US-/Colombian Death Metal heavyweights NO RAZA are celebrating the release of their brand new, fifth studio album, entitled “Tyrona”, that is out now via Noble Demon! Get the band’s new rager here: https://music.nobledemon.com/tyrona
In support of “Tyrona”, NO RAZA have unleashed their latest, brutal-as-hell single “Looters”, accompanied by a new music video.
Find the album on all digital streaming services HERE
The band on their new album: “NO RAZA returns with TYRONA — a crushing new death metal offering forged in reverence to the ancient spirits of South America. This album is a sonic tribute to the sacred legacy of the indigenous chiefdoms from the cold, mystical heights of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. With every riff and roar, TYRONA honors the brave ancestral guardians who lived and died protecting nature, spirit, and tradition — the true defenders of the real gods: the sun, the moon, water, animals, and earth.
This is more than music. It’s a war cry from the past — a transcendental journey through time, gold, and spirit. A brutal homage to those who understood that legacy is not measured in riches, but in the preservation of sacred knowledge. Prepare for an album that awakens the ancient and defies the material.
TYRONA is not just an album. It’s a resurrection.“
Tracklist:
Intro
Looters
Imperial Holocaust
Savage Strength
Overflowed
Estable Corrupción
Chiefdom
Outbreak
Afterlife
Involución
Tyrona
Ring of Gold (Bathory cover)
From the landscapes of Colombia, forged in 1997, death metal powerhouse NO RAZA has taken root in Florida, USA, continuing their relentless sonic assault. More than just a band, NO RAZA delivers a visceral experience, their live staging a stark recreation of a world ravaged by conflict. Through their crushing riffs and guttural pronouncements, they embody the spirit of resistance, standing as sentinels of truth, fiercely defending ancestral cultures and the remnants of a world teetering on the brink.
Thorugh the years, the band has performed on international stages across Mexico, the UK, the USA, and Colombia, sharing the spotlight with renowned bands at major festivals and tours.
After releasing three solid full-length studio albums between 2004 and 2014, NO RAZA was one of the very first signings of Germany-based metal record label Noble Demon (est. 2019) and successfully released their latest masterpiece, “Transcending Material Sins”, back in 2020. Now, five years after that success, this powerful alliance is reignited with the unveiling of “Tyrona”, the band’s newest masterpiece.
Hailing from Bordeaux, France, melodic death metal outfit STARLIT PYRE has announced the release of the band’s debut EP, entitled “Veins of Sulfur”, set to drop on July 11th.
Furthermore, the dynamic five-piece has just unleashed their debut single, the intense track “Empire’s Downfall”, accompanied by a captivating music video, which you can witness below.
Speaking about their first offering, STARLIT PYRE shared: “When we started crafting our first songs, it quickly became clear that Empire’s Downfall was the one that deserved the spotlight. Musically, it strikes a balance between velocity, groove, dynamic and atmospheres — all while carrying the melodic signature that defines our sound.
The music video introduces a divine figure who also appears on the cover of our upcoming record. She enters a chaotic world on the brink of collapse and uses her powers in an attempt to prevent the impending apocalypse…
We’re very proud to kick off our musical journey with this track, which also serves as the opening song on our debut EP, set for release on July 11th.“
Tracklist:
Empire’s Downfall
Solar Rays
Veins of Sulfur
On my Own
While STARLIT PYRE is a fresh name on the scene, the individuals within its ranks are seasoned veterans. Formed in early 2024, the band unites musicians from well-regarded French acts including Temnein, Theorem, Bloody Rabbeat, Silicium, Praetorian, and Faded Echoes. This collective experience has clearly forged a focused and powerful sound.
Drawing inspiration from the genre’s pioneers – the Gothenburg greats like At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity, alongside Soilwork and In Flames – STARLIT PYRE also incorporates the more contemporary stylings of bands such as Orbit Culture, Sylosis, and Darkest Hour. This blend suggests a band that respects its roots while forging its own modern path.
