Unohdus – Niin Turhaan Tähdet Valaisivat Meitä [Demo]

Artist: UnohdusCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 With two tracks spanning a total of 8 minutes, Finland’s Unohdus’ arrival on the Black Metal scene is short but sweet. The atmospheric Black Metal in these two songs shows the one-man band…

Kalmankantaja – Surun Saattomailla

Artist: KalmankantajaCountry: FinlandLabel: HammerbundFormats: CDYear: 2023 With the arrival of ‘Surun Saattomailla’, the second Kalmankantaja album of 2023 and 24th full-length in total sees its release. Often working with in particular different vocalists, this time we once again find Grim666 taking…

Cirith Gorgor – Cirith Gorgor MMXXII [Reissue]

Artist: Cirith GorgorCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Heidens Hart Records / Ketzer RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Almost like no other Black Metal band from the Dutch scene, Cirith Gorgor turned out to be the child of its time. When they put…

Putrifier – Pr​æ​cidistis Regeneratio [EP]

Artist: Putrifier Country: Chile Label: Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 This EP, that clocks just under the 18 minute mark, is the debut for Chilean Black/Death Metal band Putrifier. The first thing I thought of when I…

Øde – Bleg Og Ensom

Artist: Øde Country: Germany Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Year: 2023 This new band, which emerged from the German Black Metal scene in 2022, is formed by a pair who have already gained some experience in a number of other Black…

Dawn’s Reflection – Demo MMXXIII [Demo]

Artist: Dawn’s ReflectionCountry: USALabel: Cryptic Shield VaultFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 ‘Demo MMXXIII’ is not only the first demo of this Richmond, Virginia, USA based Black Metal band, but also for its label, Cryptic Shield Vault. Of both entities there is…

Voidhand – Demo I

Artist: VoidhandCountry: UnknownLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 There is exactly nothing at all on the internet about this new Black Metal act. It is completely unknown where it comes from and its musical origins. What is clear though, given the…

Mystic Veil – What Misery Thou Art Fallen [Demo]

Artist: Mystic Veil Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2022 With ‘What Misery Thou Art Fallen’ the duo behind the American Raw Black Metal band Mystic Veil reveal their first offering, a one-track demo with a total playing…

Paimon Gate – Seven Legions [Demo]

Artist: Paimon Gate Country: USA Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape Year: 2022 Last year the debut EP for Paimon Gate was released through Nuclear War Now! Productions on the three most popular physical formats, showing…

Wolvëin – Blasphemous Werewolf [Demo]

Artist: WolvëinCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 Observing the red/black aesthetic of the cover and adding the Dungeon Synth intro, there is really nothing else to expect but Raw Black Metal in the late 90s tradition with a penchant for…

Azgarath – Old [EP]

Artist: AzgarathCountry: FranceLabel: ChaoscibelFormats: CD EPYear: 2023 Azgarath’s first EP and debut album were released by France d’Oil Productions, a label run by Dunkel, an active figure in the French Black Metal underground, known among others for Sale Freux, Drakonhail…

Vindalf – Ancient Spell Of Darkness

Artist: VindalfCountry: ChileLabel: Signal RexFormats: CDYear: 2022 After having released a couple of singles/EP’s Vindalf released its debut album in 2021 and sees its return a year later with no less than two albums that saw the dark of night…

Ieschure – Evil Spirit [Single]

Artist: Ieschure Country: Ukraine Label: Self-Released Formats: Cassette single Year: 2023 Hot on the heels of Ieschure’s ‘The Mystic Fields’ EP from early January of this year, Lilita Arndt treats us with yet another new release. This time it is…

Burialkult – Infernal Death Manifest

Artist: BurialkultCountry: CanadaLabel: Drakkar ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 It has been over a decade since I first and last heard of the Canadian Black/Death Metal band Burialkult. The band released an EP and full-length album in 2012 and 2013…

Profanatica – Pale Fuck [EP]

Artist: Profanatica Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2022 When it comes to American Black Metal or Black Metal of the most depraved kind, Profanatica is a band to be reckoned with. Ever since their first…

Funeral Winds – Stigmata Mali

Artist: Funeral WindsCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 One of the most important bands in the development of Dutch Black Metal is without a glimmer of a doubt Funeral Winds. Though now operating out…

Vengeance Hammer – Preemptive Assault [Demo]

Artist: Vengeance HammerCountry: USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 You can just take the band name, Vengeance Hammer, add to that the gruesome cover art, and if you also keep in mind that the lyrics deal with nuclear war, diseases and…

Krusifoitu – Demo ’23

Artist: Krusifoitu Country: Finland Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 With ‘Demo ‘23’ the four-piece Death Metal band from the Finnish capitol of Helsinki brings forth their first recording. The six tracks clock in at a total playing time…

Bræ – Av Vålnader Bortom Allt

Artist: BræCountry: Belgium / SwedenLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2023 The debut album of Bræ entitled ‘A Thousand Ways to End it all’ was released in 2021 without any background information about the band. For the follow-up ‘Av Vålnader Bortom…

Bræ – A Thousand Ways to End it all

Artist: BræCountry: Belgium / SwedenLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2021 When the new Bræ album caught my eye, the boss of VM Underground was kind enough to point out that the review material of their debut album ‘A Thousand Ways…

Haunting Figure – Demo I [Re-Release]

Artist: Haunting Figure Country: USA Label: Primitive Propaganda Formats: Demo tape Year: 2023 Haunting Figure is a new band from Providence, Rhode Island, USA. That is pretty much all the information available about this act, otherwise it shrouds itself in…

Sulphuric Night – Black Metal Tyranny [EP]

