Italian progressive death metal outfit FATE UNBURIED have signed with Time To Kill Records for the release of their second full-length album, “Neraspeme”.
The announcement is accompanied by the unveiling of the first single, “Drain”, which offers an initial glimpse into the album’s musical and conceptual direction. “Neraspeme” explores an extreme-tinged form of progressive metal where technical skill is never an end in itself, but a tool to serve atmosphere, emotion and narrative depth.
The songs unfold through unexpected twists while retaining a strong melodic core and a persistent melancholic mood ready to surface at any moment.
Further singles and all album details will be released in the coming months.
“Once all the hatred has been drained, when the anger has finished screaming and there’s nothing left to spit out, all that remains is emptiness. This track is an unrestrained outburst: hatred and rage violently spat out, raw and instinctive, without overthinking. It’s the sound of an inner void that has yet to be filled and that continues to make itself felt heavy”.
“Neraspeme” is a sonic journey into the core of a relationship in decay. A 12-track concept album, each song is designed to unsettle, surprise, and relentlessly pull the listener forward, never allowing a moment of rest.
The album is defined by sharp, powerful riffs that are often unexpectedly catchy, lodging themselves in the listener’s mind while retaining a fierce, unyielding aggression. The band skillfully weaves in progressive elements through sudden tempo shifts, intricate instrumental passages, and moments of eerily suspended atmosphere, balanced by sections driven by a strong, groove-oriented drum performance.
On a thematic level, “Neraspeme” traces the full emotional cycle of a relationship approaching its end. The tracks unfold like chapters of an inner collapse, moving from blinding anger to disoriented madness, and finally to the album’s title concept: a warped, dark form of hope that offers no redemption and ultimately dissolves like a mirage.
Line-up:
Riccardo Babbolin – Vocals, Guitar Francesco Garatti – Guitar Davide Piccolo – Bass Giorgio Piva – Drums
Discography:
Dehumanized Society (Demo) – 2012 Logos (LP) – 2017 A Pale Color Perception: Hostility (EP) – 2020 A Pale Color Perception: Observant (EP) – 2021 Neraspeme (LP) – 2026
After nearly a decade of soul searching through the Canadian wilderness, Anciients hit the road hard last year. The heavy, heady and heartfelt Canucks capped off an extensive U.S. headlining tour in support of their latest JUNO Award-winning album, Beyond the Reach of the Sun, by winning Metal & Hard Music Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Now, the band are keeping their momentum rolling with their first set of tours dates for 2026.
Today, Anciients are announcing a Canadian tour with Cancer Bats, who are celebrating 20 years of their debut album Birthing the Giant. During this coast-to-coast run, the band will perform new favorites from Beyond the Reach of the Sun, along with earlier crowd-pleasers from their award-winning discography. Joining Anciients are Ontario’s Teeth (Fort Eerie) and Chastity (Whitby).
“We are very stoked to announce that we’ll be hitting the Canadian highway this spring while supporting our friends in Cancer Bats on their 20th anniversary tour”, Anciients’ frontman Kenny Cook says. “This tour is going to be a ripper”.
