Bizarrekult |Alt Som Finnes |Season Of Mist: Underground Activists

Release Date February 20^th, 2026
Format CD, 12" Vinyl
Genre Post Black Metal
Country Norway

Bizarrekult started as a one-man project back in 2006. Roman V. created the music in Siberia before relocating to Norway, the absolute epicenter of black metal. The project stayed mostly in the shadows for fifteen years. The debut album "Vi Overlevde" finally dropped in 2021. Season Of Mist caught on soon after and released the second album "Den Tapte Krigen" in 2023. Now, Roman V. returns with the third full-length album "Alt Som Finnes", backed by a full studio lineup including Ignat P. on guitars and bass, alongside Alexander P. pounding the drums.

"Alt Som Finnes" brings a massive wall of sound. The guitars rip through the speakers with freezing distortion. The drums blast and batter constantly. There are layers of atmospheric post-metal woven into the chaos. Roman screams with pure hostility over the freezing riffs. Guest vocalists step in to add extra damage. Yusaf "Vicotnik" Parvez from Dødheimsgard brings an unhinged energy to "Blikket Hennes". Lina from Predatory Void absolutely destroys her sections on "Drøm", ripping the sky open. Kim Song Sternkopf from Møl crashes into the final moments of "Tomhet".

The riffs slice deep and draw blood. The harsh vocals echo like a freezing wind howling across a desolate landscape. Post-metal elements swirl around the harsh blast beats. Guitars transition from violent tremolo picking into haunting, delayed melodies. The bass rumbles ominously under the crushing distortion. Bizarrekult keeps the aggression dialed to the maximum level. The atmospheric breaks provide a devastating contrast to the relentless drumming.

"Alt Som Finnes" delivers pure auditory destruction. Roman V. crafted a devastating release. The music is punishing, fast, and relentlessly grim. "Tomhet" switches things up with English lyrics, ending the album on a massive, loud note. The production is huge, allowing the blast beats and screaming to absolutely dominate the mix. This is excellent black metal executed with pure rage.

Score: 8.0

Bizarrekult:

Bandcamp: https://bizarrekult.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bizarrekult/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizarrekvlt/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Cj4Bc1WpdNZhGcKyQfWci/

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/bizarrekult/1455860457

Domhain |In Perfect Stillness |These Hands Melt

Release Date February 20^th, 2026
Format CD/LP/Digital
Genre Post Atmospheric Black Metal
Country Northern Ireland, UK

Northern Ireland’s Domhain emerged from the Irish metal scene as a quartet of seasoned musicians who clearly skipped the beginner phase and went straight for the jugular. After dropping their debut EP “Nimue” in 2023 and a split with Ephemeral in 2025, they spent their time building a reputation for live shows that are reportedly massive enough to drown a crowd. They’ve traded the standard four-four grit for a blend of post-black metal and atmospheric layers, dragging a cello into the mix to make sure the misery has some class.

Domhain has finally dropped "In Perfect Stillness", and it’s a massive, soul-crushing journey that actually lives up to the underground hype. This isn't just another generic black metal album. The band fuses that cold, harsh blackgaze aesthetic with rich cello layers and vocal harmonies that actually have some guts. It sounds like they took the raw energy of their live shows, which have been killing it lately, and managed to trap that intensity inside the studio walls without losing the edge.

The guitar work on tracks like "Talamh Lom" and "My Tomb Beneath The Tide" is absolutely relentless. It oscillates between freezing tremolo picking and these massive, open chords that make you feel like you’re standing on a cliffside in a storm. The addition of guest spots on "Footsteps Ii", including piano and extra cello, adds a layer of class that most bands in this genre are too scared to touch. It’s heavy, it’s depressing, and it’s exactly the kind of misery I want to hear.

The production handled by Chris Fielding at Foel Studio is top-tier. It captures the drums with a natural, thumping resonance while letting the bass guitar actually exist in the mix, a rarity in black metal. "In Perfect Stillness" is a grim, beautiful piece of work that proves these guys are ready to dominate. If you want something that sounds like the Irish wilderness turning into a nightmare, this is it.

