Belle Morte closes out 2025 with a final, intimate release: the acoustic version of “My Legacy,” taken from the band’s debut album Crime of Passion.
Stripped back to its emotional core, this new version reveals a different side of “My Legacy.” The symphonic weight gives way to atmosphere and nuance, letting the song’s melody and meaning take center stage. It’s a reflective moment, deliberate, and honest, that feels like a farewell, and a thank you at the same time.
Previous videos from “Crime of Passion”:“Lace” Acoustic version: Watch – Stream “Crime of Passion”: orcd.co/crimeofpassion
Previous videos from Pearl Hunting: “Jorōgumo” Ft. Hisashi, Reigen Fujii, Souzan Kato: Watch – “Willow” Ft. Ruben Monteiro, Emma Spinelli: Watch – “Exorcism” Acoustic Version: Watch – Pearl Hunting: Watch – “Exorcism” Ft. Ulziisaikhan Khoroldamba: Watch – ” September” Ft. Ruben Monteiro: Watch – “Black Waters” Ft. Maulana Malik Ibrahim: Watch – “Blame me” Ft. Lernik Khachatrian: Watch
About Belle Morte
Formed in Minsk, BELLE MORTE combines dark symphonic metal with gothic, progressive, and melancholic elements. After their 2018 EP Game On, the band signed with Wormholedeath in 2021 to release Crime of Passion, a conceptual album inspired by John Fowles’s The Collector. Their second album continues this global approach, delivering unique symphonic metal experiences for fans seeking something different.
Italian Thrash/Death Metallers CRISALIDE are proud to announce they have signed with My Kingdom Music for the release of their new album, scheduled for release in early 2027.
In a statement from the band, CRISALIDE expresses their enthusiasm about this partnership: “We are delighted to be part of My Kingdom Music because we already know the excellent work they do for Italian bands, and it’s important for us to have them by our side during this period when we will be extremely busy with concerts, already scheduled festivals, and especially the recording of the new album, which we’ve been working so hard on. It’s going to be a long journey, and we’re incredibly excited to be part of their family and to share our music with the whole world very soon!”
CRISALIDE have over 30 years of career, and they played on the important stages, such as the legendary Whiskey A-Go-Go in Hollywood on the legendary Sunset Boulevard, and with bands like Pestilence, Vomitory, M-Pire of Evil, Nightrage and more. Now confirmed for the 2026 Luppolo in Rock Festival, they’ll share the stage with Overkill, Marduk, Rotting Chris, and more. After their latest album, “Dark Inside” released in 2019, the band has finally achieved the balance of a well-oiled and close-knit line-up, led by founder and longtime frontman Giuliano Zippo, and capable of providing a successor to that work, so acclaimed both in Italy and internationally. Fans of bands like Sepultura, Fear Factory, and Gojira as well as the more classic sound of Kreator and Testament, can now put a smile on their faces because another band proudly flying the Thrash/Death Metal flag is ready to rock their lives and enter their most disturbing nightmares.
Italian death metal collective SKULLD have released the new single, “Mother Death”, offering a fresh glimpse of their upcoming album, “Abyss Calls to Abyss”, out on January 30th, 2026 via Time To Kill Records.
“Mother Death” continues to showcase the band’s relentless blend of old-school Swedish death metal, crust punk and hardcore, combining ferocious riffs and punishing rhythms with a dark, evocative atmosphere. Beneath the intensity lies a layered conceptual depth, reflecting themes of mortality, existential struggle, and the shadowed corners of human experience, further cementing SKULLD’s reputation for uncompromising and thought-provoking extreme music.
