Renowned Finnish violinist, composer, and ethnomusicologist TUOMAS ROUNAKARI has released his new official video for ‘Bear Awakening – First Morning’ celebrating the Day of the Bear & Natural Point of Midsummer!
Tuomas shared: “I am so pleased to inform about this premier of a new music video, today on July 13th, which was traditionally considered the day of the Bear, the natural point of a Midsummer. Solstices were celebrated separately. Here in the Nordic countries solstice is early, summer has only began, birds still nesting, many flowers not yet in bloom. But instead, July 13th is the midpoint of summer on the land based calendar. For us, that calendar used to follow the bear in pre-christian times. The video production began when Antti Pentikäinen filmed my live performance of the Bear Awakening song First Morning at an ancient ritual ground. The concert took place at the Heinäveden Muinaisviikot Festival in Finland last July. This video is finally something that catches the essence of my art and animist spirituality. I am so grateful for the work Antti Pentikäinen put together, in the most effortless of productions ever. This video wanted to manifest itself. The video includes also footage with a bear, filmed in Sweden in 2014 by a Björn Ola Lind and Torkel Lundgren, the same bear that appeard on the images of Bear Awakener album. Love, Tuomas Rounakari”
Join now this unique moment, here:
Video production, filming and editing by Antti Pentikäinen Bear images: Björn Ola Lind and Torkel Lundberg (2014) Sound recording: Patrick Tubin McGinley at Heinäveden Muinaisviikot, July 29th 2025 Field recording of birds: Jyrki Portin (2022)
More information on Tuomas:
Tuomas Rounakari is a Finnish violinist, composer, and ethnomusicologist known for his trance-inducing solo performances that blend violin, vocals, stomping, and ankle bells into a visceral one-man ritual. A former member of Korpiklaani (2012–2022) and collaborator in Yasuharu Takanashi’s Far East Groove, Tuomas also plays the traditional Khanty bowed instrument Ning-juh.
His doctoral research (2024) focuses on altered states of consciousness through music—a phenomenon tied to sacred song traditions worldwide. This inquiry informs his performance style, which often crosses into trance and ceremony.
Tuomas draws inspiration from dialogues between humanity and nature, the visible and invisible, the ancient and the future. His debut solo album Shamanviolin was born from studying early 20th-century wax-cylinder recordings from Siberia. Performing these songs with the Indigenous communities from which they originated led to long-term collaborations with Khanty, Mansi, Sámi, and Greenlandic artists.
With over 30 albums to his name—including two solo records and four with Korpiklaani (over 34 million Spotify streams annually)—his work spans folk, metal, blues, free jazz, and avant-garde electroacoustic soundscapes.
His latest solo album, Bear Awakener (2022), is a sonic invocation, an awakening of the wild spirit within. Each track stirs ancient memory, calling forth the slumbering forces of nature, myth, and spirit. The album centers on bear-related ceremonial songs from Khanty, Mansi, Carelian, and Finnish traditions. These songs carry the resonance of ancestors who lived in deep, reciprocal relationships with the land—cultures rooted in sustainability, self-sufficiency, and sacred balance. For Tuomas, they are living teachings, not just songs. Rooted in ancestral songlines and shaped by trance, Bear Awakener invites listeners into deeper dialogue with the unseen, the more-than-human, and the mythic. It is a reawakening of spirit and a reconnection to something older than memory, yet urgently needed in our time.
“Not a prisoner, I’m a free man” – Iron Maiden’s “The Prisoner”
Quickly following their triumphant returning single “Never A God” earlier this year, Bay Area thrash legends HEATHEN break back out with another offering.
In celebration of the mighty Iron Maiden’s 50th anniversary, HEATHEN has taken a stab at the Number of The Beast classic, “The Prisoner”. Pulling samples from the TV show of the same name, enlisting artist Dan Goldsworthy (known for his work with Accept, Inhuman Condition, and Haken) to Eddie-ify the goblin from “Goblin’s Blade”—a callback to their HEATHEN’s 1987 record Breaking The Silence—and reworking their logo to look like Maiden’s, HEATHEN pull out all the stops to ensure this was more than just homage. Performing the track with a studied reverence for the subject material, HEATHEN unleashes metal greatness with a modern edge and seasoned orchestration.
