Swedish heavy metal force A.Y.M proudly presents the release of their brand-new EP Are You Ready, now available worldwide on all digital platforms.
Formed in Växjö in 2023, A.Y.M brings together five seasoned musicians from the Swedish hard rock and heavy metal circuit: Alex Vince (vocals), Oskar Hollingsworth (guitar), Tony Pettersson (guitar), Christoffer Elofsson (bass), and Johan Svensson (drums).
With many shows under their belts across Sweden, Europe, and beyond, the members of A.Y.M have united under one mission: to prove that heavy metal is very much alive. Their sound blends powerful riffs, thunderous rhythms, and undeniable hooks—crafted to make audiences bang their heads and sing along in unison.
“Are You Ready” EP captures the raw energy of the band’s live presence while delivering sharp songwriting and anthemic choruses. Featuring tracks like “We Wear the Crown” and the title track “Are You Ready”, the record embodies everything fans crave from modern heavy metal: power, passion, and authenticity.
Since their formation in 2009, Der Weg einer Freiheit have carved out a singular place in modern black metal. While rooted in the genre’s foundations, the band are constantly evolving. Now, following their last critically-acclaimed LP, they’re once again pushing boundaries by turning inward on their intense and introspective new album.
“…it’s clear that they’re now fully engaged in a process of sonic and spiritual evolution that just might be the start of a whole new direction for their sound”, No Clean Singing writes in a review of Innern.
“It is undeniable a powerful experience…” says Pavillon 666.
“With Innern, Der Weg einer Freiheit once again deliver an album that combines the harshness of black metal with the atmospheric textures of post-metal, shaping them into highly integrated songs”, Obliveonapplauds in a 9/10 review.
Innern was released today, September 12 on Season of Mist, and you can hear all six piercing tracks by listening to the full album stream on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.
Formed in 2009 by guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter Nikita Kamprad, Der Weg einer Freiheit has risen from the underground to become one of Europe’s most essential black metal voices. With Innern, the band turns its gaze inward, refining its signature fusion of blistering intensity and melancholic grandeur while embracing moments of atmospheric serenity.
Across six tracks, Innern traverses cycles of collapse and emergence. Opener “Marter” embodies torment and catharsis, surrendering pain into the infinite cosmos. “Eos” offers a meditation on destruction and renewal, envisioning nature reclaiming the devastation of war. “Xibalba” confronts the machinery of fear and propaganda, invoking mythological imagery to urge a return to the core of human essence. “Fragment” reflects on incompleteness and the search for clarity, while “Forlorn” emerges as a vulnerable plea for emotional refuge.
In light of their introspective new journey, Der Weg Einer Freiheit are embarking on a headlining tour of Europe this fall in support of Innern. Joining the band as a special on this run are their fellow post-black metal Germans in Heretoir.
Next year, the band will finally make their long-awaited return to the U.S. with their first-ever performance at Maryland Deathfest.
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT – INNERN FALL TOUR 2025: September 18 – Dresden, DE @ Chemiefabrik September 19 – Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen September 20 – Prague, CZ @ Rock Café September 21 – Munich, DE @ Backstage September 22 – Leipzig, DE @ Werk 2 September 23 – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse September 24 – Vienna, AT @ Szene September 25 – Zurich, CH @ Dynamo September 26 – Geneva, CH @ PTR/L’Usine September 27 – Grenoble, FR @ Ampérage September 28 – Paris, FR @ Le Petit Bain September 29 – Ludwigsburg, DE @ Scala September 30 – Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof October 1 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust October 2 – Tilburg, NL @ 013 October 3 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat October 4 – Bochum, DE @ Christuskirche
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT @ Maryland Deathfest May 21-24 – Baltimore, MD
With Innern, their sixth studio album, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT return with their most introspective and compositionally expansive work to date. A meditation on suffering, transformation, and the fragile thresholds of the human psyche, Innern refines the band’s signature blend of black metal intensity and post-metal atmosphere. The title, German for “inward”, anchors the album’s conceptual weight: a turning away from the external, into a realm of personal reckoning,silence, and renewal. Across six meticulously crafted tracks, the band explores cycles of disintegration and emergence, inviting listeners to confront the deep and often contradictory nature of existence itself.
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT formed in Würzburg, Germany in 2009, the brainchild of guitarist and composer Nikita Kamprad and original vocalist Tobias Jaschinsky. The band’s early beginnings were humble but explosive: their self-released debut quickly sold out, drawing attention across the underground metal scene. A reissue in 2010 with newly recorded drum parts by Christian Bass(Heaven Shall Burn, ex-Night in Gales) established the band’s first official lineup and led to extensive touring across Germany and Europe. From the outset, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT were set apart not just by their technical prowess, but by a philosophical inclination that would become the band’s artistic hallmark.