Anciients 2026 Coast-to-Coast Canadian Tour with Cancer Bats, Teeth + Chastity
April 3 – St. John’s, NL @ The Rock House [TICKETS] April 4 – Halifax, NS @ Marquee Ballroom April 5 – Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar [TICKETS] April 7 – Quebec, QC @ L’Anti Bar & Spectacles [TICKETS] April 8 – Ottawa, ON @ Overflow Brewing Company [TICKETS] April 9 – Kingston, ON @ The Broom Factory [TICKETS] April 10 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House [TICKETS] April 11 – Greater Sudbury, ON @ HQ Headquarters [TICKETS] April 12 – Thunder Bay, ON @ Black Pirates Pub [TICKETS] April 14 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange [TICKETS] April 16 – Kelowna, BC @ Metro Hub [TICKETS] April 17 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl [TICKETS] April 18 – Vancouver, BC @ Capital Ballroom [TICKETS] April 20 – Nelson, BC @ The Royal [TICKETS] April 21 – Fernie, BC @ The Northern Bar & Stage [TICKETS] April 22 – Calgary, AB @ Dickens [TICKETS] April 23 – Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop Live [TICKETS] April 24 – Reed Deer, AB @ Bo’s Bar & Stage [TICKETS] April 25 – Saskatoon, SK @ Coors Event Centre [TICKETS]
TBD – Winnipeg* May 16 – Montreal @ Pouzza Fest* *Cancer Bats only
Anciients’ award-winning discography is available now on Season of Mist. Order & Stream
Watch the new video for “Is It Your God”:
Beyond the Reach of the SunTracklist 1. Forbidden Sanctuary (8:16) 2. Despoiled (5:19) 3. Is It Your God (7:07) [WATCH] 4. Melt the Crown (7:08) [WATCH] 5. Cloak of the Vast and Black (6:20) [WATCH] 6. Celestial Tyrant (5:52) 7.Beyond Our Minds (4:12) 8. The Torch (4:13) 9. Candescence (4:10) 10. In the Absence of Wisdom (6:35) [WATCH]
It’s been a rough handful of years for British Columbia-based extremity-laced progressive rockers, Anciients. When the quartet unleashed their Voice of the Void album in 2016, the world appeared to be their oyster and things seemed ripe for the picking. They were coming off the success of their Heart of Oak debut from 2013, its ascendancy due in large part to a collective uptick in interest for involved, forward-thinking music. The public had moved beyond toe-dipping and tire-kicking, and were instead doing headfirst dives into exploring the likes of Opeth, Mastodon, Baroness, The Ocean, Intronaut and others who originally hailed from the extreme music underground, but had since grown, matured and scrubbed behind their ears to include heaping and healthy chunks from the outskirts of their record collections and influence pools.
The Band That Auto-Correct Loves to Fuck With™ shared stages with everyone from High on Fire and Goatwhore to Boris and Lamb of God, were in the midst of a European tour when they discovered they were JUNO Award (Canadian Grammy equivalent) winners in the heavy metal/hard rock category. The world was ready to accept Anciients into its welcoming arms. Anciients was gearing up to employ takeover methods, specifically their brand of thunderous rhythms and labyrinthine riffing bolstered by a road warrior mentality. And then, the momentum petered out and the band seemingly fell off the face of the earth.
Today, Anciients are ready and poised to resume their spirited quest for heavy metal paramountcy. There’s no doubt the band is back and with a stunning and beautiful collection of ten songs on offer in the form of new and third album, Beyond the Reach of the Sun, they are positioning to reestablish themselves as a dominant force for those who love windmilling their tresses around thoughtful tempo changes, complex harmonic layers and driving power chord shifting. But what the hell happened and where did they disappear to?
“Basically,” explains guitarist/vocalist Kenny Cook, “right before Voice of the Void was recorded, my wife had our first kid. She ended up having heart complications and almost passed away from it. We recorded the last record and once it came out, I was kind of just focusing on her, dealing with her health issues and keeping that in check. I wasn’t at the stage where I could be gone for half a year, especially with a new kid. Long story short, she’s happy and healthy now, but dealing with family issues was the main priority. It was a bit of a road.”
Adding to that bit of Anciients camp turmoil, guitarist/co-vocalist/co-founding member, Chris Dyck and the band parted ways in January of 2017. This left a gaping lineup hole at an inopportune juncture in the band’s timeline. Not only did Cook have to deal with the absence of his long-term song and lyric writing partner, but Dyck was also someone he had been splitting vocal duties with since the pair formed the band in 2009. And then, while helping his wife with her recovery, raising their new born and “because we wanted to raise our son in a small town environment,” the Cook family uprooted to Columbia-Shuswap four hours east of the Vancouver area, where drummer Mike Hannay, Brock MacInnes (Dyck’s replacement) and brand spanking new bassist Rory O’Brien still reside.