Their debut EP, “Veins of Sulfur”, promises a full exploration of this sonic territory. The EP’s impactful sound was shaped by the skilled hands at Conkrete Studio (known for their work with The Great Old Ones and Eryn Non Dae…), with the drum tracks laid down at Bud Studio (home to recordings by Gorod and Ad Patres…). Adding a visual dimension to their music, Ani Artworks has crafted artwork that delves into the mythological and apocalyptic themes woven throughout their lyrics.
“Veins of Sulfur” drops on July 11th, self-released by the band, and is now available for pre-order at THIS LOCATION.
STARLIT PYRE are: Florian Frandidier: Guitars Nicolas Potiez: Vocals Thomas Darracq: Bass Romain Guillemot-Treffainguy: Drums Mathieu Lopez-Gurria: Guitars
Whilst TÖRZS’ previous full-length effort was a spectacular collision of the band’s tight-knit existence and the (literal) echo chamber of the world outside, Menedék is introspective, understated and refreshingly brave in its honesty. TÖRZS have opened the doors to their inner sanctum, their rehearsal space, their songwriting process, their friendship; inviting us to live in it with them, to revel in the moment together.
Track list: 1. Egy pillanatban a végtelen 2. Levegővétel 3. Átfordul 4. Földet ér 5. Otthon
Loosely translating as ‘Refuge’, Menedék sees the freshly bolstered trio in their element; finding shelter, comfort and joy in the act of creative collaboration whilst the storm of day to day life weathers ever on.
A steadfast and admirable mission statement centred on staying true to themselves in the moment, being open to growth and documenting this process as honestly as possible has led to TÖRZS building a reputation as one of Hungary’s most exciting musical collectives. Three stunning albums of organic and perfectly composed contemplation, as well as the band’s transcendental live shows alongside acts including contemporaries We Lost The Sea, Oh Hiroshima, Föllakzoid and more have placed TÖRZS at the forefront of a post-rock movement that prizes the shared experience of band and listener above all else.
The band’s previous full-length release, 2019’s Tükor, was recorded live at Aggteleki Cseppkőbarlang, a UNESCO World Heritage protected cave system, 500 metres below the Aggteleki National Park. Embracing the cave’s utterly unique natural reverb almost as a fourth member led to Tükor receiving critical acclaim, with TÖRZS were subsequently nominated for the HEMI Music Awards 2022 and invited to perform at the likes of Moscow Music Week (2020), The Budapest Showcase Hub (2021) and 2024’s Changeover Festival in Belgrade, Serbia.
Whilst the intervening years have seen unprecedented change on a global scale, TÖRZS too found themselves in a state of flux. The band returned to the more traditional studio setting in 2023, working alongside long-time producer György Ligeti, in order to faithfully capture the intimate energy of songs meticulously crafted together in their small rehearsal space, a far cry from 2019’s subterranean setting. However, having spent countless hours writing, orchestrating and recording the pieces that have become Menedék, the band’s founding drummer Zsombor Lehoczky stepped away from the band and music as a whole. Where this might have been catastrophic for any other band, remaining members Soma Balázs and Dániel Nyitray soon found a connection with Tamás Szijártó, who approached TÖRZS’ music with the same openness to creativity in the moment; not ‘performing’ as such, but simply working together to produce breathtaking, musical escapism away from the daily humdrum.
The album’s themes of shelter, refuge and support resound clearly on lead single ‘Otthon’. Meaning ‘At Home’ in Hungarian, ‘Otthon’ serves as a de facto introduction to the record. The song’s lilting groove, soaring yet soft guitar palette and the band’s signature delicate dynamism all combine to invite the listener to reflect; not steering one way or another yet inviting us to close our eyes and join the flow.