Their 2012 sophomore album, Unstille, expanded on their debut’s melodic harshness, while introducing a deeper emotional weight. It also marked the first appearance of drummer Tobias Schuler, whose intricate and expressive playing would become central to the band’s identity. Though vocals on Unstille were still performed by Tobias Jaschinsky, he would leave the band shortly after its release. Kamprad took over vocal duties in the months that followed, stepping into the role of frontman in time for the writing and recording of their next album.
Stellar, released in 2015 via Season of Mist, solidified the band’s stature within the modern black metal landscape. Drawing from post-rock and progressive influences, the album embraced wider dynamics and cinematic structures,aligning them with the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room and Deafheaven, without sacrificing their own Germanic rigor and introspection.
In 2017, Finisterre signaled a conceptual leap forward. It confronted themes of isolation, personal dissolution, and spiritual finality across sprawling arrangements and stark tonal shifts. This period saw further lineup changes, with the departure of guitarist Sascha Rissling and bassist Giuliano Barbieri, and the arrival of Nicolas Rausch and Nicolas Ziska. Finisterre also marked their first chart placement in Germany and set the stage for increasingly ambitious live performances.
A live album, Live in Berlin (2019), captured the raw power and cathartic energy of the band’s concerts, affirming their reputation for immersive, emotionally charged performances. But it was Noktvrn, released in 2021, that truly redefined what DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT could become. Inspired by the ambiguous state between wakefulness and dreams, and drawing influence from classical composers such as Chopin and Arvo Pärt, the album saw Kamprad experiment with clean vocals and subdued textures. It was both a thematic and sonic breakthrough and was received by critics as their most refined and contemplative release to date.
Now, with Innern, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT move even deeper into the abyss. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Kamprad in his own studio, the album is an intensely focused work.”Eos,” the album’s lead single, contrasts war and renewal, imagining a post-human earth fertilized by sacrifice and reclaimed by nature.”Marter” follows as a searing portrayal of inner torment and emotional release—suffering not only as a source of agony, but as a path toward transcendence. “Xibalba” then confronts the machinery of fear—media,propaganda, and spiritual fragmentation—urging a return to our collective essence through introspection and clarity. And with “Forlorn,” the band delivers their most vulnerable statement yet: a delicate plea for emotional refuge, sung in English to underscore its universality. The album also marks the studio debut of bassist Alan Noruspur, whose presence brings anew emotional and personal depth to the band’s sound.
Musically, Innern leans into contrast and contradiction. Kamprad and Rausch’s guitar interplay oscillates between searing aggression and elegiac restraint. Noruspur’s basslines pulse with warmth and gravity, while Schuler’s drumming remains as meticulous as ever-bridging technicality with emotional nuance. The album’s production captures a sense of immediacy and live energy, yet remains rich in detail and atmosphere. It is not merely a refinement of past styles, but are invention—one that places the listener in direct confrontation with the void.
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT stand now at the peak of a fifteen-year evolution.Their music is as concerned with silence as it is with sound, as shaped by introspection as by fury. As they prepare to bring Innern to European stages in autumn 2025, they do so not as provocateurs of extremity, but as artists navigating the fragile space between collapse and clarity. In a genre often defined by spectacle, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT remain committed to vulnerability, transformation, and truth.
Lineup:
Nikita Kamprad — Vocals, Guitars
Nicolas Rausch — Guitars
Alan Noruspur — Bass
Tobias Schuler — Drums
Production Credits: Recorded, mixed & mastered in Würzburg, Germany by Nikita Kamprad. Drums recorded separately at Studio Weißmann, Würzburg, Germany.
The singer – guitar player Valtteri Saharinen tells about the track:
“The core idea behind This Is Our War came together pretty easily. The goal was to create an intense track where we wouldn’t hold back—neither lyrically nor musically. Instead, we wanted to let everything out, raw and unfiltered. Maybe that’s why the song feels like a full-on adrenaline rush—like punching a heavy bag with bare fists until your knuckles bleed and your hands are torn to shreds.
Where exactly this kind of aggression stems from is a good question. But like with all our previous songs, there’s always a piece of real life in there—things we’ve lived through ourselves or seen up close. It’s that raw experience that inspires us and demands to be let out—onto the page, the guitar fretboard, or through a drumstick smashing into a drumhead.
This Is Our War succeeds in doing exactly what we set out to do: capturing pure, unrestrained rage in under four minutes.
Everyone will find their own meaning in the lyrics and the mood—this is how we see it.”
Justice Theory started as a thrash metal band in 2012. After that they have moved towards more melodic approach without forgetting their thrash metal past. They have released around dozen singles and EP releases.
