After a series of preceding singles, Today, Umeå, Sweden based sludge metal four-piece Moloken releases their self-titled fifth album today, September 25th 2026, marking a powerful return after six years of silence with a dark, introspective journey through themes of consciousness, death, and eternity.
In connection with the album release, guitarist and vocalist Kristoffer Bäckström states:
“This album has been a long and unexpected journey. We started recording it back in 2022, almost everything that could change along the way did, like when our record label went bankrupt in 2023, forcing us to start over in many ways.
The album was written around death, rebirth and what might come after. Then, after the album was finished, people close to us started dying. Patrik lost his mother, I lost my grandfather, who was one of the most important people in my life, and several other relatives passed away. None of those deaths created the album, but knowing they happened after we had finished it makes the whole process feel almost surreal.
Death has always been important to me because it is the opposite of life. It reminds us that we are here, now. And in that sense, this record is not only about death. It is also about change, letting go and starting again.
Nineteen years into this band, this feels like both an ending and a beginning. It has the weight, darkness, weirdness and mystery that has always been Moloken, but also beauty, folk melodies and things we have never done before.
Maybe that is why the album simply had to be called Moloken.
This is us letting go of what Moloken was supposed to be — and finding out what it can become.”
Listen to MOLOKEN’s new album ‘Moloken’ HERE – ‘Moloken’ is released on digital formats, CD and on vinyl in 250 copies via Discouraged Records, and all formats are available HERE.
‘Moloken’ Tracklist:
- The Burden of Our Awareness
- Eternal Sleep
- 21.12.21
- Fault Line
- Fragments of Dark Matter
- En lek med döden
- A Night Vision Revelead (Asterion, Pt. I)
Moloken has announced a release show at the House Of Metal festival in Umeå on November 6th-7th along with two Finnish 2027 dates – more dates will be announced soon.
MOLOKEN Live 2026/27
06.11.26 – House Of Metal Festival, Umeå (SWE) Release show
26.02.26 – Pub Sarvi, Rovaniemi (FIN) w/ Serotonin Syndrome & Seith
27.02.27 – 4 5-Special, Oulo (FIN) w/ Serotonin Syndrome & Seith
Also, watch the video for the first single ‘A Night Vision Revealed (Asterion Pt. I)’ HERE
Doom, death, black, sludge or post – few metal subgenres escape Moloken’s gravitational pull. Since forming in 2007, the four-piece from Umeå, Sweden has consistently pushed the boundaries of their sound, carving out new musical terrain with each release.
Moloken’s music moves like a shifting legend. For nearly two decades it has passed from listener to listener, changing shape along the way and leaving behind a lingering aura of mystique. Pinning the band down to a single genre is nearly impossible – but their uncompromising weight and precision as a live act are undeniable. At its core, Moloken is an experience: something to be felt rather than explained, reaching its full force on stage.
The band’s fifth album revolves around the burden of consciousness, death, and eternity. It unfolds as a journey through a Nordic mythscape, drawing the listener deep into a dense forest. Lush melancholy intertwines with a creeping unease; what first feels inviting gradually becomes disorienting. When the illusion breaks, you find yourself alone in the dark, surrounded by your own thoughts – with only a faint light somewhere beyond the fear.
After six years of silence, the album marks a powerful return. Moloken reconnects with a more primal, doom-laden foundation while expanding their sonic palette: clean vocals, acoustic passages, and subtle traces of Nordic folk music are woven into the whole. Since ‘Unveillance of Dark Matter’ (2020), the band has undergone significant changes shaped by loss, hardship, and transformation – all of which resonate throughout the new material.
Online
https://moloken.net
https://www.facebook.com/Molokenofficial
https://www.instagram.com/molokenofficial
https://www.youtube.com/@molokenofficial
