Preview | Static Abyss - The Dying Hunt (Death/Doom - USA)

Album Cover

 

Do you like death/doom? Do you like death/doom but sometimes you are reluctant on hearing new stuff because you are kind tired of the genre kinda sounding all the same and you are satisfied with the stuff you already hear? This is for you!!!
 

Static Abyss is a death metal band consisting of Autopsy’s Greg Wilkinson & Chris Reifert, joined by Necrot’s Chad Gailey on drums.Their sound is a great sounding blend of death with doom and punk rampage that twists you and makes you begging for more. Monomoty is not a word to be used here because it seems that new elements/genres keep showing in their sound, sometimes it gives me some hardcore and black n roll vibes like early Kvelertak. 

This is the third full length of the band, named The Dying Hunt, will be released by Peaceville Records on next 28 August on CD, Vinyl and digitally and I have good expectations on this one.

 

CCOFTW | Bloedmaan - Circle of the Moon (2026)

Cool Cover Of The Week

 

Such a nice cool artwork for the next Bloedman release, it gives me a lot of Castlevania vibes!!

Cool Cover Of The Week (CCOFTW) will be a weekly section dedicated to cool and interesting cover artwork. Nothing deep, no lengthy context, just a great cover and a little bit of information about it.

IMT | Ginnungagap (Portugal) - Primordial Celestial Light

Demo Cover

 

I Missed This... 

The Portuguese underground is full of obscure projects yet to be unveiled, most of them being raw, anonymous, or obscure black metal. There's even the Aldebaran Circle (I can dedicate a post to the circle later), where Ginnungagap belongs. There are some quality and emerging bands coming from it, with the most well-known being Black Cilice.

Ginnungagap is an obscure and anonymous project that released a demo last January. The project already has an LP, an EP, and a first demo under its belt, and Primordial Celestial Light was released via Harvest Of Death as a limited edition of only 50 cassette copies.

Unlike the previous release from Ginnungagap, this one focuses more on atmosphere and less on “aggressiveness”. This is a work of ambient black metal, where the keyboards take the lead, creating an ethereal and foggy soundscape of whispering voices and forgotten chants. The drums are secondary and only appear very shyly from time to time.

This subgenre of black metal is certainly niche, but if you approach it with an open mind, you may actually enjoy it as a relaxing form of black metal, one that whispers delicious heretical stories into your ears.

Give it a try!

Cvinger | Rites ov Flesh (Black Metal - SVN)

 

Album Cover

 

The Slovenians Cvinger are back with their fourth album, released yesterday, 20 August, via Void Wanderer Productions, on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Rites Ov Flesh is its name, and it is composed of 10 rites (tracks).

This new work has everything it takes to be a good album, but when you pay closer attention to it, there are some downsides that don't compromise the album as a whole.

The second track, “The Temple of Nine Gate”, was the one that caught my attention and made me write this post. It's a classic black metal track with a clean-vocal chorus that sounds really cool. The solo comes in at just the right moment, the drums are on point, and everything works really well.

From there, I think the band got a little too excited about trying to produce something different. While attempting to keep their black metal tied to its roots, they made some decisions that perhaps didn't achieve what they were aiming for, which, in my opinion, was to add more personality. There is some death metal blended in here and there, but the album progressively loses some of its flavour, although, as I've said, it still has quality.

So, if you like black metal, this is good company for a few listens. If you're a black metal FAN, give it a try, but don't expect anything particularly groundbreaking.

 

 

Release | Sepulcrum - Lacerator

 

Album Cover

 

I've been saying that bands whose names end in “-um” are, almost 80% of the time, a seal of quality. Sepulcrum certainly support this theory!

It's also a fact that the South American metal underground scene is full of gems that, most of the time, don't make it to Europe. But it seems that, slowly, this is changing, much to our satisfaction. Fossilization immediately comes to mind (and don't forget, I'm referring to the more underground and extreme bands).

Sepulcrum hit me in 2023 with their debut LP, Lamentation of Immolated Souls, which immediately caught my attention. But I must confess that, at the time, I didn't really get into them and, for some reason, I kept the idea that Sepulcrum were from somewhere in Eastern Europe. SHAME!

Focusing now on Lacerator, released by Chaos Records last July, the band chose a damn good album title because it really does lacerate! If you need some fresh, gory, old-school death metal, this record is for you.