After shaking the scene with the devastating “Fallen” (Wanikiya Record), Walls of Babylon continue their musical journey and are ready to return with a brand-new chapter: “Aeons Apart”, a powerful and ambitious work. Coming soon on Wanikiya Record.
The band on the album:
“This isn’t just a collection of songs. It’s a tapestry of stories, each track a different chapter, each one connected in subtle, unexpected ways. Together, they form a journey through memory, loss, hope, and transformation. We were lucky to have our friend Marco Ricco (Icon of Ember) onboard as the architect of the concept and lyrics. He’s been our very own “Paul O’Neill”, helping shape the emotional core of this record and weaving the narrative threads that tie it all together.”
TRACKLIST:
Silent Guilt
Eternal Hunt
Tales of Luminescence
Ashen Hero
Starblight
Once Again
Lies to Gold
Blood for Blood
Epilogue
From the Beginning to the Present
Formed at the end of 2013, Walls of Babylon have always aimed to carve out a place of honor in the metal scene, building a unique sound that blends various influences on a solid progressive power foundation.
Their path has been marked by works of strong identity:
2015 – The Dark Embrace: their debut, already defining the band’s dark and melodic traits.
2018 – A Portrait Of Memories (Revalve Records): their first true international step, featuring more complex sounds and mature songwriting.
2020 – Fallen (Wanikiya Record): a dark, visionary concept album narrating humanity’s downfall, caused by a hidden gland in the human brain, “The God Switch,” capable of unleashing the most primal impulses and driving mankind towards extinction.
An album that established Walls of Babylon as a solid force, able to combine conceptual storytelling with sonic power.
Today, a New Era is About to Begin
With “Aeons Apart”, the band is ready to push beyond their limits, promising an album that will strike the deepest chords of the metal soul, with epic, dark, and modern atmospheres.
Current Line-up Valerio Gaoni – Vocals Fabiano Pietrini – Guitar Francesco Pellegrini – Lead Guitar Matteo Carovana – Bass Marco Barbarossa – Drums
Photo by Heidi Tuulia Photography @portraitsbyheidituulia
Finnish stoner/punk rock band Alkemia is set to release their debut EP which is named simply as “Alkemia EP”. The release date is October 24th 2025 and it will come out via Inverse Records. The first single ‘Höyrypää’ is unleashed today with a music video which is available below.
The band comments: “The inspiration for Höyrypää was the life of Motörhead’sLemmy. The song can be seen as depicting a desperate run from death on a steep mountainside. This is, of course, better than running day after day in a hamster wheel.”
Metal Hall of Fame inductee, Blaze Bayley, is proud to confirm eleven shows in ten cities / ten countries, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of “X Factor”, the 10th album release by Iron Maiden.
Blaze, who fronted Maiden during 1994-1999, when the band ushered in its’ darker, more introspective and progressive period, will play the album in full, plus the rare ‘B sides’ at ten carefully selected locations. This landmark tour gives fans an exciting once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the album performed live in its entirety.
Here’s the tour schedule, including an exclusive in each of the countries listed:
October 2025 2nd: GERMANY, Wurzburg, Keep It True Festival 10th: NORWAY, Hamar, Oslo, Festiviteten 11th: SWEDEN, Jonkoping, Metal Fest 17th: FINLAND, Helsinki, On The Rocks – SOLD OUT 18th: FINLAND, Helsinki, On The Rocks – SOLD OUT 24th: PORTUGAL, Lisbon, Club RCA 25th SPAIN, Seville, Club Supra
November 2025 1st: UK, Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill 7th: ITALY, Rome, Traffic Live Club 8th: GREECE, Athens, Gazarte 15th: FRANCE, Marseille, South Troopers Festival
With standout tracks like “Sign of the Cross,” “Lord of the Flies,” and “The Unbeliever”, the album marked a turning point in Maiden’s evolution and remains a cult favourite among die-hard fans.
Blaze will perform with his regular band, the musicians from Absolva: Chris Appleton: guitar Tom Atkinson: guitar Luke Appleton: bass Martin Mcnee: drums
The X Factor artwork has been re-imagined by Akirant Ilustration (Madrid) https://akirant.es/ who also includes Iron Maiden and Star Wars on his client list.
Since leaving Iron Maiden in 1999, Blaze has pursued a successful solo career, including twelve studio albums, the latest being ‘Circle of Stone’ (2024) which attracted critical acclaim, often cited as one of his best.
Tickets for the tour are on-sale (except the 2 sold-out shows in Helsinki) and ticket links available at https://www.blazebayley.net/tour.htm – the X Factor 30 Tour follows directly on from Blaze’s Silicon Messiah 25th Anniversary Tour, celebrating his iconic debut solo record.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