Elsewhere, the pounding, chiming ‘Levegővétel’ proves TÖRZS are still staying true to their mission statement of documenting the inevitable process of change. Here the band embrace elements of post-rock’s harsher, heavier side with a cacophony of driving half-time drums and distorted, open-chord guitars yet still provide brief havens of space for themselves, the song and the listener alike to breathe before the euphoric swell rises anew.
Out now via powerhouse labelROAR, Swedish thrash and speed metal legends Hexenhaus reissue their first three, iconic records “A Tribute To Insanity”(1988), “The Edge Of Eternity”(1990), and “Awakening” (1991)!
Now available on CD, colored vinyl and digitally, the physical products will also come with new liner notes and an exclusive history text. All records got remastered by Ronnie Björnström (Mezzrow a.o.). See below to order your favorite choice of format and album copy of these must-have classics, that belong into every well-sorted thrash and speed metal record collection!
Depending on the path you chose, one could say that the story of Sweden’s best kept thrash metal secret starts all the way up in the northern parts of Sweden. In a city called Boden to be more precise. That’s where the metal force Maninnya Blade took it’s form during the middle of the 80:s. Their take on speed metal caught the interest of the young guitarist Mickael Vikström, better known as Mike Wead and later on the guitarist in both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond. He would start out as a fan of the band, but it didn’t take long until’ he was their new guitarist and the talk of the town.
“When I joined them they already had four great songs more or less done already. It was; “Requiem”, “The Dead Are Restless”, “Delirious” and “Eaten Alive”,“ Wead reveals. “The style was much heavier than the music we had done before and to mark the fresh start of the band, at least that’s how we saw it, we also decided to change the name from Maninnya to Hexenhaus. The name is German for witch’s house and is a reference to the Malefizhaus in Bamberg, Germany. A frightful place where hundreds of suspected witches were tortured and executed during the early 17:th century.”
To call the material “heavier than before” is an understatement. The music on the four songs that ended up on the today highly sought after demo cassette “Demo 1988” drew its inspiration from bands like Metallica, Slayer and Mercyful Fate. A stellar testimony of what was going around in the early thrash metal scene around that time. The lucky ones that possess the “Demo 1988” cassette got a true gem on their hands.
After signing with Axis Records, the band entered the studio to record their stellar debut album “A Tribute To Insanity”. Half of the album contains the four songs that made up the demo, as well as four more songs that seen the band combine ideas and trading riffs like never heard before on a Swedish metal album. ”A Tribute To Insanity” was originally released on vinyl on the 17th of October 1988. Order ”A Tribute To Insanity” now on https://Hexenhaus.rpm.link/tributePR
The follow-up album, “The Edge Of Eternity”, was released on November 1st 1990. To order this reissue from ROAR, visit: https://Hexenhaus.rpm.link/eternityPR
During the same time as “The Edge Of Eternity” was released in the early 90’s, Megadeth released their classic album “Rust In Peace”, Exodus came out with “Impact Is Imminent” and Germany’s Mekong Delta – who also was a big influence on “The Edge Of Eternity” – came out with their most popular album “Dances Of Death (And Other Walking Shadows)”. To say that the thrash scene was looking good is an understatement, it was boiling hot! In the midst of it stood Hexenhaus just waiting for the big breakthrough. “We thought that we would get approached by different management and offered tours that would take us all over Europe but that never happened”, Mike Weadsighs. “We were amateurs when it came to promote ourselves and how could we be anything else? We didn’t know that we needed to do more than creating albums to get a breakthrough!”
When the offers didn’t come as expected Mike and the band started to work on new material. But just like the last time it was with a new line-up who was more than ready to give their all for the band. Besides the broken bones, the blood and the gated reverbs the recordings of “Awakening” went smooth. The album was released in August 1991 and much to the bands dismay nothing happened for them this time either. “Once again we got great reviews from abroad”, Mike recalls. “Big and important magazines like Metal Hammer, Kerrang, Metal Forces and Aardschok gave us fantastic reviews! Even better than the ones we’ve received before, but we just couldn’t break through. We were still stuck in Sweden doing small shows put together by fans.” The band called it a quits in 1992.
