Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Riena Country: Finland Label: Signal Rex Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2026 ‘Miekka Ja Varjo’ is the first sign of battle of Finland’s Riena. The band harbors the talents of Draghn and Woewerb, the latter who you…
Artist: Piołun Country: Poland Label: Malignant Voices Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 ‘Exolvuntur’ represents the second chapter in the discography of the Polish Black Metal band Piołun. That journey started in 2019 and led in 2022 to the debut…
Artist: Horns Of Abomination Country: USA Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 The cover art of this debut demo of Horns Of Abomination might not necessarily look evil, but musically this new band definitely has something to offer for those…
Artist: Hermetic Subjugator Country: Spain Label: Profaner Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 Hermetic Subjugator might be a new band, but the duo behind it are by no means rookies. Both gents have earned their stripes in the Spanish underground scene with such acts…
Artist: Haavrun Country: Bulgaria Label: Caligo Arcanum Productions / Hellvetic Carnage Productions Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 With ‘Total Demolition Of Feeble Souls’, the Bulgarian band Haavrun have now released their third demo tape. It’s always an exciting moment, because…
Artist: Necro Blade Country: USA Label: Goat Throne Records Formats: Demo CD Year: 2026 Admittedly, I missed this band’s debut demo from 2024, also released by Goat Throne Records, but I ran into this one and the combination of the…
Artist: Kerkerengel Country: Finland Label: Wizard’s Hat Publications Formats: Cassette tape Year: 2026 It’s been a year since the latest Warmoon Lord record surfaced, but main man Lord Vrăjitor did not waste time since to revisit one of his more…
Artist: Arckanum Country: Sweden Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2026 Johan S. Lahger began his career in metal in 1988, taking his place behind the drum kit in a band formed with three childhood friends, which they called Grotesque. Although…
Artist: Kalmankantaja Country: Finland Label: Wolfspell Records Formats: CD Year: 2026 Recent years have marked a rather diverse soundscape for Kalmankantaja, continuously enriching their atmospheric Black Metal discography with ever-expanding escapades towards Doom Metal territories. But while that always felt…
Artist: Mayhem Country: Norway Label: Century Media / Darkness Shall Rise Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2026 More than any other Black Metal scene, the Norwegians have shown that it not only comprises a large group…
Artist: Caedes Cruenta Country: Greece Label: Zombi Danz Records Formats: CD Year: 2026 Although having been a fan of Caedes Cruenta for a long time, I looked at this album with a bit of mixed feelings. Obviously I was very…
Artist: Bestial Catacombs Country: Thailand Label: Self-Released Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2026 If the word ‘bestial’ features in both your band name and the title of your debut EP, it’s not particularly difficult to guess what musical direction this Thai…
Artist: Kos Country: USA Label: Elf Eggs Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 Kos, one of the many projects by E., might be one of his most enigmatic musical endeavours so far. The two previously released demos sound quite different from…
Artist: Sol Sistere Country: Chile Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2026 Personally I ran into Sol Sistere when I randomly picked up the first two albums from one of the many Hammerheart Records sales, together I didn’t pay more…
Artist: Tulus Country: Norway Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2026 Oh dear, a new Tulus album. ‘Morbid Desires’ is the Norwegian’s eighth instalment and, frankly, it is quite hard to pinpoint the…
Artist: Mesnada Country: Spain Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2026 Admittedly, I had missed Mesnada’s untitled debut demo that was released earlier this year, as well as the two short releases that were put out in 2025 under the…
Artist: Last Rites Country: Germany Label: Narbentage Produktionen Formats: Cassette Tape Year: 2026 Depending on how you look at this release, you could call it either a compilation tape or a re-release of a demo. But regardless of how you choose…
Artist: Babylonian War Chant Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2026 This monochromatic cover with the large logo is quite a departure from Babylonian War Chant’s earlier output. All previous releases featured a cover depicting Assyrian, Mesopotamian or Babylonian engravings or scenes,…
Artist: Clementis / Eternal Ice Country: France / Japan Label: A Clockwork Apple Production Formats: Split CD Year: 2026 The ever-prolific Japanese Black Metal duo known as Eternal Ice is back with a new split. This time on CD through…
Artist: Teñvalded Country: France Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 Teñvalded debuted last April with a self-titled demo tape that contains a mix of both Dark Ambient and Dungeon Synth. Although it leaned more towards the latter and therefore…
Admittedly, the fact that I already had some warm contacts with the musicians who form the circle around Living Evil certainly helped me listen to the first demo of this relatively new band. With my preference for 80’s metal in…
Artist: Primordial Gate Country: Finland Label: Forest Gloom Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 Primordial Gate is a new solo-project by Yöpyöveli, who has gained a bit of traction in the underground Black Metal scene with his other project Bronze Hall, but is also active…
Artist: Talvi Country: Finland Label: Forest Gloom Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 From Finnish, “Talvi” translates to “Winter”, a very befitting name for a band from Finland, a country known for its harsh winter. Therefore it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s two bands…
Artist: Nathrath / CelticHammer Country: Spain Label: Bundushathûr Records Formats: Split Tape Year: 2026 ‘Décadas De Represión’ is a short split tape that brings together Nathrath and CelticHammer, two bands from the Gallaecia Kommando, a circle of bands from the Galicia region in…
Artist: Goatkraft Country: Norway Label: Deathrune Records Formats: CD EP Year: 2026 I said it before, not everything from Norway sounds like Borknagar, Arcturus or Ulver. Not quite. With ‘Barbed Wire Doctrine’, Goatkraft’s latest offering and follow-up to 2023’s ‘Prophet…