High-quality rotten death metal hits you hard, with hints of Death and Obituary. It rips you apart as crushing guitar riffs shred their way through the tracks, while the raw vocals make it feel like you're being lacerated in some unspeakable way.

I highly recommend this album to any OSDM fan. It features 10 dirty and solid tracks, although there are some calmer moments here and there that let us catch our breath before the carnage starts again.

 

 

Announcement | Enslaved - Mið

Album cover 

 

Norwegian prog black/viking metal veterans Enslaved have just announced a new LP.

Mið is its name and will be released on 30 October this year via Nuclear Blast. The album will feature eight tracks, with a single titled “Solar Will” already released.

The band stated:
"On “Mið” (English: “mith”), the Old Norse word for “the center”, “the middle”, we are reaching for the center of ourselves, a journey in all directions." 

Single | Master - Twas Always A Plan

Album cover 

Legendary US death/thrashers Master are back with a new album in 2026. Released by Hammerheart Records, this new work will see the light of day on 16 October.

The cover has already been revealed, along with the tracklist, which will feature nine songs. In the meantime, they have unveiled the single “Twas Always A Plan”, a furious track that proves to us (as if they need to prove anything... ) that Speckmann and company are in perfect shape.

Check it out!

Preview | Ninth Realm - Damnation's Veil (Death/Thrash - USA)

Album Cover

 

I stumbled across these dudes almost by accident. I'd never heard of them until, like... half an hour ago, while checking out what's coming out in the next few days. The album cover caught my attention, so I decided to give them a try and... whoo whooo hoo!!!

Let's make the introductions first. These guys are Ninth Realm. Formed in Maryland, USA, in 2018, they have released several EPs, splits, and a 2022 LP called A Fate Unbroken. Now they're getting ready to unleash their second full-length, Damnation's Veil, through Transcending Obscurity on 28 August, on CD, vinyl, and, of course, digitally.

Ninth Realm

 

What should you expect from them? At least judging from the advance tracks I've heard from the new album, it's an amazing, mature and violent discharge of deathened thrash metal, very well executed!

Two guitars lead the way through thrashy and death metal riffs, sometimes sounding like old-school death metal, while at other moments they take me straight back to classic thrash metal. The vocals are harsh and aggressive, but don't sound like those of a traditional thrash metal vocalist.

The result has a distinct personality and leaves me craving for more.

Definitely a band to keep an eye on!

 

Release | Rotten Tomb - Vestiges of Tortured Souls

Rotten Tomb

 

Rotten Tomb released their third LP, Vestiges Of Tortured Souls, on 6 June via Nuclear Winter Records. This new release is available on CD, cassette, vinyl and, of course, digitally.

There's a major improvement in Rotten Tomb's music compared to their previous works. Dense death metal, great guitar solos, furious drumming and a raging vocal performance make this album damn aggressive and a great piece of old-school death metal, with some doomy vibes at certain moments and even a blackened aura.

The mastering and production are near perfection, with everything sitting exactly where it should be.

I wouldn't hesitate to say that Vestiges Of Tortured Souls is a strong contender for AOTY in the Death Metal category. If it doesn't take the top spot, I'm sure it will appear on many critics' year-end lists.

Rotten Tomb are a Chilean band formed around 2016 after the disbanding of Hades, where C. and Deathbringer played guitar. They are also the guitarists of the Death/Thrash band Atomicide.

 

Release | Hulder - Verbolgen

Hulder

 

I've been following Hulder since her first steps as a one-woman band. The first time I heard her music, I immediately became a fan, enthusiastic about the way she created black metal, paying respect to the genre while blending it with nuances of folklore.

Since then, Hulder has evolved into a full band and has released her third full-length album, Verbolgen, which might well be her magnum opus.

Verbolgen was co-released by 20 Buck Spin and Season Of Mist, and perhaps because of that, it has a better production and a more mature sound. The folk influence is still present, creating a dark folk atmosphere throughout the whole album. Solid choruses immediately grab the listener's attention and transport them to the snowy mountains of the North.

Verbolgen consists of nine tracks, ranging from slow, atmospheric passages to fast and furious, dense black metal. The old-school feeling is very much present, but polished. Fans looking for something rawer might not be entirely satisfied with this release and may prefer the previous album, Verses in Oath.

For me, this is their best album so far. The evolution is noticeable and makes me genuinely curious about what the band (or Hulder herself) can deliver in the future.