Milwaukee Metal Festival 2026 is pleased to now welcome KILLSWITCH as the second headliner for next year! In addition, the festival has previously added MASTER, INTERNAL BLEEDING + INTEGRITY to the lineup!
Also on the bill are headliners ACID BATH as well as IRON REAGAN, MORTA SKULD,BELUSHI SPEEDBALL and 75 other bands yet to be announced!
Festival co-organizer Jamey Jasta comments, “Having just toured the UK with Killswitch Engage and having known them for 30+ years it’s awesome to see them at the height of their powers headlining Wembley arena and now Milwaukee Metal Fest as well! This will be the best weekend ever”
The festival will now take place June 5 – 7, 2026, with the pre-party kicking off on June 4! The festival will take place once again at The Rave/Eagles Ballroom. Early bird tickets can be found HERE.
Stay tuned for the next wave of bands – you don’t wanna miss this!
Swedish death metal force NECROPHESY have unleashed their crushing new single, “The Shroud of Death Unveiled”. The single was released on November 28th, 2025, via Non Serviam Records. We kindly ask you to include this release in your upcoming publications. The band is also available for interviews, and we welcome your reviews, feedback and coverage.
Resurrected from the ashes of the past, NECROPHESY delivers a masterclass in Swedish Death Metal. With a lineup featuring veterans from Lord Belial, Setherial, Decameron and Dissection, “The Shroud of Death Unveiled” combines hellish vocals with a perfect match of raw aggression and technical precision.
This single serves as the first strike before their upcoming EP, planned for early 2026.
Stream / Purchase “The Shroud of Death Unveiled” here:
Single Credits Song: The Shroud of Death Unveiled Music: Thomas Backelin Lyrics: Göran Setitus Production: Recorded and produced by Necrophesy. Mixed and Mastered: Göran Setitus. Cover Art: Mike Hrubovcak Logo: Gerrit Rijken
Spawned from the darkness in 2005, the entity originally known as Fleshbound was conjured by Thomas and Micke Backelin, architects of the legendary Lord Belial. Seeking to expand their sonic dominance, they enlisted the subterranean rumble of Kamal Söder. Yet, the time was not right. The beast was shackled, forced into a premature slumber, and buried in the silence of the void for years… waiting. But true evil never dies; it only waits to be summoned. Decades later, Thomas broke the seal and resurrected the project from the grave. To drive the resurrection, Tobias Kellgren was recruited to hammer the war drums of hell, while the prodigal bassist Kamal Söder returned to reclaim his place in the shadows. As the music began to mutate and blacken, the moniker evolved. First rising as Necrotic Prophesy before shedding its skin to reveal its final, lethal form: NECROPHESY. The ritual was nearly complete, save for a voice to command the chaos. Göran Setitus answered the call, bringing with him a vocal delivery dredged from the deepest pits of the underworld. The pact was sealed. With the lineup now cemented in blood and iron, the silence has been broken. The real devastation has finally begun.
NECROPHESY are: Thomas Backelin – Guitar (Lord Belial) Göran Setitus – Vocals (ex-Setherial) Tobias Kellgren – Drums (ex-Swordmaster, ex-Dissection, ex-Decameron) Kamal Söder – Bass
The Magus, the Luciferian project helmed by Necromantia co-founder and ex-Rotting Christ musician, has revealed the first single from the forthcoming second album, “Daemonosophia”. The crushing track, “Pseudoprophetae”, is streaming now and offers the first taste of the album’s promised “more vengeful” sound.
Speaking about the thematic depth of the new track, The Magus offered the following insight:
“The song is about false prophets, false messiahs, fake sorcerers and liars. For those who lie on purpose to serve their pathetic needs and for those who are so entangled in their lies that they perceive them as truth. In all levels…“
“Daemonosophia”, the follow-up to “ΒΥΣΣΟΔΟΜΩΝΤΑΣ” is set to be released on 20 February 2026 via The Circle Music and is available to pre-order in CD and vinyl formats, along with a limited luxurious box set and merch bundles, here.
The Magus previously revealed that the new album promises a more aggressive and dynamic sound than the previous album, “ΒΥΣΣΟΔΟΜΩΝΤΑΣ”, while keeping the devouring dark atmosphere the project’s music is known for. The album’s sound has some unexpected and diabolically diverse moments that will make listeners feel uneasy.
