With major international tours and chart placements around the world, after more than 30 years, Borknagar remain a consistently evolving force. Since their self-titled beginnings during the mid-’90s, the Norwegian mainstays have pushed past black metal’s grim domain. On their sixth album, the band shifted even further in a more epic direction.
While faithful worshipers of the almighty riff, Dopelord are addicted to more than just the devil’s lettuce. Since budding out of Lublin in 2010, the Polish band have led children of the haze further down the left hand path. On their fourth album, Sign of the Devil, they blew the gates of hell wide open with magickal stoner-doom.
Flying saucers, open graves, mind pollution, mushroom clouds and evil villains with a smile on their face. Meet The Ghoulstars, a fresh – and frightening blast from pop-culture’s past. Since beaming down onto their native haunt of Finland, this White Zombie-loving group of horror punks have captivated press and tantalized crowds without releasing a single bloody track. Until now! On their blockbuster debut album, The Dark Overlords of the Universe, no tome is too sacred for these ghouls to summon back to life!
After reaching crushing new highs on Part I of their forthcoming album trilogy, Green Carnation are descending into the deepest, darkest and most personal depths of the prog metal band’s storied career with the newly released A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis.
Next week, Rotting Christ are touring North America for the first time since the release of their latest album Billboard-charting album Pro Xristou. On this tour, the Greek legends will join Behemoth, Deicide and Immolation as they perform “Like Father, Like Son” and other new favorites for the first time across the United States on their way to a very special old-school set at Maryland Death Fest.
Had Green Carnation never returned from hiatus, the Norwegian prog bards would always be remembered for completing one of metal’s most ambitious individual epics. However, there was one tale – or three, to be exact – that eluded them for more than three decades, until last year. Now, after reaching crushing new highs on Part I of their forthcoming album trilogy, the band are descending into the deepest, darkest and most personal depths of their storied career with A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis.
On their new podcast, Heilung are inviting longtime converts and newcomers into their sacred realm, where history and spirit converge into a healing ritual. Hosted by founding member, singer and shamanic practitioner Kai Uwe Faust, The Podcast journeys into the lore, traditions and primal forces that shape the world-renowned Nordic collective and their unmistakable Amplified History.
ONLY HUMAN are fresh to the prog space, but the Danish upstarts have already made a major discovery with their inventive debut album. While fueled by existential dread, Planned Obsolescence is built to last well into the future with its cutting-edge fusion of prog metal, hard rock and electronic soundscapes.
Having been active practitioners since 1992, Defiled are masters of the vile art known as death metal. The Tokyo legends have shared the stage with Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse and Incantation. However, these grizzled veterans are neither relics nor custodians for the old-school. Their upcoming new album, Altered State, unleashes a dizzying blast of death metal straight from the future.
ONLY HUMAN are already on the brink of a major discovery with their debut album. On Planned Obsolescence, the Danish upstarts invent an existential form of prog metal that speaks to our not-too-distant dystopia.
Over the past decade, Unverkalt have drawn closer and closer to the edge. On their new album, the post-metal luminaries pull the veil from our cursed existence in search for an answer to one pervasive questions: What do we carry that was never ours? In response, Héréditaire now stands as their heaviest and most heartfelt offering.
After crushing crowds with Sanguisugabogg, Despised Icon and Corpse Pile, next month, Defeated Sanity are hitting the road on their first U.S. headlining tour in support of their latest Billboard-demolishing album Chronicles of Lunacy. During this run across both U.S. coasts, the innovators of brutal death metal will perform Chronicles of Lunacy in its entirety, along with other fan favorites from their discography. Joining them on all 27 dates are Inferi and Organectomy.
ROTTING CHRIST, the Greek extreme metal pioneers and one of the defining forces of the Hellenic black metal scene, will reissue the EP “Der Perfekte Traum” through Season of Mist. Originally released in November 1998 on Century Media Records, the seven-track release spans approximately 35 minutes and captures the band at a pivotal creative crossroads between the melodic darkness of A Dead Poem (1997) and the atmospheric depth of Sleep of the Angels (1999). The EP pairs two studio recordings with five live tracks drawn from the Triarchy of the Lost Lovers era. The haunting title track, performed entirely in German, weaves gothic textures with industrial undertones into one of the band’s most unusual and hypnotic compositions—a song that has endured as a live staple for over two decades. “Moonlight” leans further into melancholic, dark rock sensibilities, foreshadowing the band’s future explorations. The live recordings, captured in Poland during the legendary 1996 “Out of the Dark” European tour alongside Samael and Moonspell, preserve the band’s visceral stage presence in its rawest form and represent the first officially released live material in the Rotting Christ catalogue. The EP features the core duo of Sakis Tolis (vocals, guitars) and Themis Tolis (drums), with an uncredited session bassist on the studio tracks. The live recordings notably feature founding bassist Jim Mutilator, who had departed the band in 1996, making these among the final captured documents of the original rhythm section. The studio tracks on “Der Perfekte Traum” were recorded at Woodhouse Studios in Hagen, Germany, in September 1998, with pre-production by Sakis Tolis in Athens. Woodhouse Studios, owned by renowned producer and engineer Siggi Bemm, was one of Europe’s premier facilities for metal and gothic production during this period. The five live tracks were recorded in Poland during the “Out of the Dark” tour, 1996. Now reissued on vinyl in a gatefold presentation, the release is available as a 12” vinyl gatefold in classic black and an exclusive gold, orange and black marbled coloured variant. This edition presents a long-overlooked chapter of Rotting Christ’s legacy, essential for dedicated followers and collectors alike. Pre-order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/RCReissues