About the track guitarist Kragen Lum says: “What can we say about the legendary Iron Maiden that hasn’t already been said? They’ve given us 50 years of energetic, melodic metal that’s inspired HEATHEN and legions of other bands in the genre. “The Prisoner” was an easy choice for us to cover, with its heavy intro, up-tempo verses, catchy chorus, and classic instrumental section. We added a few touches to “Heathenize” the song while staying true to what made it so great when it was first released in 1982. Enjoy this recording as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of heavy metal’s greatest bands. Up the Irons!”
This cover comes right in time for the band’s extensive North American tour encompassing two legs. The first opening for fellow thrash greats Metal Church, followed by a string of headlining dates over Louisiana horror thrashers Void. Kicking off July 17 in Derry, NH the tour supporting Metal Church will hit a series of major cities including Montreal, QC, Pittsburgh, PA, and Rochester, NY before its conclusion July 26 in Leesburg, VA. Not missing a beat, HEATHEN picks up Void for their headline run kicking off the next day in Raleigh, NC on July 27. The headline run will hit a slew of intimate venues in major cities including Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, Milwaukee, WI, and Detroit, MI before wrapping up on August 9 in Toronto, ON.
About the tour the band says: “We’re stoked to join the legendary Metal Church on this short tour of the Northeastern U.S. and Canada. We’ll be bringing our A-game for these shows before heading out on a run of headlining dates across the Midwest, Northeast, and Canada with the killer Void as direct support. We’ve put together a set packed with classics, fan favorites, and a few surprises that you won’t want to miss. Grab your tickets, and we’ll see you in the pit!”
Tickets are on sale now, see below for a complete list of dates.
HEATHEN North American Tour 2026 Supporting Metal Church
17.07.26 US – Derry, NH / Tupelo Music Hall 18.07.26 CA – Montréal, QC / Les Foufounes Électriques 19.07.26 CA – Québec, QC / La Source de la Martinière 21.07.26 CA – Ottawa, ON / Overflow 22.07.26 US – Newton, NJ / The Newton Theatre 23.07.26 US – Pittsburgh, PA / The Crafthouse 24.07.26 US – Rochester, NY / Montage Music Hall 25.07.26 US – Reading, PA / Reverb 26.07.26 US – Leesburg, VA / Tally Ho Theater
Headline Dates Support from Void
27.07.26 US – Raleigh, NC / Chapel of Bones 28.07.26 US – Atlanta, GA / The EARL 31.07.26 US – Hamden, CT / Space Ballroom 01.08.26 US – Philadelphia, PA / Nikki Lopez ^ 02.08.26 US – Columbus, OH / Ace of Cups 04.08.26 US – Milwaukee, WI / X-Ray Arcade 05.08.26 US – Indianapolis, IN / Black Circle 06.08.26 US – Detroit, MI / Sanctuary 07.08.26 CA – Kitchener, ON / Maxwell’s * 09.08.26 CA – Toronto, ON / The Cave * * = No Void ^ = Matinee Show
HEATHEN ARE David R. White – Vocals Kragen Lum – Guitars Kyle Edissi – Guitars Jason Mirza – Bass Blake Anderson – Drums
After drawing closer and closer to the edge with each album over the past decade, Unverkalt are receiving high praise for the post-metal band’s heavy and heartfelt new offering.
“[…] there’s a good chance that Unverkalt could be one of this year’s breakout bands”,No Clean Singing wrote about the release of their new album Héréditaire.
Metal Injection agreed. “It’s a combo unlike anything I’ve heard before and I’m excited about it”.
As they bring Héréditaire to the world stage, today, Unverkalt are releasing a video for the album’s most gut-wrenching song. Dedicated in memory to the victims of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, “Ænæ Lithi” turns a historical tragedy into an aching monument for grief.
“It is a great honor for me to create and share this video”, Unverkalt guitarist Themis Ioannou says. “The story behind our song ‘Ænæ Lithi’ is deeply personal to me, as it is part of my own family’s history. I dedicate it to my beloved grandmother and my father, who are no longer with us. This video is for them, and for the millions of people who lost their lives or were forced to abandon their ancestral homes during and after the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922”.