Let’s keep this brief: Cult Of Daath is among the most underrated American Extreme Metal bands. When one of the two brothers comes up with something new fifteen years after the last Cult Of Daath demo, I naturally jump at…
Artist: Crévüre Country: France Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 With ‘Le Dernier Messie’, the French one-man band Crévüre has already released its third demo tape within the relatively short span of four months. Whilst Crévüre’s Raw Black Metal may not be of the…
Artist: Amputorium Country: Belgium Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 Although nothing official has yet been announced about Amputorium, you don’t need to be a genius to piece things together regarding this new band. Not only…
Artist: Kūkāʻilimoku Country: USA Label: Goatowarex / Nithstang Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape Year: 2026 Over the past years, basically since this solo-project’s inception in 2019, Kūka’ilimoku has been attracting attention from underground Black Metal fans from various directions.…
Artist: Black Cilice Country: Portugal Label: Altare Productions / Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2026 When Black Cilice hit the underground scene with their first two albums in the first half of the 10s,…
Artist: Whitemoon Country: Poland Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: 12″ EP / CD EP Year: 2026 With Whitemoon, we have yet another impressively good band from the equally impressive Polish Black Metal scene. Although it is not entirely clear to…
Artist: Occult Mountain Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2026 Fallen Warrior, the only musician behind Occult Mountain, is one of such people who seem to have more hours in a day and more days in a week…
Artist: Beast Majesty Country: Peru Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2026 Beast Majesty might be a new band in the Extreme Metal scene, but the only person behind it is far from a newcomer. The wild child helming this…
Artist: Bewitched Country: Sweden Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2026 In the mid-90s, Osmose Productions was arguably the leading force when it came to offering quality releases and setting trends within the realm of…
Good things tend to take time. I wouldn’t necessarily compare Abominator to an exquisite wine or anything of that nature, but apparently it’s quite common for the finer wines to be left to age for ten years. That’s exactly how…
Artist: Blood Serpent Country: Vietnam Label: House Of Ygra Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 After a good debut album back in 2023 and an enjoyable split CD with Iron Bludgeon in 2025, both released by the enigmatic House Of Ygra label, the Vietnamese noise mongers…
Artist: Division 52 Country: Germany Label: Rat Covenant / Southern Soundclash Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2026 This is an EP I’ve been looking forward to for a while. ‘Total War’ is the debut release from the German duo who perform…
Artist: Black Rock Country: Finland Label: Planet Of Judgement Records Formats: CD Year: 2026 Behind this band, with the rather uninspiring name Black Rock, lies a duo who, in this line-up, have been regularly unleashing their primitive-style Black Metal upon the world since 2012. Although…
Artist: Ashes Country: Poland Label: Malignant Voices Formats: CD Year: 2026 Earlier in the year, Ashes presented their third album. Titled ‘Into the Woodlands’, it marked yet again a change in vocalist. After Vann sang on the eponymous debut album…
Artist: Enevelde / Gjendød Country: Norway Label: Terratur Possessions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 Some years ago, Terratur Possessions used to frequently release splits. But since the last one (between Whoredom Rife and Taake) dated from 2020 it seemed…
Artist: AntiHuman Industries Country: Finland Label: W.T.C. Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 Behind the moniker of AntiHuman Industries is a line-up that would make the average adorer of the Finnish Black Metal scene salivate. On vocals we find…
Artist: Morgal Country: Finland Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2026 I thoroughly enjoyed the over the top ferocity and speed on Morgal’s ‘Nightmare Lord’, the band’s debut full-length released in 2021 on Werewolf Records.…
Artist: Devil’s Emissary Country: Poland Label: Putrid Cult Formats: CD EP Year: 2026 With two albums in 2013 and 2014, ‘Malignant Invocation’ (Under The Sign Of Garazel Productions) and ‘Evangelic Decimations’ (through the same label) respectively, and the ‘Demiurge Asceticism’-…
Artist: Mordberg Country: Germany Label: Sturmglanz Black Metal Manufaktur Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2026 As I write this, the temperature is almost at 30 degrees, and I’m trying to do as little as possible and keep the…
Artist: Stygian Storm Country: Spain Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2025 Although Stygian Storm’s debut album was preceded by a demo tape released in the fall of 2023, it was primarily ‘The Flame Of Rebellion Never Dies’, released in the summer…
Artist: Geheimnisvoll Country: USA Label: Obscurant Visions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 Over the course of just a few years, Geheimnisvoll has emerged as one of the most celebrated Black Metal bands on the North American continent. Although ‘Pale…
Artist: Countess Country: The Netherlands Label: Self-Released Formats: CD Year: 2026 For fans of straightforward Black Metal with a nod to the past and a thick, heavy Pagan vibe, Countess is a solid fixture in their lives. For years now,…
Artist: Antichrist Siege Machine Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2026 Within the Bestial Black/Death Metal genre, few bands are currently as popular as the American group Antichrist Siege Machine. Although the band has been around for over…
Artist: Blood Spirit Country: Australia Label: Dark Adversary Formats: CD Year: 2026 Just a couple of weeks after the release of the ‘Zeal For Blood’ demo tape, this Australian band is back again to present their debut full-length album. Composed…
If you are even remotely interested in underground metal, then you couldn’t have missed Sexmag over the past year. Not only was there a lot of enthusiasm online, especially for ‘Sexorcyzm’, the band’s debut album, but Sexmag was also impossible…