Finnish melodic death metal band Crowen released a new single and music video ‘Ember Wraith’. The track is taken from the forthcoming ‘Through the Dying Mist’ EP which is set to be released on February 20th 2026 via Inverse Records.
The first single from Through the Dying Mist EP, Ember Wraith, is pure Crowen from start to finish, offering no room to breathe. Crushing guitar riffs and furious blast beats alternate with slower, heavier passages. “From the very beginning, this song is a straight punch in the face,” says vocalist-songwriter Esa Uusimaa, and continues: “The riffs are technically fast-paced and demanding. Luckily, I have the incredibly skilled Sami Sandberg alongside me on guitar, and Tuomas Saukkonen’s monumental bass playing crowns the whole piece.”
Ember Wraith tells the story of a ghostlike entity, born from ashes and dwelling in hellfire. It is a shadow of the past, returning time and again to remind us of pain and loss. The message is both threatening and sorrowful. “Ember Wraith is a spirit of vengeance, walking the path of fire, destruction, and death. The lyrics awaken the thought that death must be respected,” Uusimaa explains.
–Composed, lyrics, recorded, mixed & produced by Esa Uusimaa. –Mastered by Ville Hautaluoma –Single cover by Winter Notes Production Oy –ISRC: FI3FC2596001
Through the Dying Mist Track list:
Ember Wraith
Line of Silence
I Am The Sorrow
The Unwritten End
–Composed, lyrics, recorded, mixed & produced by Esa Uusimaa. –Mastered by Ville Hautaluoma –EP cover by Jussi Virtanen
EP Line-up: Esa Uusimaa – vocals, guitars, keyboards Sami Sandberg – guitars, lead guitar Tuomas Saukkonen – bass
Milan-based death metal band ABBINORMAL are back with their second single and video “Acid/Disease”, taken from their upcoming third full-length Italia’s Gore Talent, to be released on December 5th, 2025 via Ad Noctem Records.
Following the unhinged brutality of Hippopotamus, this new track reveals the band’s most experimental side yet — a psychedelic and visionary journey that blends their signature grindcore ferocity with doom, sludge, and ‘70s rock influences, featuring a special guest appearance by Momo from Di’Aul on vocals.
“Acid/Disease, the second single taken from Italia’s Gore Talent, shows the most experimental side of our sound and represents the great stylistic variety that will be present throughout the album,” state the band. “Thanks to Momo’s voice, we were able to mix our characteristic grindcore with doom, sludge, and ‘70s rock vibes. The result is a psychedelic and visionary trip that we want to share with all our listeners!”
Recorded at the renowned Toxic Basement Studios and completed in March, Italia’s Gore Talent stands as ABBINORMAL’s most ferocious, grotesque, and unpredictable record to date. Described by the band as “a grotesque and ferocious critique of the spectacle of violence and social distress — a true showcase of sonic madness in pure Abbinormal style,” the album serves as a visceral soundtrack to modern decay.
Visually, the band continues its collaboration with visionary artist Davide Scianca, whose decadent and disturbing imagery perfectly mirrors ABBINORMAL’s uncompromising musical identity.
Formed in 1996 and reborn in 2017, ABBINORMAL have forged a reputation for blending grindcore, death, and thrash metal with provocative chaos. After the explosive 1996 (2019) and the brutal Grind Hotel (2023), the upcoming album Italia’s Gore Talent pushes their sound to a whole new level of extremity and creativity.
ABBINORMAL have shared the stage with acts such as Gutalax, Crowbar, Left To Die, Terrorhammer, Hideous Divinity, Exilia, The Modern Age Slavery, Schizo, Hour Of Penance, Node, and Genus Ordinis Dei, cementing their place within the European extreme metal scene.
Italia’s Gore Talent is more than just an album — it’s a grotesque carnival of chaos, critique, and catharsis.
Greek melodic death metal quintet Flamecore has released the official lyric video for their track “Projected Reality,” featured on their self-titled debut album, Flamecore (out now via Wormholedeath).
“Projected Reality” strikes at the heart of modern existence, exposing a world built on deception, false idols, and relentless struggle. With razor-sharp riffs and unyielding intensity, Flamecore delivers a merciless track that reveals freedom as nothing more than a cage.