“We knew Brock from other bands he’d been in and we knew he’d be a great fit,” explains Cook. “He actually filled in for Chris on a tour we did back in 2015. As far as the vocals, I just found myself picking up the slack on both ends. It felt somewhat natural, it was definitely different. Doing the lyrics myself for the first time was somewhat daunting, but it was also something done out of necessity. But even when Chris was in the band I handled 80-90% of the vocals anyway, so it didn’t change all that much.”
Then, that whole COVID-19 thing you probably heard about once or twice hit in 2020 and put another restraining bolt on Anciients’ activity, especially touring as the Canadians found themselves dealing with stricter travel restrictions and mandates than many other countries; most notably, not being able to cross the border for almost two years. Once the dust settled, Cook had to adjust to being the lone vocalist and how that impacted the material he was writing while navigating being creative with distance between Anciients’ members for the first time. Not a biggie, as in-person writing sessions are more of a rarity these days, but because of the time elapsed since Voices of the Void, things/interests/influences changed and the band ended up scrapping half of an album’s worth of material and starting fresh. When they put their heads down at the end of 2021 with the focus being Beyond the Reach of the Sun, what was revealed a year later was more streamlined and slithery, more chest-thumpingly direct, more epic and triumphant sounding. Riffs come in explosive layered packets. Leads, harmonies and melodies are more on par with wind-tussled mountain tops instead of sweaty bar shows and the band moves with finely honed, martial accuracy as conducted by Hannay’s rocket-in-the-pocket staccato swing and accents.
Songs like “The Torch” blaze with the shirtless glisten of ‘70s stadium rock power. “Cloak of the Vast and Black” swirls and whirls with a combination of hardcore intensity, grunge groove and expansive six-string parries. “In the Absence of Wisdom” is a hurricane-sized maelstrom of classic and prog rock elevated to grandiosity by a return to their growling sludge/death early years as the song/album concludes. The album’s first single, “Melt the Crown” mixes cues from legendary fellow hosers Rush and Harlequin, turn-of-the-millennium post-metal and the most psychedelic corners of the Rise Above Records roster.
“The new record has a lot more of our rock side,” Cook offers, “and leans towards those elements of our sound and personalities, whereas Voice of the Void was pretty crushing all the way through. With the new material we’ve tried to add more dynamics to the music and give the songs more room to breathe.”
Album opener “Forbidden Sanctuary” is the soundtrack to exploration, of new worlds and sonic arrangement as sine-wave guitars pull from vintage Mercyful Fate covens and Krautrock communes with synths opening up novel textural avenues, as they do on the ethereal wispiness and space rock/sci-fi soundscapes of the instrumental “Candescence.” Beyond the Reach of the Sunsees synths and keyboards making their first appearance on an Anciients record and were played by producer/mixer Jesse Gander and Justin Hagberg at the former’s Rain City Recorders studio. In addition to augmenting the album with his skill on the black and whites, Hagberg — a member of the recently reunited 3 Inches of Blood — also helped Anciients navigate a significant last-minute hurdle, one that threatened to pull the reins back on their comeback roar.
“We lost our bass player literally a month before we were going in to record and were kind of up shit’s creek. Justin also plays in a band called Ritual Dictates with Rory and is the one who brought his name up.”
O’Brien, a former member of Vancouver’s Bushwhacker, was absolutely interested when approached by Anciients.
“We got lucky and he saved our asses at the last minute.”
Cook stepped up to the challenge of being the sole lyricist to drape Beyond the Reach of the Sun in deeply personal expressions of the inner turmoil, fear and isolation he’d experienced in himself and saw in others over the past few years. There were moments where he didn’t know whether loved ones were going to pull through and what life was going to look like were tragedy come to pass. Mental health and people living life without being able to see any light at the end of the tunnel became a very prevalent theme to tracks like “Despoiled” and “Beyond Our Minds.” And while the line that became the album’s title is taken from a David Attenborough-narrated Planet Earth documentary, it speaks more to the coming and going of despondency when one doesn’t know how dark the darkness is going to get, as in “Is It Your God,” which pulls from the manifestation of grief and how it can shatter belief systems.
