in their ways.
Having dedicated this year to leveling Europe and Latin America behind the sheer brutality of the band’s latest Billboard-busting offering, Defeated Sanity are capping off 2025 with their first U.S. tour for Chronicles of Lunacy.
No one carries the torch for Norwegian black metal with the same fire as 1349.
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX is set to embark on its Sceaduhelm Tour 2026, bringing the sweeping, melancholic landscapes of its catalogue to venues across Europe. This new leg represents a commitment to live theatre as integral to the band’s identity, a commitment borne from years of evolving performance and atmospheric intensity.