Belgian rock pride Black Mirrors finally came with some new music last week! Their single ‘Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You’ is the first revealed track of their announced new album ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ and promises us quite the banger of an album to follow up their highly praised debut album ‘Look into the Black Mirror’. They still are all about that bluesy/stoner kind of rock, but it’s clear with this first single that the band has evolved quite a bit, getting more and more an own unique identity. While the influences of for instance QOTSA are still there, they added a grunge-like rawness in this track that especially with certain vocal lines have a very Hole-esque feel. And so damn catchy, some of the lines have been haunting our heads the whole week! Add to that the video that gives you somewhat of an idea of the energy you get at their live shows and we were sold! If this is an indication of what is to come with the new album, we’re all there for it! 

The new album ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ is scheduled for release on November 4, 2022 via Napalm Records. Pre-Order here: https://lnk.to/BM-TWBWU

The brand new single ‘Downhearted‘ of the quite legendary Before The Dawn is not just an ordinary single release. The track came with the announcement that 10  years after their last album ‘Rise of the Phoenix’, the band is working on a brand new album, to be released next year! And on top of that, the line-up got reinforced by no one less than Paavo Laapotti. A Voice of Finland 2022 finalist who impressed people all over the country with his singing, including Tuomas and the other members. Especially when he brought a majestic version of the BtD track ‘Deadsong‘. The single itself brings everything a fan might hope for: the signature Before The Dawn melancholy that has undergone an update into BtD 4.0 without losing any of its former glory and power. Just like many people around the world, we’re getting really excited about this and can’t wait to hear more!

Latvian folk metal outfit Skyforger came back to our attention in a pretty impressive way this week with their brand new single ‘Lec, eglīte / Jump, Fir Tree‘, the first new music in over half a decade and quite the satisfying piece of music for anyone who loves some good folk. The collaboration with fellow pagans from the folk collective Skandinieki really paid off in a pretty epic and exciting rendition of the ancient Latvian song mixing some great heavy metal with gorgeous and captivating folk. Add to that the video that is absolutely stunning and we’re all in! We highly recommend you to check it out! We’re not sure if this means there’s a new album coming, but if there is, this got us really excited about it!

Among the many independent black metal artists that get promoted on the Youtube channel ‘Black Metal Promotion’, the music video/single ‘Serpent’s’ of Belarusian outfit Ciemra really caught our attention. Their slow, haunting and foreboding kind of black metal really strikes a chord with us and the matching video showing a mysterious hooded group of musicians fronted by a vocalist that looks like Death incarnate gives of a visceral feeling of darkness. You might say “another one of those hooded/masked black metal bands”, but we feel there’s something about this act. They recently released a 2 track EP with ‘Agony Blasphemy’ and we’re looking forward to their full-length ‘The Tread of Darkness’ coming out later this year! All hail!

It’s not too long ago that Heilung has released another magical album. But if you need more of this kind of pagan inspired folk music (Who are we kidding here? Of course you need more of it), the Dutch pagan folk outfit Sowulo released their brand new full-length album ‘Wurdiz’ earlier this month. If you need a taste before you go all in, last week was the perfect timing with the single ‘Begalan’ and matching music video! Mesmerizing chants, beat-driven trance-inducing music and a gorgeous video, everything you want to connect with your ancestors or on a walk in nature. Please check them out and support, they really deserve the attention!

The Belgian post-metal outfit Psychonaut has been one of our favorite new bands of the past couple of years, with their full-length ‘Unfold the God of Man‘ named as our 2021 album of the year (check the article out here). So having these guys release a new single and video with ‘Violate Consensus Reality‘ is already reason enough to be part of this list. But adding to that, the title track of their upcoming new album features guest vocals by Stefanie Mannaerts from another band on the rise: Brutus, and Colin H. Van Eeckhout from the already highly popular Amenra. The addition of Stefanie‘s voice in the track brings their knack to create stunning atmospheres to a whole other level, and Colin‘s signature tortured screams later in the song makes the song explode with an unbridled kind of intensity. Together with their first single ‘Interbeing’, this is quickly making their upcoming album one of the most anticipated pieces of music of 2022’s Fall.

Psychonaut‘s new album ‘Violate Consensus Reality‘ is set for release on October 28 via Pelagic Records. Get your pre-orders in now here.

Quickly approaching the Halloween season and the release of the brand new album of Wednesday 13, another great single of this master of horror metal/punk was unleashed upon the world with ‘Insides Out’, including a rather horrifying video. The slow, dark and heavy track will make you quickly nod along and get drawn into a world of eeriness and darkness. He truly has honed down his craft in creating these kind of epically haunting tracks and could easily be counted as one of the present masters of the genre. Just check out the track and the video for your weekly dose of gore!

Wednesday 13‘s new album ‘Horrifier’ is set for release on October 7 via Napalm Records. Get your pre-orders in here.

Sadly for the European fans, Wednesday 13 won’t make it to our shores with the Ministry tour they were a special guest for has been canceled. Fingers crossed that we can welcome the master of horror on this side of the ocean soon!