“‘Mother Death’ is a solemn, magnetic hymn that approaches death not as an ending, but as a sacred beginning — an essential part of the eternal cycle binding light and shadow, summer and winter, birth and dissolution. In this song, Death is given a voice and a face: not horror, but embrace; not punishment, but return; not silence, but whisper. The onyx-studded altar, the full moon, the frozen forest — every image builds an atmosphere of ancient mystery, suspended between the visible world and the one beyond the veil. Mother Death does not scream, does not strike: she caresses, walks barefoot along the edge of existence, gathering souls like autumn leaves. Her voice is calm and absolute — mother and reaper, guide and ending. Everything returns, everything transforms. The vocal lines evoke an ancient feminine ritual, a forgotten pagan rite where the boundary between light and darkness dissolves. ‘I am the end and the release. I am the mother of your final peace’. ‘Mother Death’ is an ode to the threshold, to inevitable and sacred transformation, partly inspired by Demetra George’s ‘Mysteries of the Dark Moon’. Not an ending. Not a farewell. But a return to the womb”.
Across eight tracks, SKULLD explore the abyss as both an inner and outer dimension: a place of dissolution and regeneration, death and renewal, where individual and collective struggles mirror one another. Written and recorded in 2025, the album captures the band at their most inspired and urgent, balancing sheer aggression with moments of melody and introspection.
With “Abyss Calls to Abyss”, SKULLD reaffirm their place as one of the most compelling voices in Italy’s extreme metal underground: fearless, defiant, and entirely their own.
Tracklist:
1. Healing the Wound 2. The Blink 3. Accabadora 4. Wear the night as a Velvet Cloak 5. Le Diable and The Snake 6. Mother Death 7. Drops of Sorrow 8. Sacred Fires
For fans of: Entombed, Dismember, The Crown, Trap Them, Martyrdöd
SKULLD formed in Romagna, Italy, in 2019 with the ambitious goal of blending old-school Swedish death metal with shamanic and esoteric overtones, all rooted in a strong feminist, anti-fascist, and anti-racist stance. Hailing from cities such as Cesena, Forlì, Bologna, Imola, and Milan, the members of the band have deep roots in the DIY punk and hardcore scene — a defining element of their artistic identity.
In 2020, they released their debut EP “Reinventing Darkness”, a DIY co-production with various Italian and international labels, distributed throughout the underground network. The lineup featured Pamela (vocals), Monti and Rappo (guitars), Ciufs (bass), and Teo (drums). The songs, fast and razor-sharp, combine Scandinavian death metal with crust and stenchcore, evoking dark and pagan atmospheres. The EP was well received for its raw and original sound, as well as for its lyrical themes — most notably the track “Satanic Feminism”, which explicitly ties death metal to political and gender awareness.
On March 20th, 2024, the band released their first full-length album “The Portal Is Open” via the French label World Eater Records. Recorded in Imola and mixed/mastered by Ulf Blomberg at Hobos Studio in Lund, Sweden, the album features eight tracks merging death and black metal with hardcore/crust influences and punk-infused vocals. The lyrics delve deeper into the concepts introduced on their debut, exploring pagan traditions, mythology, feminine archetypes, and esoteric and literary references.
In 2024, guitarist Moqi joined the band as a live replacement for Rappo, who had relocated to Berlin. He later became the sixth full-time member, contributing to the writing and recording of the band’s latest effort, “Abyss Calls To Abyss”.
Dragonland has signed a multi-album deal with Scarlet Records and is working on a new studio album to be released in late 2026.
«We are excited to team up with Scarlet Records and begin a new chapter in the Dragonland saga. The label has a long tradition working within the power metal genre, and we are looking forward to starting planning out and collaborating on the release of our forthcoming record, set to be released in 2026. The album is fully written, and we will once more be working with legendary producer Fredrik Nordström of Studio Fredman to bring the songs to life. Stay tuned for more details in the near future!»
(Elias Holmlid, composer and keyboardist of Dragonland)
«I am extremely proud to welcome Dragonland to the Scarlet Records family. I have followed the band with great admiration since the very early stages of their career, and their vision, consistency, and impact on the power metal genre have always stood out. Dragonland is a truly important signing for Scarlet Records, and I am thrilled that they are now part of the label. I strongly believe that this new chapter will lead to an outstanding album and a long, successful collaboration.»