Flamecore’s debut self-titled album is a fierce and emotionally charged statement from a band determined to reshape the boundaries of melodic death metal. Rooted in the genre’s foundations but sharpened with a modern edge, the record blends soaring harmonized leads, thunderous double-kick rhythms, and vocals that shift from guttural roars to anguished screams. The band draws inspiration from the likes of In Flames, Slipknot, and Gojira, channeling that energy into a sound that feels immediate and immersive.
The album was recorded across two cities, reflecting Flamecore’s collaborative spirit and DIY ethos: drums and vocals were tracked at Leonidas’ studio in Chania, while guitars and bass were recorded at Stathis’ studio in Athens. Mixing and mastering were handled by John Mor at Apex Soundworks, who brought clarity and weight to the band’s sonic vision. Lyrically, the record explores the friction between inner demons and external pressures, with recurring themes of identity, struggle, and societal decay.
Flamecore:
Formed by Stathis Lianos and Leonidas Viglakis, the Greek melodic death metal band Flamecore emerged from a collaborative spark between Chania and Athens. Their journey began with a single riff, which grew into the track “Plains of Nameck.”
This initial creative success led to their self-titled debut album, released in February 2025. With a lineup solidified by the additions of Panagiotis Tsopelas and Akis Blazakis, Flamecore brought their vision of extreme, melodic metal to life. Following the album’s release and a series of live shows, the band is now focused on promoting their work with new bassist Panagiotis Mousouras while composing their next chapter.
SLAYER‘s iconic second studio album, Hell Awaits, is set to receive a 40th anniversary edition reissue via Metal Blade Records next Spring!
Formed in 1981, SLAYER assaulted the world with a new hybrid of metal and punk – heavier, faster, and darker than the rest – and set a new standard, defining not only a genre, but an attitude. Throughout SLAYER‘s history, the band never faltered in unleashing their extreme and focused aural assault, and repudiating temptations, SLAYER always chose to remain crushing and brutal, steadfastly refusing to cater to the mainstream.
“It’s the record where SLAYER became SLAYER.” That’s what Kerry King says about Hell Awaits. And he knows of what he speaks. As the band’s guitarist, co-songwriter, and co-lyricist, he was in the trenches with vocalist/bassist Tom Araya, guitarist Jeff Hanneman (R.I.P.), and drummer Dave Lombardo, creating what has become one of heavy metal’s greatest albums.
A significant departure from SLAYER‘s 1983 debut, Show No Mercy – and every SLAYER album that came after it – Hell Awaits is both an outlier and a solidification of form. Show No Mercy was the mission statement, but Hell Awaits is a more developed and intricate execution of SLAYER‘s speed, chops, and aggression.
Released in April of 1985 by Metal Blade Records, Hell Awaits was the pinnacle of an action-packed thrash year that saw debut albums from the likes of Megadeth, Exodus, Kreator, Possessed, Destruction, Hirax, and Overkill. Heavily influenced by Mercyful Fate, the longer, more progressive arrangements on Hell Awaits marked a new era for SLAYER. Whereas most of the songs on Show No Mercy were less than four minutes long, three of Hell Awaits‘ seven tracks go beyond the six-minute mark. “Jeff and I were still trying to figure out who we were as musicians, and we were both infatuated with Mercyful Fate’s Melissa album during the writing process for Hell Awaits,” King says. “That’s why there’s so few songs and most of ’em are pretty long. That’s the only time anything like that ever happened with us.”
Tom Araya’s performance is similarly impressive. The vocalist spat lyrics a mile a minute on the likes of “Kill Again” and “Praise Of Death.” “I don’t recall the songs being hard to sing,” he says. “Singing fast and clearly has always been something that I strived for.”
