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.
After two decades, Pessimist are oh so close to handing the underground the keys to their fourth album. The LA devils will road test new songs later this year while on tour with fellow ODSM veterans Massacre.
When the world drowns its sorrows in silence, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX screams into the abyss, and with their latest single, Goodnight, Europe (Pt 2), they invite you on their latest journey.
The underground has lost their mind over Defeated Sanity. With each repugnant chapter in the band’s 30-year history, these technical lunatics have discovered dizzying ways to slam old-school death metal on its deformed head. Heck, they even recorded a split LP with themselves.
Prepare yourselves, mortals––as 1349 unleashes Inferior Pathways, the latest onslaught from their forthcoming album, The Wolf and The King. This infernal hymn channels the quintessence of 1349: unrelenting, blast-heavy, and furious. Inferior Pathways is a seething maelstrom of chaos and carnage, and it’s the perfect example of why 1349 are the ultimate masters of black metal.
The hounds of hell have been unleashed, and their name is BENIGHTED. This November, the European continent will tremble under the unholy assault of the Beast Against Beast tour, a grotesque spectacle designed to plunge you into the darkest chasms of your consciousness.
VESTIGE—the brainchild of Théodore Rondeau—invites you into an emotional odyssey with their debut album, Janis. Crafted in the quivering silence of profound introspection, Janis is a musical narrative that reverberates with the echoes of despair and glimmers of hope – a raw, unfiltered expression of the human experience.
Thirty years ago, the Athenian underground gave rise to a new Greek legend. On Thorns I Lay came up in the wake of Nightfall, Rotting Christ and Septicflesh. Eventually, all four bands would come to share the same record label, but while their countrymen were swayed by symphonic and black metal, On Thorns I Lay developed their own gothic style of atmospheric death-doom.
BIZARREKULT rises once more to summon the solitary souls of the United Kingdom. With a heart laid bare and a mind navigating the intricate labyrinth of existence, Roman V. and the brethren of Bizarrekult are set to explore the melancholic terrains of identity and sorrow. The Imperious Horizon Tour promises to be an odyssey into depths uncharted, crafted for those who find solace in the embrace of the dark arts.
Alright, misfits and marauders, gather ’round! Forget whatever tame plans you had for the next few months because EIHWAR is about to blow the roof off every venue from the Netherlands to France. Welcome to the sonic apocalypse, it’s time for the Viking War Trance – 2024 EU Tour, and it’s going be an absolute berserker raid on the senses!
Following the release of their latest album Hopium on August 23rd, the Italian progressive rockers KINGCROW are set to ignite stages across Europe this September with their 2024 dates. A journey not to be missed, the band’s relentless pursuit of musical innovation brings their mesmerizing soundscapes to life, echoing the intricate styles of classic acts such as Steven Wilson and The Pineapple Thief, al while bringing their completely unique twist.
Season of Mist welcomes Danheim! With roaring drums, ancient melodies, and the timeless whisper of Norse gods, Season of Mist proudly announces the signing of DANHEIM, the groundbreaking Nordic folk project helmed by Danish producer and musician, Reidar Schæfer Olsen.
When ANCIIENTS learned they’d won the 2018 JUNO for Metal/Hard Rock, the hard-hitting Canucks had just woken up in Vienna with eyes still caked in sludge after another blazing show on their headlining tour of Europe. The road to their new album has been longer and harder than anyone could’ve expected. But after six years of soul searching in the Canadian wilderness, at long last, the band have returned to the summit of progressive metal with the heavy, heady and heartfelt Beyond the Reach of the Sun.
BASK, the torchbearers of progressive psychedelic rock, are setting forth on a pilgrimage across Europe in 2024, carrying with them the echoes of their third and most cinematic album, ‘III.’ This tour promises not just a series of concerts but an experience that will transport audiences through the peaks and valleys of musical storytelling.
This month marks one year since Horrendous brought the metal realm to its knees in worship of Ontological Mysterium. After exploding from the underground in 2018 with the cultishly beloved Idol, last year, the Philadelphia death metal band were the toast of the genre’s critics.