Internationally acclaimed Canadian cellist and composer Raphael Weinroth-Browne returns with ‘Speed of Light’, a visceral reworking of J.S. Bach’s Prelude to the G Major Cello Suite. Far from a mere interpretation, this piece doesn’t hold back but drags every ounce of feeling from the cello, intertwining centuries old musical heritage with sweeping cinematic flair. Paired with a stunning video by Dark Fable Media (Sleep Token, TesseracT), ‘Speed of Light’ blurs the line between classical tradition and contemporary vision, forging a vivid conversation across time.
Commissioned by the acclaimed UK-based James Wilton Dance, the track was originally conceived as part of the score for a new contemporary dance work entitled BACH Reimagined – a meditation on time, transformation and embodiment. With its angular motifs, Middle Eastern inflected melodies and unrelenting intensity, ‘Speed of Light’ stands on its own as a fierce, living exchange between past and future.
Blending Baroque intricacy with a progressive edge, the track’s production, mixed by Adam Noble (Leprous, Katatonia) and recorded by Darren McGill (The Dirty Nil, PUP), is both pristine and immersive. Across five exhilarating minutes, delicate cello arpeggios collide with crushing distortion soaked riffs and relentless rhythms, building to a cathartic, transcendent crescendo.
Raphael reflects on the creative process: “In 2024, I was commissioned by James Wilton Dance, an incredible UK-based contemporary dance company, to create an 80-minute soundtrack to their latest work, entitled BACH Reimagined. James and I are both avid metal fans and one of the guiding threads of this piece was the intersection between Baroque counterpoint and modern heavy music.
“‘Speed of Light’ was one of the first pieces that came out of this writing process. My first impulse was to take the very familiar repeated arpeggio from the prelude to the G major cello suite by Bach (popularly known as “the cello song”) and reframe it as a jagged, nasty riff. I also decided to redecorate the pattern, transposing it into every metal guitarist’s favourite scale, the Phrygian mode.
“Lately I’ve taken an interest in integrating contemporary pop rhythms into my music; the four on the floor kick and offbeat bass accents are a cheeky wink at the reggaeton beat that is so ubiquitous these days. Combined with driving riffs and solos, I think they give a feeling of forward propulsion as well as groove, both of which are great for dance.”
The end result is more than a reinterpretation, ‘Speed of Light’ is a confrontation with legacy, an exploration of what classical music can become when refracted through modern sensibilities and global textures. As Raphael explains, “It’s a spiritual successor to Bach, but built in the present, for now.”
He adds,“With this track, I wanted to evoke both a feeling of ferocious determination and uplifting transcendence. The song’s third act sees the clouds parting for a brief moment before the layered cellos forge ahead to a dramatic finish. I like to think of the music itself as the protagonist in an epic narrative and for the progression of the piece to be its character arc. This one has evolved into quite the banger at live shows and it’s always a wild ride to perform it.”
Celebrated for his emotionally charged performances and boundary pushing artistry, Raphael Weinroth-Browne has become one of the most innovative cellists of his generation. With over 200 studio credits, including the Juno Award-winning W5: Grey Skies & Electric Light by Woods of Ypres, his work spans metal, classical, ambient and film. His music has appeared in major film and TV soundtracks and his cello arrangements have gone viral, earning praise from Steven Wilson, Opeth, and Katatonia.
As a touring and recording member of prog-legends Leprous, Weinroth-Browne has played some of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals, from London’s Royal Albert Hall to Hellfest in front of 40,000 people, and helped shape the sound of three of the band’s studio albums. His solo debut Worlds Within (2020), a single-instrument concept album built entirely from cello, was lauded for its emotional depth and genre-transcending ambition.