Score: 8.0

Domhain online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Domhain.band/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/domhain_band/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5LLcGMtOdgLhqrvrF6prnG

Bandcamp: https://domhain-band.bandcamp.com

These Hands Melt online:

Website / shop: https://thesehandsmelt.shop/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/these.hands.melt

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/these.hands.melt

Bandcamp: https://thesehandsmelt.bandcamp.com/music

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheseHandsMeltOfficial

Adorn | Adorn | Northern Silence Productions

Release Date: 7 November 2025

Format: CD/Digital/LP

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Post-Black Metal, Blackgaze

Country: UK

Adorn began as an artistic union shaped around nostalgia, longing and a wish to revive older forms of beauty in a modern landscape. Coeur Loyale guides the project with songwriting, vocals, guitar, bass and the production duties. His writing leans into romantic imagery and a world that feels suspended somewhere between dream and memory. Valliant Desire shapes the band’s emotional tone through violin, piano and choirs, giving the music the quality of a faded painting brought back to life. Bon Valour anchors the sound with drumming that supports the atmosphere without pulling it toward extremity for its own sake.

Their vision is dedicated to an older spirit, one that lingers in ruined halls, gardens at dusk and stories told in low voices. Their music focuses on longing, sorrow and a quiet glow that never fully disappears. “Adorn” follows their early work “Grace” from 2014 and arrives as a carefully crafted return after many years of silence.

“Adorn” moves with a steady emotional current that suits its themes of romanticism and fading grandeur. The band leans into graceful melodies and smooth transitions between harsh energy and softer colours. Instead of aiming for loud shock or aggressive edges, the album invites the listener into a world made of dim candlelight and slow turning memories. 

Coeur Loyale’s vocals have a weathered tone that fits the music’s wistful character. His guitar work builds patient layers, never rushing the journey. The melodic lines are shaped in a way that feels personal and reflective. Valliant Desire’s violin and piano give the songs warmth, almost like old letters written in careful calligraphy. These elements add charm without turning the material fragile. Bon Valour’s drums keep the flow steady and grounded, allowing the music to drift into luminous territory while still holding structure.

The album stands strongest when the romantic and blackened elements rise together. “Secrets Of The Heart” opens with smooth motion and emotional brightness. “Tudor Garden” stretches into a more narrative space, as if walking through an abandoned estate where every corner has a memory attached to it. “Your Majesty” reaches the deepest emotional point, carried by steady pacing and patient melodic growth. The closer “Midsummer” offers a calmer farewell, with a soft glow that lingers after the final note.

“Adorn” commits to atmosphere, gentle sorrow and restrained grandeur from the first moment and holds that path with consistency. The result is an album that’s like a long exhale after years of silence from the band, an elegant return shaped with care. It is a work that will speak clearly to listeners who want romantic beauty inside atmospheric black metal. Its focus remains on emotion through melody rather than force. The music invites repeated listens by building a world that unfolds at its own pace, calm, wistful and quietly radiant.

The album shines through melodic elegance and devotion to atmosphere. It works best when the violin and guitar lines carry the emotional weight together, creating a soft glow around the harsher elements. “Adorn” stands as a calm, thoughtful release that enriches its genre without turning loud or dramatic. Listeners who enjoy blackgaze with a romantic heart will find this a rewarding place to linger, a gentle lantern in a dim corridor of memory.

Score: 7.5

Links:

https://adornmusic.bandcamp.com

https://adorn-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/album/adorn

https://instagram.com/adornmusicuk

Lucynine | Melena | Talheim Records

 

Release Date: 03.10.2025
Format: Digital, Physical
Genre: Post-Black Metal/Post-Hardcore/Avantgarde
Country: Italy

Lucynine was founded in 2013 by Italian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and producer Sergio Bertani as a personal studio project. The first release, the EP “Chronicles From Leri”, mixed trip hop, psychedelia, and death metal, gaining notable attention thanks to contributions from John Baggott (Massive Attack, Robert Plant) and Gigi Giugno (Braindamage). After a long silence, Lucynine returned in 2020 with the full-length “Amor Venenat”, released via Inverse Records. The album included theatrical elements and guest appearances from renowned Italian actors and dubbers such as Dario Penne, the Italian voice of Anthony Hopkins. That same year, a tribute EP to Italian punk band Titor followed. Five years later, Lucynine presents its second full-length, “Melena”, released through Talheim Records.