The reissue arrives May 15th, 2026 in three physical formats and digitally. Pre-orders are available now at: metalblade.com/slayer
Find all details below:
Vinyl Box Set: 3 LPs total: 7-track Hell Awaits + 18-track live bonus audio (Live from Bochum 1985): • 60-page book (12″ size) • Hell Awaits album (in gatefold sleeve, 1xLP) mastered and restored from original 1985 production tapes by Patrick W. Engel at Temple Of Disharmony in February 2025. Vinyl color = Fire Splatter • Live from Bochum 1985 (in gatefold sleeve, 2xLP) – 18 live tracks never before released physically or digitally • Replica ticket from the Bochum show • Replica Hell Awaits tour laminate • Hell Awaits tour poster (German dates) • Slipmat • Band posters • Replica merch flyer • Replica Satanic Wehrmacht newsletter • 2 flyers
“Blood” Filled Liquid Vinyl (SLAYER store exclusive – Ltd. 666 worldwide): • 7-track Hell Awaits album mastered and restored from original 1985 production tapes by Patrick W. Engel at Temple Of Disharmony in February 2025 • “Blood” filled liquid vinyl – gatefold
CD Earbook: Earbook includes 3xCDs – 7-track Hell Awaits CD + 18-track live bonus audio (Live from Bochum 1985): • Hell Awaits album (1xCD) mastered and restored from original 1985 production tapes by Patrick W. Engel at Temple Of Disharmony in February 2025 • Live from Bochum 1985 (2x CD) 18 live tracks never before released physically or digitally • 60-page 11″ book • Poster
Digital: Includes 7-track Hell Awaits + 18-track live bonus audio (Live from Bochum 1985):
SLAYER – Hell Awaits (40th Anniversary) Track Listing: 01. Hell Awaits 02. Kill Again 03. At Dawn They Sleep 04. Praise of Death 05. Necrophiliac 06. Crypts of Eternity 07. Hardening of the Arteries 08. Hell Awaits (Live from Bochum 1985) 09. Aggressive Perfector (Live from Bochum 1985) 10. Captor of Sin (Live from Bochum 1985) 11. The Final Command (Live from Bochum 1985) 12. Kill Again (Live from Bochum 1985) 13. Crypts of Eternity (Live from Bochum 1985) 14. Fight Till Death (Live from Bochum 1985) 15. Necrophiliac (Live from Bochum 1985) 16. Haunting the Chapel (Live from Bochum 1985) 17. Hardening of the Arteries (Live from Bochum 1985) 18. Black Magic (Live from Bochum 1985) 19. Die by the Sword (Live from Bochum 1985) 20. The Antichrist (Live from Bochum 1985) 21. At Dawn They Sleep (Live from Bochum 1985) 22. Show No Mercy (Live from Bochum 1985) 23. Evil Has No Boundaries (Live from Bochum 1985) 24. Chemical Warfare (Live from Bochum 1985) 25. Praise of Death (Live from Bochum 1985)
Experimental electronic composer Billy Yfantis proudly presents his new double-length anthology album, “2015–2025 The First Years in Space.” Spanning a full decade of sonic experimentation, this 30-track release represents Yfantis’ artistic evolution through ambient, electronic, and noise-based soundscapes inspired by the mysteries of the cosmos.
The album compiles highlights from Yfantis’ previous releases along with nine previously unreleased compositions, forming a complete chronicle of his creative journey across the past ten years. Each piece reveals a unique approach to sound design, mixing music technology with conceptual art and a fascination for scientific exploration.
Among the most distinctive pieces:
• “The Electric Drill Session” features real sounds of an electric drill, turned into rhythmic, industrial elements that blur the boundaries between man-made tools and music.
• “Landing” incorporates authentic NASA spaceship sounds, carefully edited and arranged to recreate the sensation of landing onto an unknown planet.
• “Dust Not Found” includes real vacuum cleaner recordings, turning the chaos into an experimental metaphor for the emptiness and silence of space.
Other highlights include the meditative “Ionosphere Reverie,” the expansive “Cosmic Noise” and “Planetary Noise,” and “The Universe Collapses (Live at Norcal Noisefest 2022),” a 15-minute improvisational performance recorded at one of the world’s leading experimental music festivals.
“I am pleased to present you my compilation which is a fair synopsis of my recordings (8 full albums and 5 singles) between 2015 and 2025. This is a reference point on the evolution of my music.”— Billy Yfantis
The second part of the album introduces nine previously unreleased tracks, including “The Journey,” “Dreaming Among Planets,” and “Behind the Eye of the Universe,” which explore new territories of analog synthesis, lo-fi atmospheres, and ambient acid tones.
Genre: Experimental / Ambient / Space Music / Noise
Label: Independent
About Billy Yfantis
Vasileios (Billy) Yfantis holds two master’s degrees in computing science and a Ph.D. in the field of e-government. Billy has been working on music since the late 1990s by experimenting with tape mixing and sound design. Billy is playing digital keyboards but prefers to express his artistic dream through the electronic sounds that come from unusual machines. He has experimented with the recording of vacuum cleaners, electric blenders, and other strange sounds that have resulted in musical releases. Moreover, Billy has authored books on music, business, and science, and from time to time he speaks about electronic governance at scientific conferences all over Europe.