The video for “Ænæ Lithi” was directed and edited by Themis Ioannou at RAWBITE Studio
Additional video credits Produced by Unverkalt Cinematography – Themis Ioannou 2nd Assistant Camera – Eli Mavrychev Lighting – Die Klinke Location – Noir Surge Studios Costume Design / Styling – Pieces by Sister Jane Jewellery Design – Pieces by Eumorphia
Before they emerged as blackened beacons for post-metal, Unverkalt rose through the Greek underground. In lifting the veil from our cursed existence, Héréditaire bares the weight of a traumatic moment in their home country’s history. “Ænæ Lithi”, which in English roughly translates to “Eternal Oblivion”, mourns the years between 1914 and 1923, when Greek communities across Pontus, Ionia and Eastern Thrace were subjected to persecution, forced deportations, death marches and mass killings during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
“The memory of those who suffered from the Asia Minor Catastrophe continue to be honored by their descendants and communities around the world”, Ioannou says. “The music video for ‘Ænæ Lithi’, which uses historical photographs from this tragic event, is dedicated to preserving their memory and to the generations forever marked in its aftermath”.
Amidst its smoky and simmering modern-day atmosphere, “Ænæ Lithi” stirs with sounds from a past that refuses to stay buried. Creeping dissonance and a slow pounding of toms intertwine with clarinet and qanun, hand drums, strings and lyrics in Greek. “We are the source”, Unverkalt vocalist Dimitra Kalavrezou chants with her mesmerizing cleans. As the band rise with overwhelming force, “Ænæ Lithi” comes crashing down with the weight of what was lost and all the pain that remains.
Tracklist: 1. Die Auslöschung (6:06) [WATCH] 2. Oath Ov Prometheus (5:40) [WATCH] 3. Ænæ Lithi (5:34) [WATCH] 4. A Lullaby for the Descent (5:11) 5. Penumbrian Lament (6:02) 6. Introjects (5:25) [WATCH] 7. I, The Deceit (feat. Sakis Tolis) (5:47) [WATCH] 8. Death is Forever (4:50) 9. Maladie de l’Esprit (5:34) Full runtime: 50:11
Catch Unverkalt live throughout 2026.
Unverkalt 2026 Show Dates October 24 – Berlin, Germany @ Neue Zukunft November 11 – Schwedt, Germany @ Exit December 11 – Leipzig, Germany @ Heavy Crisis Festival
UNVERKALT are drawn to the edge. Since emerging from the underground, the Germany by way of Greece post-metal band have balanced boundless atmosphere with suffocating heaviness. Their third album and first since signing with Season of Mist doesn’t continue in that direction so much as it plunges into the darkness that’s always been waiting below. Héréditaire lifts the veil from our cursed existence. What emerges is Unverkalt’s heaviest and most heartfelt offering.
“Our aim has always been to blend softer, more romantic elements with extreme chaos. With Héréditaire that time has now come”, says the band’s guitarist and chief composer Themis Ioannou. “This album is a lament for what is far older than our very existence. It speaks of what seeps through generations, searching for an answer to one pervasive question: What do we carry that was never ours?”
From the beginning, Unverkalt was born from an urge to give life to grief. In 2017, Ioannou started the band with vocalist Dimitra Kalavrezou in hopes of creating something that was slow-burning and visceral, crushing yet delicate. Their debut made good on that promise: “…so rivetingly beautiful that you will have to deepen to digest it”, Metal Hammer Greece wrote in awe of L’Origine du Monde. “Easily on the top-10 of 2020”.
The band’s second album followed three years later to further acclaim. While swooning between obsession and annihilation, A Lump of Death: A Chaos of Dead Lovers sharpened Unverkalt’s vision by pushing their avant-garde streak with more force. “Beyond being able to point roughly towards a couple of different genres, it is utterly impossible to compare them to any other artist out there making music in the same vein”, The Sleeping Shaman admired. Echoes and Dust agreed: “It stands in its own right as a beautiful slice of filmic post-rock, a soundtrack without a movie beyond the one playing in your head”.
Héréditaire is still possessed by cinematic visions. Like a camera coming into focus, lead single “Die Auslöschung” appears through a thickening haze before it’s snapped out of a trance by drummer Christian Eggers’ fiery blast beats. The album shifts between colors, textures, even languages. Stirred by a mournful saw of strings, “Ænae Lithi” raises memories of the Great Fire of Smyrna that were handed down by Themis’ grandmother. But where previous albums took cues from French painting and European film noir, this one throws back the velvet curtain in favor a veil. “Oath Ov Prometheus” dismantles the myth of man as god’s perfect creation with Kalavrezou’s freshly blackened vocals.