“That one is a little more personal to me and my situation,” Cook says somberly. “I had a good friend of mine from when I was younger pass away from cancer. His mother was super-religious and there were ideas taken from her questioning how could something like that happen to her when she had such a strong faith.”
The title and themes of stripped away hope and piled on anguish and tumult were parlayed into the album’s spectacular cover art. Created by Adam Burke (Nightjar Illustrations), the drawing is part-pulp novel cover, part-Franzetta landscape, part-sci-fi movie poster and all a vast illustration one can easily lose themselves in while the record spins in the background.
“We gave him the concept and basic outline of how we wanted the cover to look and he took it to a whole new dimension. It turned out pretty wild!”
With all being said and done, Anciients have returned! They stand ready to ascend the prog metal ladder and get back to doing what they do best with a weighty and dense, but wholly accessible, album. It’s a collection of ten songs that possesses the ability to have those furiously banging heads also tapping into their power of self-reflection and contemplation to ponder the finality of existence, the value of life and their place in the universe.
“Totally! We’re going to take as many of the opportunities that come to us. The hiatus is over and I think with the new members and everyone being on the same page we’re ready to get out there as soon as possible. We missed out on a huge block after the last record, so we’ve got to make up for lost time. Now that everyone is happy and healthy, we plan to hit it hard.”
Guest musicians –Justin Hagberg plays keyboard on “Forbidden Sanctuary”, “Is It Your God”, “Melt the Crown”, “Candescence”, “In the Absence of Wisdom”. –Jess Gander plays synths on “Candescence” and “Cloak of the Vast and Black”.
Recording studio Rain City Recorders
Producer / sound engineer Jesse Gander Assisted by Szymon Wojciech
Mastering studio and engineer Stu McKillop @ Rain City Mastering
Mixing studio and engineer Jesse Gander Rain City Recorders
Cover artwork artist Adam Burke @ Nightjar Illustrations
How many metal musicians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Who cares? They shorted out the entire grid hours ago. And you’re maybe going to want to think about buying your own portable generator as Nuclear Messiah draw closer.
Because, if you want to talk metal supergroups, super sessions, super whatever-you-like, Nuclear Messiah has not only got them all beat. It also has even the doughtiest hard rock warrior cowering in a corner, probably wearing ear protectors, and simply marveling at the cast of superstars filing through the studios as the sessions came together.
There’s 36 of them altogether, a staggering lineup representing every era of heavy music, and uniting icons from thrash, classic rock, hard rock, and progressive metal. And not one of them has phasers on anything less than stun – and that includes Captain Kirk, William Shatner, who voices the opening “The Prophet of Fallout.”
A thunderous all-star concept set, the forthcoming album’s called Black Flame – and how appropriate is that? The God of Hellfire himself, Arthur Brown, starred on Nuclear Messiah’s first single, a cover of Lucifer’s Friend’s classic “Ride The Sky,” before Christmas (watch it at https://youtu.be/yEaLCjdy2hk); now the new year opens with the incendiary title track, “Black Flame” itself. It’s a Chris Poland original and, for anyone schooled in the art of Megadeth’s most combustible albums, you can already guess what that means.
The heart of Nuclear Messiah, Poland’s melodic fluidity, experimental phrasing, and sheer command of tone have inspired generations. From Megadeth’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? to his work in OHM and Damn the Machine, Poland’s guitar sound remains one of the most distinctive in modern music.
“Chris isn’t just a guitarist — he’s a spirit of sound,” says Brian Perera, Cleopatra’s founder and the album’s executive producer. “Nuclear Messiah was built around his brilliance and brought to life by an army of legends who share his passion and precision.”