Artist: Sulphuric NightCountry: Bosnia and HerzegovinaLabel: Black Gangrene ProductionsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2023 Evil is stirring in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Black Metal community called the Black Plague Circle has been surfacing over the last few years, releasing…

Vital Spirit – Still As The Night, Cold As The Wind

Artist: Vital SpiritCountry: CanadaLabel: Hidden Tribe / Vendetta RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Canadian Black Metal is getting more and more popular, and rightfully so, as their quite sophisticated approach to the genre is offering the listener…

Kiira – I​ä​tt​ö​m​ä​n Sanat

Artist: KiiraCountry: FinlandLabel: Amor Fati Productions / Out Of The DungeonFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 With the release of their debut album ‘Tulkoon Yö / Talviyö’, Kiira performed a work based on the contemplation of Bláinn, who was perceived as…

Kiira / Svartsejd – Kiira / Svartsejd [Split]

Artist: Kiira / SvartsejdCountry: Finland / SwedenLabel: AvgrundsklangerFormats: Split cassette tape Year: 2022 The bands Svartsejd and Kiira are far from strangers from each other. Although they were formed separately in 2010 and 2011 respectively and even originate from different…

Dungeon Keeper – Fortress Of Evil [Demo]

Artist: Dungeon KeeperCountry: GermanyLabel: Kellerassel RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2023 I remember when I first got into extreme metal and starting jamming out the tunes of Hellhammer’s ‘Apocalyptic Raids’ somewhere at the end of the 90’s, my two younger brothers were playing video games. One of…

Grieve – Wolves of the Northern Moon

Artist: GrieveCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 In 2022, Grieve appeared to have drawn their last breath. The band, consisting of Finnish Black Metal icons Werwolf (Satanic Warmaster and many more) and v-Khaoz (Vargrav and numerous others) had announced that…

Tetrasigil – Forest Storm

Artist: TetrasigilCountry: FinlandLabel: Amor Fati Productions / KuunpalvelusFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 When Luxixul Sumering Auter put an end to Cosmic Church in 2017 it opened room for him to focus on some of his other projects. Frozen Graves released…

Mistcavern – Into Twilight [EP]

Artist: MistcavernCountry: HungaryLabel: A Fine Day To Die Records, Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 The Hungarian four-piece band Mistcavern was formed in 2019, and straight away released a pretty phenomenal demo called ‘Winds…

Bjes – Prázdnota [EP]

Artist: BjesCountry: Czech RepublicLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 For the Czech band Bjes, the self-released EP ‘Prázdnota’ is their first release. With a release title that translates to ‘Emptiness’ you might be tempted to think the tone of the band’s…

Genocidal Rites – Exsanguination Of The Gods [EP]

Artist: Genocidal Rites Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 With one demo and one EP, both originally only released digitally by the band themselves and the latter one also been issued on cassette tape by…

Deiphage – Nuclear Cavalry [EP]

Artist: DeiphageCountry: USALabel: Propagator PropagandaFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2023 When I first encountered this band I though, for a very brief moment, that the band name was spelled wrong and that this was new material of the Hells…

Scourge Lair – Calamities

Artist: Scourge LairCountry: FinlandLabel: Nuclear War Now! ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2022 Scourge Lair caught the attention of the esteemed Nuclear War Now! Productions with the release of their 2019 demo ‘One Hundred Eyes One Hundred Arms’. That demo was the second…

Ründgard – Ulvmonddomānen

Artist: Ründgard Country: Chile Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 Multi-instrumentalist and ultimate blackaholic Lord Valtgryftåke has released quite an impressing slew of releases over the last couple of months. Amongst his latest offerings we do find the…

Spectral Whisper – Enchantress of Black Curses

Artist: Spectral WhisperCountry: GermanyLabel: Astral Nightmare ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Spectral Whisper was a band from Germany that was formed in 2017 and featured at least one member in the shape of Frater Noxathra. In 2020 the band name was changed…

Insikt – Wanderings through a Cursed Mind

Artist: InsiktCountry: SwedenLabel: Amor Fati Productions / Mysticism ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Insikt is one of the many vessels of Swedish Black Metal mastermind Swartadauþuz, of which the first and thus far only release ‘Wanderings Through a Cursed Mind’…

Greve – Föllo Afv Svavel Lifvets Dimridå

Artist: GreveCountry: SwedenLabel: Mysticism Productions / Purity Through FireFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Those with a weak spot for Black Metal will undoubtedly have heard one or more bands featuring the Swedish multi-instrumentalist Swartadauþuz, who also runs Ancient Records and Mysticism Productions.…

Funeral Frost – Queen of Frost [Reissue]

Artist: Crimson EvenfallCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2023 Funeral Frost operated in the early days of the Swedish Black Metal scene, being formed in 1993. Their two demos and promo eventually led to the release of the 1996 debut album…

Morcaint – Elessar [EP]

Artist: MorcaintCountry: SwedenLabel: Nordvis ProduktionFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 In 2008, Ulvtyr and Heruhim formed the band Morcaint. Together, they started work on an album which they wrote, but ultimately never recorded. And so, the project was put on hold, while…

Carpathian Wrath – The Son Of The Dragon [Reissue]

Artist: Carpathian WrathCountry: Puerto RicoLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Carpathian Wrath is a three-piece Black Metal band from Puerto Rico. Probably not quite the place you that you will come up with when you think of classic 90’s “Vampyric Black Metal”. It also…

Daemonlust – Daemonlust

Artist: DaemonlustCountry: FinlandLabel: Out Of The DungeonFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Though the band was already founded back in 2006, Daemonlust is not quite a very well known band within the Finnish Black Metal scene. The fact that…