For the album cover art, The Magus collaborated with Mexican artist Nestor Avalos, known for his work with numerous bands, including Exodus, Deicide and Rotting Christ. The artwork is an Infernal Triptych that portrays six infernal entities: Lucifer/Samael, Leviathan/Tiamat, and Belial/Satan. Nestor created a majestic painting of infernal wisdom and occult meanings, giving prominence to the Luciferian tradition and the music of the album.
Tracklist: 0. Pater Noster 1. Pseudoprophetae 2. Daemonosophia 3. The six in three is all One 4. The Era of Lucifer Rising 5. Magia Obscura 6. Amelia 7. The Chapel of Iniquities 8. The Pact 9. La Llorona Negra
The Magus was formed in 2022, following the dissolution of the legendary Greek black metal band Necromantia, which The Magus co-founded. He decided to end Necromantia after the death of his bandmate Baron Blood in 2019, releasing a final album, “To the Depths We Descend”, in 2021 as a tribute. For this new project, The Magus brought in long-time collaborators El on guitars and Maelstrom on drums.
Eight-track extreme metal release blends black metal, death metal, and progressive elements to explore the psychological and historical dimensions of war.
Iranian extreme metal duo Warahran has released its debut full-length album, Midnight Fire, an eight-track onslaught that captures the volatility, contradiction, and emotional turbulence of life in Iran. Combining black metal ferocity, death-metal brutality, progressive unpredictability, and modern breakdowns, Midnight Fire presents a sonic landscape shaped by the pressure and instability of daily reality.
The album opens with “Eternal Nightmare,” a track that sets the tone for Warahran’s genre-blending approach. An unorthodox progressive intro gives way to a blast of classic black metal riffing, followed by a jarring breakdown and a shift into atmospheric clean guitars, an early display of the album’s constant movement between violence and vulnerability. Throughout the record, Warahran threads together tremolo-driven black metal, old-school death metal, thrash energy, and deathcore-esque heaviness, creating a sound that is both chaotic and meticulously crafted.
“Midnight Fire reflects the feeling of living in a place where everything can change in an instant,” says guitarist/vocalist Ario. “We wanted the music to mirror the emotional shifts around us. Fear, defiance, loneliness, rage. These contradictions shape the way we write.”
Lyrically, Midnight Fire centers on different faces of war. The album’s name references the paradox of nighttime warfare—an environment engulfed in darkness yet illuminated by the fire of conflict. Tracks like “Hills of Corpses” dive into the visceral horror of combat, drawing from the grotesque intensity of classic death metal lyricism. In contrast, the closing track “Ten Thousand Immortals” shifts toward historical reflection, honoring the elite Persian Immortals of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BCE), the first great Iranian empire and a defining golden age in Iranian history.
With its blend of historical imagery, personal experience, and unrestrained musical aggression, Midnight Fire stands as a rare and uncompromising portrait of contemporary Iranian life through the lens of extreme metal.
Midnight Fire tracklist: 01 – Eternal Nightmare 02 – Forced by Hate 03 – Midnight Fire 04 – Flowered Field 05 – Hills of Corpses 06 – Rise Together 07 – Betrayer 08 – Ten Thousand Immortals
Warahran is an Iranian extreme metal band formed in 2024. From dark melodies and shrieking screams to crushing breakdowns and fast paced riffs, their music is a black-metal-leaning mixture of many genres including death metal, thrash metal, progressive and many more. The war centered lyrics paint an image of battle scenes using sounds. Warahran is more than the sum of its members. We are Warahran.
5RAND have released their brand new album “Ordhalia”, out now via Art Gates Records.
To celebrate this milestone, the Italian band has unveiled the official video for the title track, a fierce centerpiece that captures the record’s darkest emotional core. “Ordhalia” expands 5RAND’s signature blend of modern metal intensity and cinematic melancholy, driven by angular riffs, relentless rhythms and Julia Elenoir’s striking dual vocals. The new album marks the band’s most ambitious and immersive work to date, offering a powerful journey through introspection, resilience and transformation.