“We love to experiment with every album”, Ioannou says. “With Héréditaire, we wanted to introduce extreme vocals because they bring out all these heavy feelings. It’s like they’re shaking you awake”.
While Héréditaire is a pulse-pounding new direction for Unverkalt, the album’s arc traces back to our deepest and darkest origins. Amidst the tremolo-picked wreckage of “Penumbrian Lament”, long-held beliefs are swallowed into the void of guitarist Eli Mavrychev’s death growls. “It’s all sorts of dead ideas / They cling to us all the same”, Kalavrezou whispers, only to break into screams on “Introjects” beneath Joscha Hoyer’s throbbing bass line. “The concept behind the record is tied in with the album’s overall heaviness”, she says. “Each song peels back another blackened layer of memory, trauma and suffering, which linger over us like ghosts: invisible, yet endlessly present”.
Kalavrezou’s mystifying cleans remain one of Unverkalt’s defining traits. Even when trembling beneath the monolithic riff of “I, The Deceit”, her contempt for those who stand by as the world burns is heated when forged alongside her Athenian brother-in-arms Sakis Tolis from Rotting Christ. But as the album draws to a close, Héréditaire ends shadowed in doubt for the future. “Bathed in lies / Can we make it better” she wonders before disappearing into the shivering wake left by “Maladie de ‘Esprit”.
“This album is not meant to resolve”, the band says, “but to dissolve patterns from those who came before, faceless yet familiar. The colors have drained. What remains is veiled in black, not as a symbol, but as a truth that covers everything”.
On Héréditaire, Unverkalt lift the veil on our cursed existence with their heaviest and most heartfelt offering.
Guest Musicians: Sakis Tolis — Vocals on “I, The Deceit”
Songwriting Credits: Comped by Themis Ioannou. Lyrics by Dimitra Kalavrezou & Eli Mavrychev. Lyrics for “I, The Deceit” by Dimitra Kalavrezou & Joscha Hoyer.
Recording Credits: Recorded & Engineered by Unverkalt. Drums Recorded & Engineered by Christian Eggers at Noir Surge Sound, Berlin, Germany.
Production Credits: Produced by Themis Ioannou. Vocals produced by Dimitra Kalavrezou & Eli Mavrychev. Mixed by Joshua Barber. Mastered by Lasse Lammert at LSD Studios, Lübeck, Germany.
German dark rock band UNZUCHT releases their new single ‘Krieger (Photon Decay Remix)’.
Next up are the wild remixes of Unzucht tracks from their latest chart-topping album “Neon Dom”: this time, “Krieger” gets a hard trance makeover – both danceable and dramatic – from Stephan Büttner, aka Photon Decay, from Hameln in Lower Saxony. Check out the new breakdown with backing vocals!
With their new studio album ‘Neon Dom’, UNZUCHT herald a new era of musical darkness – without giving up the search for redeeming light.
The work combines brutal intensity with deep black emotionality, creating a soundscape that challenges, overwhelms and fascinates at the same time.
The songs lead like a controlled fall into a world permeated by shadows: carried by powerful guitars, uncompromising rhythms and the new voice of frontman Timm, who transforms pain, anger and unshakeable strength into pure energy.
‘Neon Dom’ is more than an album – it is a liberating blow. ‘Darkness is followed by light and I burn all bridges,’ says Feuerregen. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, UNZUCHT rises anew: a musical monolith that only reveals its true power when you are ready to face your own demons.
Thematically, the album explores the boundaries of human existence: inner conflicts, a battlefield of fears and the disintegration of supposed certainties – and yet the tireless search for hope in a world that is increasingly slipping away.
Neon Dom breathes darkness in all its forms — no turning back. Or: Here begins the journey into the heart of darkness — no turning back.
Created from the shards of human fragility, reforged in the fire of an unyielding will.
TRACK LISTING
1 – Katharsis 2 – Neon Dom 3 – Feuerregen 4 – Krieger 5 – Chaos 6 – Nie mehr zurück 7 – 1000 Scherben 8 – Gegen die Zeit 9 – Koloss 10 – Apokalypsis 11 – Nachtschatten 1 12 – Nachtschatten 2
LINE UP Vocals – Timm Hindorff Guitar, Vocals, Programming, Electronics – Daniel De Clercq Bass – Don Canone Drums – Toby Fuhrmann
Rockers And Other Animals is thrilled to announce the upcoming full-length album by KAT, arriving in tandem with a historic milestone: the 40th anniversary of the release of their legendary debut album.