In recent years, Raphael’s deepening work in the world of contemporary dance and experimental performance has solidified his place as a boundary breaking composer and collaborator. His commissioned score for BACH Reimagined toured prestigious UK and German venues in 2025, performed live in dialogue with movement.
With ‘Speed of Light’, Raphael Weinroth-Browne continues to ask urgent and beautiful questions about sound, time and meaning. This release marks the beginning of a new artistic chapter, one that promises to further blur the boundaries between concert hall, rock stage and cinema.
More new material will follow in 2025, a year that is already shaping up to be a defining moment in his extraordinary career.
Catch Raphael live on the following dates:
May 18 – Ottawa, Canada – Solo performance at Speakeasy Tapas Lounge May 31 – Toronto, Canada – Solo performance at Prepare the Ground Festival (918 Bathurst) Jun 1 – Kitchener, Canada – Solo performance at Open Ears Festival (The Registry Theatre) Jun 18 – Calgary, Canada – Solo performance at Sled Island Festival (BLOX Arts Centre) Jul 17 – Ottawa, Canada – Solo performance at Rainbow Bistro supporting PAKT Jul 25 – Suffolk, UK – Performing with James Wilton Dance at Latitude Festival
Sun After Dark, a new band led by Benjamin König (ex-Lunar Aurora), will release their debut album Tatkraft on 13th June via Hammerheart Records. The second single ‘Burning Blue’ is now streaming on all digital platforms. Album pre-orders are available here: https://sunaftedark.lnk.to/tatkraft
Benjamin comments: “‘Burning Blue’ is an almost catchy and straightforward song. The plot revolves around the ancient dream of flying: in this case, flying through the night, over ruins and through dark dungeons. Lots of clichéd themes, but atmospherically packaged and made to float and immerse yourself. Enchanted with dust from old times, like a fairy tale, almost forgotten, yet burned into our childhood. I think we all know these nightflight dreams. The basic form of the song is many years old, but has been reworked for this album. Now was the right time and place for this song.”
Hailing from Bavaria, Germany, Sun After Dark is best described as progressive dark metal with elements of black and atmospheric metal. However, it is regarded as something fresh, new, and unheard of.
The band features experienced musicians who have made their mark in groups such as Empyrium and Dark Fortress. Adding to the excitement, the production quality is phenomenal. Tatkraft (German for “drive/energy”) was recorded by Victor Bullok (of Tryptikon) at Woodshed Studios (known for Tryptikon and Dark Fortress).
For fans of: Rammstein, Celtic Frost, The Vision Bleak, Empyrium
Sun After Dark is the project of Benjamin König from Germany, best known as a founding member of the black metal band Lunar Aurora (1994–2012). As the band’s primary composer, he was responsible for nine albums and various compilations. Now, with Sun After Dark, König will release his debut album, Tatkraft — a German word meaning drive, energy, or moxie.
The music on Tatkraft blends modern elements with black metal, dark atmospheres, heavy guitars, and intense, evocative moods, with a hint of mythology woven in. Life is made up of stories, experiences, and defining moments — mastering it often requires Tatkraft. This album explores those experiences, shaped and expressed with that same spirit. The lyrics are in English, German, and Bavarian dialect, a nod to König’s roots in Upper Bavaria.
Tatkraft was produced by Victor Bullok (Triptykon) at Woodshed Studio in autumn 2024. Following this collaboration, Thomas Helm and Benjamin König have decided to continue Sun After Dark as a duo. However, the project remains a studio endeavour, with no plans for live performances — each member is active in other well-known bands where they can be seen on stage.
Tracklist 1. Dawn and Dirges 2. Waidmanns Hoffnung 3. Ohne Gråb 4. Schlittenfahrt 5. Burning Blue 6. Näbe 7. Leaving Metropolis 8. Antarctic Morning
Line up Benjamin König: Guitars, Bass, Keys Thomas Helm: Vocals Matthias Jell: Vocals Martin Falkenstein: Vocals Matthias Landes: Drums Katrin Rohde: Strings
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