Poland isn’t the only Megadeath-er in sight, either. “Black Flame” also features fellow Mega-alumni Glen Drover (guitar) and Chris Adler (drums), alongside vocalist Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), keyboardist Jonathan Cain (Journey) and bassist Phil Soussan (Ozzy).
It’s a line-up to make your ears bleed just thinking about it.
Scotland’s ibex-obsessed blackened thrash bastard of Hades, otherwise known as HELLRIPPER, is pleased to announce that his fourth studio album, ‘Coronach,’ will be released worldwide on March 27, 2026 via Century Media Records, making it his debut to the label! To celebrate this upcoming offering, HELLRIPPER is now debuting a raucous new black thrash anthem, “Hunderprest,” along with a spirited performance video that was filmed at UK’s Damnation Festival 2025 by Sethpicturesmusic and edited by Jake Ten. The clip can be found at THIS LOCATION.
HELLRIPPER mastermind, guitarist/vocalist and songwriter James McBain comments on the new single,
“‘Hunderprest’ hits immediately with a chaotic deluge of dissonance, and is what I felt to be the perfect way to open the album — leaving the listener with no time to prepare. Based on the legend of ‘Hunderprest,’ or ‘dog priest’ – the vampire of Melrose Abbey. The sinful chaplain inherited his nickname because of his habit of hunting on horseback with his pack of hounds. After his death, legend says he was buried in the graveyard of Melrose Abbey; and because his spirit could not find peace, he would rise from his grave when night fell to harass the villagers and his former mistress to satisfy his bloodthirst. He was eventually defeated when a group of monks from Melrose Abbey exhumed Hunderprest’s blood-soaked body in broad daylight and set it on fire, throwing the ashes into the wind to be sure that the vampire would no longer be able to torment the town.
“Musically, the track primarily takes influence from a mixture of thrash (Kreator, Merciless, Metallica) and black (Watain, Rotting Christ, Tribulation) metal, with a healthy dose of some more ‘atmospheric’ d-beat elements from the likes of Oathbreaker and Fall of Efrafa.”
He adds about the album, “‘Coronach’ is a personal exploration of Scottish Culture — its music, literature, history & folklore. From Pictish mysteries to Victorian Gothic literature, sinister lore, classic Scottish poetry and modern urban tales, the album tells stories of the country throughout the ages. Inspired by anything and everything from Venom and Mercyful Fate, to Watain and Opeth, to Manic Street Preachers, film scores and traditional Scottish music, the album is a good representation of myself all wrapped up in a nice speed metal package! Quite a bit of experimentation went into this album, and I wanted each track to contain something that I had never done previously. Whether it be the inclusion of a different instrument, or how a song begins, I aimed to offer some element of surprise in each track.
“The album, named after the vocal lament traditionally sung at funerals in the Scottish Highlands, encompasses everything the band is about: mixing modern and old-school influences, past and present storytelling, the dark side of Scottish history and my personal interpretation of it. As always, the writing and recording took place in my home studio, with various other people putting their stamp on a few of the tracks. The album was mixed by myself, and was mastered by Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studios, and the artwork was done by Adam Burke (Nightjar Illustration). Fàilte gu Alba – Welcome to Scotland!”
In addition, Hellripper will be embarking on a European headliner with support from Schizophrenia and Sarcator, which will introduce the band’s upcoming studio album release (More details about that soon…!). The full itinerary can be found below while tickets can be found HERE.
The brainchild of guitarist/vocalist/solitary force, James McBain, Hellripper has been running like a denim-vested, backpatch-encrusted William Wallace, bravehearting his way through metal’s bloodiest battlefields since first coagulating his personal darkness in 2014. Taking armaments from “Kill ‘Em All” era Hetfield and “Welcome to Hell” era Mantas, McBain has immersed his fascination with darkness and speed with Scottish history and come with bloody masterpieces like 2023’s “Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags” that Metal Injection stated: “Bursts with growth and a mature exploration of darkness and eeriness while maintaining that original high-octane burning”. McBain is presently sharpening his blades and casting new spells that will transmogrify into Hellripper’s Century Media debut “Coronach”.