(Filippo Bersani, Scarlet Records’ president)
Founded in Gothenburg in 1999, Dragonland became a bonafide power metal institution over the 00s with a string of now classic albums culminated in the 2011 masterpiece “Under The Grey Banner”.
The Swedish powerhouse made a strong comeback with the 2022 album “The Power Of The Nightstar”, and is now ready to prove once again its visionary and elegant force both in studio and on stage.
Dragonland: Jonas Heidgert – vocals Olof Mörck – guitar Jesse Lindskog – guitar Elias Holmlid – keyboards Anders Hammer – bass Johan Nunez – drums
Costa Rican thrash metal act ENIAM have released the lyric video for “Don’t You Even Smile”, watch it below. The track is taken from their latest album “My Dark Lens”, out now via Punishment 18 Records on CD and digital formats.
“Don’t You Even Smile” delivers a sharp and confrontational burst of thrash metal, channeling anger, tension, and inner darkness through aggressive riffs, driving rhythms, and an uncompromising attitude. The song stands as one of the album’s most direct and hostile moments, reflecting the band’s raw and no-nonsense approach to the genre.
With “My Dark Lens”, Eniam further solidify their position within the Central American thrash metal underground, delivering a record that is both fierce and relentless.
SOULBOUND release the new single ‘Not Metal Enough’ . The song is taken from the forthcoming studio album wich will be released on 16 January 2026 by Metalville.
Not Metal Enough” is not a song, it’s a statement.
Soulbound are settling accounts with all those who want to pigeonhole metal into narrow categories. Between hammering riffs, biting humor and genre-busting material, there is a clear message: We are metal because we are different.
An energetic call to all outsiders, border crossers and style breakers. For all those who have the courage to be themselves: loud, uncomfortable and unclassifiable.
With “sYn” SOULBOUND present their most uncompromising work to date. The melodic industrial metal band’s fourth studio album strikes a dark, direct tone and remains as catchy as it is uncomfortable. Between brutal self-reckoning, social criticism and sacred exaltation, “sYn” spins a dense thematic thread around the central motif of sin – rethought, interpreted in many different ways and bitterly personal.
Musically, the band remains true to itself: “sYn” combines hard riffs, brute synths, pounding beats and anthemic choruses. Somewhere between NDH, metalcore and electronically distorted world pain. But instead of bold provocation, it’s about attitude. It’s about admitting to being fallible. About contradicting dogmas and wrestling with one’s own precipice.
“If we’re considered sinners, might as well be it with purpose and flair!”, says the band. This is exactly how sYn sounds: raw, honest, angry, but also vulnerable. An album like a mirror that doesn’t embellish, but confronts. No pure accusations, but an outcry. Not enlightenment, but flames in which you stand.
“sYn” was recorded and produced entirely by the band themselves.
Tracklist 1 Abaddon 2 sYn 3 No Kings Fo rMe 4 Cutting Diamonds 5 sYnfluencer 6 Chaos & Amen 7 Dark Throne 8 Neon Battlefield 9 Sacred Skin 10 Not Metal Enough 11 sYnners Crown 12 If U Seek Amy (Bonustrack / Cover) Original by Britney Spears
On 26 March 2026 the sYn Tour starts with 12 shows in Germany and Switzerland
26.03. DE Hamburg – Knust 27.03. DE Hannover – Musikzentrum 28.03. DE Köln – Luxor 10.04. DE Leipzig – Hellraiser 11.04. DE Berlin – Hole44 17.04. DE München – Backstage Halle 18.04. DE Stuttgart – Im Wizemann 24.04. DE Bremen – Tower 25.04. DE Wuppertal – LCB 30.04. DE Saarbrücken – Garage 01.05. CH Münchenstein – Rockfact 02.05. DE Frankfurt – Das Bett
LINE UP Johannes „Johnny“ Stecker – lead vocals, shouting Felix Klemisch – guitars Patrick Winzler – keyboards Jonas Langer – bass Mario Krause – drums
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi's Ancient Streaming Assembly - 'Perpetuae Memoriae', ft. Tuomas Rounakari + Steve Di Giorgio - Click image to watch the video
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 