“Melena” is an uncompromising work. Across just over half an hour, Sergio Bertani channels raw despair through an intense sound that merges post-black metal with post-hardcore and avantgarde touches. Unlike the layered collaborations of “Amor Venenat”, this album is entirely his own vision: composed, performed, and produced in solitude.

The vocals remain intentionally buried under an aggressive wall of sound, as if struggling to emerge from suffocation. This choice amplifies the oppressive character of the album, where production choices mirror the psychological pressure at its core. The tracklist progresses through compact assaults and longer compositions. Songs like “Uomo In Mare” and “Narciso Non Muore” hit with direct urgency, while “Melena” and “Oltre La Soglia” expand the palette with more dynamic movements. The closing “Opera Al Nero”, lasting over fifteen minutes, is a monumental conclusion where all the tension, noise, and exhaustion reach an extreme, dragging the listener into a vortex of bleakness.

The album’s concept ties closely to its medical title. “Melena” refers to internal bleeding and decay, and that imagery translates directly into sound and atmosphere. The claustrophobic production, suffocated vocals, and crushing compression give the impression of something damaged from within, unable to heal.

“Melena” is not an easy listen, nor does it aim to be. It is deliberately harsh, a mirror of the personal anguish from which it was created. Rather than offering comfort, it drags the listener into darkness and demands endurance. For those seeking music that challenges, unsettles, and reflects pure human anguish, this album succeeds with haunting precision.

Score: 5.5

https://www.facebook.com/lucynine

https://www.facebook.com/TalheimRecordsGermany

Hangover In Minsk | Party Is Over | Mork Stork Productions

 

Hangover In Minsk is a female-fronted depressive post-black metal band formed by members from Poland and Belarus. The project was born unexpectedly in 2024 during a hungover van ride after Dark Easter Metal Meeting, when musicians from Dymna Lotva joked about starting a band that captured the feeling of drinking through despair. One year later, the joke had turned into something real: a debut album, "Party Is Over," and their first live appearance at the same festival where the idea began.

The band’s music explores the blurry line between euphoria and emptiness, mixing depressive black metal with post-rock influences. Vocals come from Nokt Aeon, while guitars and bass are handled by Jauhien Charkasau, joined by Mikita Stankevich on guitar and Wojciech "Bocian" Muchowicz on drums. Guest appearances from Déhà and Kim Carlsson add extra weight to the emotional depth of the album. The shattered glass heart on the cover is no metaphor—it is an actual bullet-pierced glass heart, a direct and literal image of what this release stands for.

"Party Is Over" is an album that walks through the stages of intoxication, regret, and the heavy silence of morning afters. It opens with "Farewell," where sorrow immediately becomes the main character. From the start, the sound mixes black metal’s bleak aggression with post-rock’s drifting atmosphere, creating music that feels both distant and painfully close.

Tracks like "Drunk And Beautiful" and "Devil In Me Wants To Dance" carry a strange mix of joy and despair, almost as if celebration is used as camouflage for grief. The presence of the drunken choir adds a raw, almost absurd touch, but it fits the concept—the laughter and chants sound fragile, like they could collapse at any moment. "Fuck You, My Love," with guest vocals from Déhà, is one of the emotional peaks. His voice deepens the sense of brokenness, giving the track an extra layer of suffering. Later, "Morning Mourning" captures the emptiness of waking up after the chaos, stripped of all illusion.

The album closes with "Party Is Over," featuring Kim Carlsson, a figure long connected to the DSBM scene. His presence makes the finale hit even harder, turning the end of the night into something like an eternal goodbye. The sound throughout the album is heavy, guitars shift between sharp tremolo riffs and long, reverb-soaked passages. Drums are steady but always giving the songs their backbone. Vocals range from piercing screams to spoken-word and broken chants, embodying both the intoxicated highs and crushing lows the album narrates.

Hangover In Minsk have managed to take something that started as a half-joke and transform it into a painfully sincere musical statement. "Party Is Over" is less about drinking and more about what hides behind it—the endless spiral of searching for comfort and the inevitable collapse that follows. It’s dramatic, tragic, and oddly relatable for anyone who’s stared too long into the bottom of a glass.