Hellripper Lineup: James McBain – All Instruments & Vocals
Hellripper live and video performance line-up: James McBain – Guitar & Vocals Joseph Quinlan – Guitar Andy Milburn – Bass Max Southall – Drums
Album credits: Recorded and mixed by Hellripper’s James McBain at Coronach Studios in Scotland, UK Mastered by Damien Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in the USA.
AOR/Melodic rockers Streetlight share today the new single, “Shake That Feeling”, taken from the deluxe edition of their latest studio album “Night Vision”, available digitally today via Frontiers Music Srl.
Johannes Häger stated: “We are finally releasing “Shake That Feeling”, a bonus track from the “Night Vision” sessions. Driven by guitars and a powerful chorus, the song explores mental health and the process of letting go of inner struggles.”
Johannes Häger commented on the new album, by saying: “It’s been such a joy for us to record our sophomore album “Night Vision”. One could say that the stakes are higher now compared to the debut “Ignition”, but we felt there are still many untrodden paths for Streetlight, both musically but of course also career wise. We’re still looking back at the AOR heydays, but we’re not going back.”
Streetlight is an AOR/melodic rock band from Jonkoping, Sweden. The band is staying true to the genre, delivering distinctive melodies, punchy choruses and strong hooks, all in the likeness of bands like Journey, Toto and Kansas.
The debut album “Ignition” was released in 2023 by Frontiers Music, digitally and on CD. The music video of their single “Hit The Ground” has got over 140k views on YouTube. Since the release of “Ignition”, Streetlight have gained fans from over the world, and the album reviews have been stellar.
Streetlight is meant to be experienced live, and the band is taking their music on the road, playing both in clubs and on festivals, among others the Swedish AOR festival Malmö Melodic.
The music of Streetlight is melodic and guitar driven, with a sound that reminds you of the times when AOR was at its peak. And Streetlight wants to mediate music that is fun to listen to, as well as fun to play.
The debut album showed the world that Streetlight is a band to reckon with, and with “Night Vision” they continue with their distinctive melodies and punchy choruses. The sound still has elements of the melodic rock heydays, wrapped in their own 2025 twist.
“Night Vision” – Deluxe Edition – Tracklist:
1. Long-Distance Runner 2. Captured In The Night 3. Sleep Walk 4. Learn To Love Again 5. Late Night Hollywood 6. Leanna 7. Straight To Video 8. Fly With Eagles 9. Where Did Love Go 10. End Game 11. Shake That Feeling (Bonus track) 12. Learn To Love Again (Live) (Bonus track) 13. Leanna (Live) (Bonus track)
Line Up: Johannes Häger – lead vocals and guitars Filip Stenlund – guitars, backing vocals John Svensson – keys, backing vocals Erik Nilsson – drums, backing vocals Johan Tjernström – bass, backing vocals
On forthcoming album, “Esoterik“, pioneering Dutch artist Jason Köhnen (THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET, THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE) continues the alchemical evolution that has defined his work as BONG-RA. A conceptual successor to 2025’s “Black Noise“, the new album deepens the esoteric dimensions he previously explored on “Antediluvian” (2018) and “Meditations” (2022), while forging a harsher, more dystopian industrial architecture. “Esoterik” will be released on March 20th and contains five immersive, long-form compositions:
Harmony Cloak
Pleasures of the Flesh
Serpentine Helix
Duality Of One
Machine Halo
“Esoterik” is a work of sustained tension, where bass-heavy doomjazz, mechanised industrial pressure and ritualistic repetition converge into a dense, ceremonial whole. The album was composed, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Jason Köhnen. Guest performances include baritone vocals by Botond Fogl on ‘Duality Of One‘ and saxophone contributions by Colin Webster. The cover artwork was created by See Machine (OSSUARY, DORMANT ORDEAL).