“Ordhalia” was produced by Marco Mastrobuono (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour Of Penance) and mastered by Jens Bogren (Kreator, Opeth).
Album tracklist:
1. Lullaby for the Broken 2. Bloodlife 3. Ordhalia 4. The Nihilist (feat. M. Silvestro / Fear Factory) 5. Double Bind 6. Turbid 7. Ritual of Silence 8. Lethargy 9. Resurge in Death 10. Silent Line
Hailing from Rome, Italy, 5RAND builds on a punishing modern metal foundation, layered with the cinematic depth of melodic death metal, creating an intense and emotionally immersive soundscape. Fronted by the dynamic dual vocals of Julia Elenoir – shifting seamlessly from visceral growls to haunting clean melodies – the band has carved out a distinctive place in the modern metal scene.
Founded by Pierluigi Carocci (guitar), Acey Guns (bass), Andrea De Carolis (drums), and Elenoir (vocals), 5RAND first made waves with their debut “Sacred/Scared”, followed by the critically acclaimed “Dark Mother”. The band has since toured extensively across Europe, sharing the stage with iconic acts such as Dark Tranquillity, Vader, Butcher Babies, Infected Rain, and many others.
In 2025, 5RAND will unveil their most ambitious work to date – a bold new album mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, featuring a powerful guest appearance by the new Fear Factory vocalist, Milo Silvestro. This upcoming release signals a sonic evolution: darker, more introspective, and conceptually daring.
The band’s name, drawn from a chance encounter with a shaman and a South African 5 Rand coin, symbolizes unexpected paths and transformative experiences. Their music explores themes of identity, emotional detachment, philosophy, and human resilience, all woven together through a multidisciplinary artistic vision that spans both sound and visuals.
Line-up:
Julia Elenoir – Voice Pierluigi Carocci – Guitar Acey Guns – Bass Andrea De Carolis – Drums
Death/thrash/groove/prog metal force Stalwart have officially signed with WormholeDeath Records for the release of their seventh full-length album, Tempvs Edax Rervm, due out 23 January 2026.
The band shared their excitement regarding this new partnership:
“It’s hard to believe in this day and age, but good news still happens sometimes — well, at least for us. We’re thrilled to announce that Stalwart has officially signed with WormHoleDeath Records for the release of our new album, Tempvs Edax Rervm, coming in early 2026. After a long break and years spent living across different parts of the world, this record marks a new chapter for us — one that connects everything we’ve built over the past two decades with the drive and perspective we have today”.
About the Album: Tempvs Edax Rervm
Tempvs Edax Rervm (“Time, the Devourer of All Things”) reflects on how everything fades with time: vices die with their hosts, people hide behind new masks as they decay within, and even the old gods have grown powerless to change what’s coming. Heaven and earth have switched places — and the end might already be near.
Musically, the album brings together the elements that have always defined Stalwart: sharp, groove-driven riffs, intricate rhythms, atmospheric layers, and a balance between intensity and precision. Shaped by distance and experience, it’s not a restart — it’s a continuation, distilled into something heavier, darker, and more focused than ever before.
To get a first glimpse into the crushing new chapter, stream the lyric video for the track “Pandora”:
Stalwart History
Formed in 1999 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Stalwart has earned a reputation in the extreme metal scene with a unique blend of death, groove, thrash, and progressive metal. Over the years, the band has released six full-length albums on labels including Fono, Soyuz/MetalAgen, CD-Maximum, Metallism, and PRC Music. Four albums were produced by the renowned Wiesławski brothers (Vader, Decapitated, Behemoth, Hate) at Hertz Studio, known for its crisp, punishing sound.
Stalwart has shared stages with Behemoth, Kataklysm, Vader, Amon Amarth, Primal Fear, Finntroll, Carnifex, and more, performing across Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Estonia, and Germany. After a 2019 hiatus, during which members relocated across continents, the band returns with Tempvs Edax Rervm, delivering crushing grooves, intricate rhythms, relentless blast beats, and immersive atmospheres — a new chapter in Stalwart’s evolution.
Stalwart Line Up: Pavel Kozhukhovsky – vocals Anton Sofronov – guitars Leonid Verman – guitars, keyboards Dmitry Ivanov – bass, back vocals Alexey Timanov – 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
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 