Tales From The Underground
Tales From The Underground
Artist: Doodswens Country: The Netherlands Label: Svart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 I’d go so far as to say that, given all the touring and the mild hype surrounding Doodswens, I was, if anything, surprised that the band took five years to…
Artist: Weresatan Country: Canada Label: Defiled Altar Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 From the ever-thriving Canadian Extreme Metal scene, here’s yet another new band that adds to the country’s metal landscape. Canada may well be the only civilised country in…
Artist: Nuclearhammer Country: Canada Label: Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: 12″ EP / CD EP Year: 2026 Three years after the release of Nuclearhammer’s last sign of life, the ‘Xaos Tenawas’ demo, released on Nuclear War Now! Productions, the illustrious duo…
Artist: Kurjuus Country: Finland Label: Self-Released Formats: CDR Year: 2026 ‘Uneen Eksynyt’ is already the second full-length release that the prolific Finnish one-man band Kurjuus has unleashed on us this year. Yet in almost every conceivable respect, this release is…
Artist: Alliberant Country: Spain Label: Altare Productions Formats: Cassette Tape Year: 2026 Although Alliberant officially operates under the Spanish flag, the two gentlemen behind this relatively new band will not appreciate this geographical classification. Like many Black Metal bands from…
Artist: Bloodgargling Country: Germany Label: Astral Nightmare Productions / Rat Covenant Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2026 Non-Scandinavian bands that do go for Scandinavian band names and titles don’t usually stand out for their originality. Black Metal bands from the northern…
Artist: Diabolic Oath Country: USA Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories Formats: 12″ EP /Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2026 I must admit that, despite being very familiar with Diabolic Oath’s previous work, I found this new EP, released by Sentient…
Artist: Horn Country: Germany Label: Northern Silence Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 Although Horn do not follow the same musical path as the pioneers of the pagan strand of metal, and are therefore not comparable to bands such as Bathory, Thyrfing or Falkenbach,…
Artist: Moonfall / Cult Of Eibon Country: Finland / Freece Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: Split LP / Split CD Year: 2026 Although the brief text accompanying this split mentions that it follows in the tradition of classic, cult split…
Artist: Primordial Intolerance Country: Canada Label: Green Matter Records Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 When listening to ‘Antipodean Evasion Tactics’, Primordial Intolerance’s debut demo tape, and knowing that they are from Quebec, Canada, it’s not unreasonable to think first of…
Artist: Vafurlogi Country: Iceland Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli / Oration Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 ‘Gneisti af eldi Guðs’, the sophomore album of Vafurlogi, arrives just two years after the debut ‘Í Vökulli Áþján’. Since then, the Icelandic…
Artist: Unholy Black Pentagram Country: Spain Label: WolfKult Religion Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2026 While perhaps historically not the most active outside some stoic stalwarts keeping the banner high, one can certainly speak of quite a productive time for the…
Artist: Blótskål Country: The Netherlands Label: WolfKult Religion Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2026 The Blótskål originates from the old Norse words blót and skál, and joined together translates to something like sacrificial bowl. It was central to the blót, a…
Artist: Funeral Moon / Gaalvan Country: Germany Label: Crimson Reign Records Formats: Split Cassette Tape Year: 2026 Just as on previous occasions, we haven’t had to wait long for new work from Gaalvan; just three months after the release of…
Artist: Necro Ritus Country: Finland Label: Wolfkult Religion Formats: Demo tape Year: 2026 ‘Born by Evil Blood’ combines the ‘Beast Unleashed’ and ‘Temple of Fornication’ demos, the first two Necro Ritus releases, onto one Cassette. This band was spawned in…
Artist: Chamber Of Unlight Country: Finland Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 That a new Chamber of Unlight album was inbound comes as no surprise, as the band already teased a new track in 2023 in the…
Artist: Sadistic Evil Country: Finland Label: Wolfkult Religion Formats: Demo tape Year: 2026 Sadistic Evil is one of the many outlets of Behemoth, a gentleman that has made his mark on Finnish Black Metal since 1991 in bands such as…
When we talk about French Black Metal, we quickly end up discussing bands such as Mütiilation, Deathspell Omega, and Antaeus, for example, but in a previous interview, I already mentioned that excellent bands such as Merrimack and Hell Militia sometimes…
Artist: Thy Killing Hand Country: Poland Label: End All Life Productions / Norma Evangelium Diaboli Formats: LP / CD Year: 2026 Thy Killing Hand is a relatively new Polish band that after two demos now releases their debut full-length album…
Artist: Inferno Country: Czechia Label: Debemur Morti Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2026 For a discography marked by radical change, one that transitioned from crude Black Metal to a sophisticated and enveloping listening experience over the…
Artist: Witchcraft / BlackStream Country: Finland / Italy Label: WolfKult Religion Formats: Split 12” LP Year: 2026 Capping off a set of Witchcraft releases on WolfKult Religion is ‘House of Sacrilege’, a split release that was already launched in January…
Artist: Twilight Stronghold Country: France Label: The Weeping Kingdom Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2026 Although Twilight Stronghold released their first demo back in 2021, followed by three split releases and a compilation featuring those tracks, I can imagine that for…
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…