Köhnen comments:
“The songs on “Esoterik” are partly adapted from songs on the “Antediluvian” and “Meditations” albums. These two albums delved more into the heavier doomjazz sound, crushingly low and with the screaming sax. With “Esoterik” I tried to have the universe of the “Black Noise” album collide with those of “Antediluvian” and “Meditations” in order to complete a creative circle. Harsh dystopian Industrial moulded with bass heavy doomjazz. The title “Esoterik” (adjective: intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest) dives into concepts taken from Esotericism, especially Hermeticism. The “Black Noise” comeback album, so to speak, really lit the spark for what I call the BONG-RA 2.0 era, even as far that the template and sketches for the next (3rd) album are already being laid out.“
As an initiation into this immense new work, BONG-RA unveil ‘Pleasures of the Flesh‘ as first single – a relentless Industrial Metal onslaught driven by crushing distortion, mechanical force and raw physical energy, yet pierced by melancholic saxophone lines recalling Köhnen‘s cinematic project THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET.
Listen via Bandcamp and on DMP‘s YouTube channel in form of a lyric video:
Köhnen reveals the concept behind the single:
“‘Pleasures of the Flesh‘ is an inner struggle between the temptations of the physical and the perseverance towards metaphysical discipline. Hinting to the principles of duality that come from Hermetic teachings. It’s a constant internal struggle and a test of faith, nihilism versus spirituality, and ‘Pleasures of the Flesh‘ shows the angle where the shift leans towards hope being lost and those moments when one is captured by the temptations of the dark side. It hints to a machine control world.”
“Esoterik” will be released on CD, vinyl — including an exclusive DMP vinyl edition — and digital on March 20th. An exclusive T-shirt design will accompany the release. Pre-orders are available via DMP’s EU, US and Bandcamp shops.
In spring 2026, BONG-RA will embark on a large European tour with avant-garde Extreme Metal entity THY CATAFALQUE. Further info will follow soon!
Jason Köhnen began his musical journey in 1988 as the vocalist/bassist for BLUUURGH…, an underground Dutch Crust/Death Metal/Grindcore band. Following the release of an EP and LP, in 1991 he founded the Death-Doom band CELESTIAL SEASON, gaining widespread recognition as a prominent name in the genre outside the renowned ‘Peaceville 3′.
In 1996, Köhnen shifted from Metal to electronic music, creating the project BONG-RA and pioneering the intense Breakcore genre of electronica. His 1998 debut album led to a Peel Session in 2002, and established BONG-RA as one of the first acts to fuse Extreme Metal with electronics. The experimentation deepened with releases like the 2007 “Grindkrusher” EP, featuring BOLT THROWER samples, and collaborative releases with noise artist Maruosa in DEATHSTORM and the neo-classical Doom project WHITE DARKNESS.
Beyond BONG-RA, Kohnen co-founded THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE and later THE MOUNT FUJI DOOMJAZZ CORPORATION, releasing a series of cult albums up to 2013. Over his 30-year career, he has collaborated with notable artists such as VENETIAN SNARES and IGORRR, performed at major festivals including Glastonbury and Dour, and toured globally, sharing the stage with legendary acts like APHEX TWIN, MINISTRY and THE PRODIGY.
After a brief hiatus, during which BONG-RA explored Doom, Electronica and Jazz – including via 2018’s “Antediluvian” and 2022’s “Meditations” – Köhnen is now returning to his Metal and Grindcore roots. A deal with Debemur Morti Productions, also home to his Doomjazz project THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET, has been reached.
BONG-RA now prepares for a new era as a live three-piece featuring guitarists Attila Kovacs and Botond Fogl. This freshly rejuvenated vehicle for Metal/breaks fusion debute in early 2025 with a new record “Black Noise” and continues its journey with forthcoming “Esoterik” album (2026) and more touring.
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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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