One of the most influential and enduring forces in European heavy metal is about to make its grand return. KAT, true pioneers of thrash and black metal, have officially completed work on their highly anticipated tenth studio album, set to be released in the coming months.
Active since the late late ’70s and widely revered as a cult band on the international scene, the lineup is ready to reaffirm its pioneer status with a new work. This album seamlessly blends the razor-sharp riffs of their early days with a devastating modern production, guaranteed to resonate with both old-school fans and the newer generations.
This tenth chapter will mark a historic turning point for the group, celebrating a sonic legacy born four decades ago that has gone on to influence entire generations of extreme metal musicians.
While details regarding the tracklist and official release date currently remain under wraps, the album title, cover artwork, and physical/digital pre-order formats will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The announcement will be preceded by the launch of the first official single, which will be accompanied by a music video.
Swedish melodic rock force THE DEVIL WEARS NADA have released their highly anticipated sophomore album, ‘In Lust We Thrust’, out now on CD and limited-edition coloured vinyl via Eönian Records.
Scandinavia has long been a breeding ground for world-class melodic rock and AOR, and from Falköping, Sweden, THE DEVIL WEARS NADA emerges as a formidable new torchbearer of that tradition. Rooted in the golden era of melodic hard rock, from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, the band fuses nostalgic grandeur with a dramatic, contemporary edge. Drawing theatrical inspiration from icons such as Alice Cooper, Ghost, and Lordi, they seamlessly merge arena-ready Scandinavian melodies with horror aesthetics and vintage hard rock energy.
Their debut album, “Postalgia”,on Eönian Records, earned global acclaim for its signature blend of cinematic flair, soaring vocal lines, and hook-laden choruses. Initially released under the name ‘Adecence’ in an ultra-limited pressing of just 100 CDs, the album quickly became a coveted collector’s item. Reintroduced and remastered under THE DEVIL WEARS NADA, the album featured two new studio recordings, a high-octane cover of “1989” by fellow Swedish rockers Nestor, and expanded deluxe packaging; the release became one of Eönian Records’ best-selling titles.
Check out their video for ‘Last Forever’ here:
With new album ‘In Lust We Thrust’, THE DEVIL WEARS NADA hope to shatter expectations and raise their creative bar to towering new heights. Fans of Nestor, Da Vinci, 220 Volt, and FM will recognize the soaring hooks, polished harmonies, and arena-sized ambition that define classic Scandinavian melodic rock. Yet this is far more than a nostalgic revival, it’s a bold reawakening.
Brimming with explosive choruses, cinematic atmosphere, and razor-sharp modern production, ‘In Lust We Thrust’ plans to deliver a revitalized, high-impact vision of the genre, poised to captivate longtime ’80s hard rock and glam metal loyalists and ignite a new generation of melodic rock devotees alike.
Guitarist Henrik Westergren describes the band’s sound, “Take the raw pulse of the ’70s, ’80s hard rock and glam metal, and mix it with our fascination for the macabre and the dramatic, that’s where THE DEVIL WEARS NADA lives.” “It’s Ludvig’s songwriting sensibility mixed with our collective love for the bizarre and dramatic,” Westergren adds. “It creates something that’s both familiar and unsettling; in the best way possible.“ He concludes: “If you’re reading this, thank you, for taking the time to listen, and hopefully for supporting this album built from blood, sweat, and countless hours of passion. Let’s keep the spirit of melodic rock alive and loud. THE DEVIL WEARS NADA is just getting started.”
The Devil Wears Nada is: Ludvig Alfvén on Drums, Keyboards, & Backing Vocals Linus Johansson on Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals Henrik Westergren on Lead Guitars, Keyboards, & Backing Vocals Fredrik Svensson Carlström on Bass
‘In Lust We Thrust’ album track list: 96.2 FM Postalgia Radio Brat With a Baseball Bat Last Forever Misery Is You In Lust We Thrust Elephant In the Room Victoria (Featuring Evan Stanley) Dead & Breakfast Shotgun Wedding Wednesday Ms. Black Widow
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