Score: 7.3

Links:
https://hangoverinminsk.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1xstYK0cWVjCIQbQXvnvCF?si=Jbqg-U7mSR6MuFy9wFuYOA
https://www.facebook.com/hangoverinminsk/
https://www.instagram.com/hangoverinminsk/
https://www.tiktok.com/@hangover.in.minsk

Hellir | Hollow Moon: Precursor | Self-Release

Hellir was founded in 2023 by multi-instrumentalist Daniel Shaneyfelt as an outlet for ideas that stretched beyond his other projects. The debut, “Wheel Of Ghosts” (2024), introduced a mix of black metal, vaporwave, synth-driven textures, and cinematic soundscapes. Soon after, drummer Dylan Webb joined, steering Hellir toward heavier and more intricate compositions. The project’s name, meaning “Cave” in Old Norse, reflects the band’s fascination with dark atmospheres and hidden depths.

With “Hollow Moon: Precursor”, Hellir opens the first chapter of a trilogy that will eventually form their debut full-length, “Hollow Moon”. Across four tracks, the duo presents a dense, shape-shifting vision that threads black metal with electronic, industrial, and ambient elements.

“Ishimura” begins with an imposing wall of sound, immediately blurring the line between synth-driven textures and blackened aggression. The track moves like a vast soundscape, futuristic and ominous. “Firespray” sharpens the pace, driven by frantic percussion and glimmers of melody breaking through the haze. It feels cinematic in scope, with layers that expand and contract like waves of heat.

“Spiral” is the most dynamic track of the EP, incorporating a guest guitar solo by Harlon McCargar that twists the song into a different dimension, fusing dissonance with soaring leads. The closer, “Below,” dives deep into atmospheric territory, pulling threads of piano and synth together into something spacious yet crushing. It leaves the impression of a descent, fitting for a project whose name translates to “Cave.”

What makes “Hollow Moon: Precursor” compelling is the breadth of its sound. Hellir moves between heavy breakdowns, vaporwave-tinged electronics, classical piano, and black metal ferocity, yet the EP retains a sense of cohesion. It’s an ambitious beginning to a trilogy that suggests even more layers to come.

Score: 7.0

https://hellir.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/_hellir/

https://www.youtube.com/@_hellir

Heretoir | Solastalgia | AOP Records

 

Heretoir is a German band formed in 2006, originally created as the musical vision of David Conrad. Over time, the project evolved from a solo endeavor into a full band, bringing together musicians who share the same outlook on expressing emotions through heavy, atmospheric, and deeply personal music. Known for their fusion of post-black metal, post-rock, and elements of modern metal, Heretoir have always focused on themes of loss, grief, and humanity’s relationship with the world. Their music stands as a mirror to modern existence, translating inner struggles and external chaos into powerful soundscapes.

“Solastalgia” continues this journey, offering an hour-long exploration of both environmental and personal themes. The title itself refers to the distress caused by environmental change, a concept that resonates strongly throughout the album. Heretoir transform this idea into music that is both heavy and fragile, destructive and uplifting at the same time.

Across the eleven tracks, the band weaves together trembling guitar lines, massive wall-of-sound riffs, and dynamic drumming with anguished screams and soft, sorrowful passages. Songs like “The Ashen Falls” and “You Are The Night” create an atmosphere where despair meets beauty, while tracks such as “Rain” and “Dreamgatherer” bring moments of fragile reflection. The inclusion of additional instruments like flute, piano, and chimes expands the emotional range of the album, giving it a broader texture without breaking its overall intensity.

The sound remains firmly rooted in post-black metal, yet Heretoir explore different directions, blending modern metal aggression with post-rock expansiveness and even elements that touch upon screamo intensity. It feels vast and intimate at the same time, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in shifting layers of melancholy and fleeting sparks of hope. The final inclusion of “Metaphor,” originally written by Jesper Strömblad and Björn Gelotte for In Flames, ties the album to a wider musical lineage while fitting naturally into the flow of Heretoir’s vision.

“Solastalgia” is an album that hurts, but in its pain, it creates a strange sense of comfort. It reflects grief, loss, and uncertainty, yet carries an undercurrent of resilience. With contributions from guest musicians and carefully crafted production, it becomes one of the most emotionally charged works in the band’s history.

Score: 8.3

https://shop.aoprecords.de

https://www.facebook.com/aoprecs

https://www.instagram.com/aop.records

https://artofpropaganda.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/heretoir

https://www.instagram.com/heretoir_official