Belgian black metal institution Enthroned are opening a new chapter in their storied career with their upcoming twelfth album, which now stands as their most ferocious and personal work. Written in collaboration with occult author Gilles de Laval, Ashspawn descends into spiritual death, only to emerge reborn amongst the flames.
Today, Enthroned are releasing “Ashen Advocacy” as the album’s third and final advanced single. Conceived as Ashspawn’s final rite of passage, “Ashen Advocacy” rises in a slow-burning psalm of judgement. With each crack of the judge’s gavel, the song divides the self between accuser and the accused.
“Ashen Advocacy” distills the spirit of Ashspawn down to its blackened core. Howling mantras and icy percussion build tension until the song collapses in a blaze of dissonance. As the flames continue to rise, the song becomes a bridge between the physical and spiritual, a place where false gods to go die and our true spirit rises from the ashes.
With the release of their twelfth full-length Ashspawn, ENTHRONED mark a new chapter in their three-decade reign of ritualistic black metal. Conceived across six years of deliberate creation, the album emerges as both an autopsy and a resurrection: a descent into spiritual death followed by the sublimation of rebirth. Written in close collaboration with occult author Gilles de Laval, Ashspawn channels arcane praxis, metaphysical calculus, and esoteric mapping into a work that is as much ritual invocation as it is music. It is the culmination of Enthroned’s uncompromising vision: a weapon of transformation forged in fire and darkness.
Formed in 1993 in Namur, Belgium, Enthroned arose from the ashes of the blackened underground, quickly asserting themselves as one of the most relentless voices of European black metal. Their debut, Prophecies of Pagan Fire (1995), established the band’s reputation for feral speed, occult imagery, and unflinching dedication to the Left Hand Path. Less than a year after their formation, they signed their first record deal, making an immediate impact on the international scene.
Tragedy struck early in their journey when founding drummer Cernunnos took his own life in 1997, shortly after the recording of their sophomore album. Using his preserved rehearsal tracks, the band pressed forward with Towards the Skullthrone of Satan (1997), transforming grief into fury and ensuring Enthroned’s continuation as a vessel of uncompromising black metal. This resilience became a defining trait: through numerous line-up changes, the band’s spirit never wavered, anchored by a vision that was ritualistic rather than trend driven.
Over the following decades, Enthroned’s discography expanded into a formidable catalogue. Albums such as Armoured Bestial Hell (2001) and Carnage in Worlds Beyond (2003) pushed their sound into ever more violent and atmospheric territories. The mid-2000s witnessed a period of reinvention, with Tetra Karcist (2007) and Pentagrammaton (2010) deepening their exploration of occult philosophy and esoteric symbolism. Obsidium (2012) and Sovereigns (2014) continued this evolution, balancing ferocious aggression with ritual atmospheres. By the time of Cold Black Suns (2019), their debut for Season of Mist, Enthroned had crystallized a reputation as one of black metal’s most enduring institutions: a band that both honoured the origins of the genre and transcended them with an intellectual, ritualistic dimension.
Now, in 2025, Ashspawn stands as Enthroned’s most ambitious and personal statement to date. Musically, it embodies a total unity of vision: ferocious blast beats, oppressive mid-tempos, and progressive structures collapse into one another, laced with solos that veer from Morbid Angel-like madness to Judas Priest-inspired virtuosity. Lyrically, it operates as a metaphysical architecture, its verses designed not merely to be heard but to infect and transform. Tracks such as “Raviasamin,” “Ashspawn,” and “Ashen Advocacy” reveal its dual nature: violent catharsis intertwined with crushing introspection, a tribunal where the self is broken and reforged.
More than three decades after their inception, Enthroned remain steadfast in their purpose: not to replicate the past, but to realign with the forces that birthed them. Ashspawn is the testimony of this alignment, a ritual weapon that rejects nostalgia and compromise. It is a resurrection of spirit through suffering, a reaffirmation of Enthroned’s place among black metal’s most visionary entities.
Production Credits: Recorded at Ophiussa Studio, London, UK. Produced by Menthor. Mixed by Stefano Santi at SPVN Studio, Milan, Italy. Mastered by Phil Bashford at The Hive, London, UK.
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 ) 