Hammerheart Records have announced the reissue of two remastered Evoken classics, Shades Of Night Descending (1994) and Embrace The Emptiness (1998), which will see the light of day on 16th January, 2026.
Doom metal, perhaps the most varied of all the metal genres, has been crossing over with plenty of other genres, and surprisingly often, the crossbreeding has been fertile. While the “funeral” brand of doom metal sounds like something that lacks the genetics to successfully breed with other metal genres, its nihilism works surpringly well when blended with slowed down death metal. Among the masters of that gruesome fusion are Evoken from the United States.
Shades of Night Descending is the first recording by Evoken, released in 1994, and for a debut recording, it is a surprisingly mature creation. The later works of Evoken have a thicker wall of sound and plenty of production tricks in them, but the deviations from the basic formula introduced here have been essentially more polishing that actual rethinking of the format.
Perhaps the music is of the same funeral death/doom metal variety as found on the later albums, all the way to the excellent Antithesis of Light (2005) and A Caress of the Void (2007), but the unrefined production on Shades of Night Descending, with its barren character and almost heavy-handedly echoing soundscape, brings out the nihilism of funeral doom more effectively than the more professional production jobs of the later albums.
The atmosphere on this recording is bleaker, even less forgiving, and perhaps even more desperate and repulsive in a positive sense than what can be found on A Caress of the Void. Even the considerably melodic guitar part in ‘Towers of Frozen Dusk’ and other sweeter spots on the demo have a taste of ash and feel of pumice in them; Evoken walks on a musical lava field here, and manages to paint the true meaning of funeral doom in slow death metal colours on the canvas.
With their debut album Embrace The Emptiness (1998), Evoken issued forth the modern wave of funeral doom with the cleaner sound. Though they were a little late bringing out their debut full-length in 1998 when Skepticism and Esoteric already belted out two albums each, Evoken’s Embrace the Emptiness is still very inspirational.
Put on Embrace the Emptiness, shade your windows, turn off the light, lie down in bed and let yourself get overwhelmed with emotions. Drift away in your mind and just let the feelings of solitude hit you. An utterly dark album that every fan of funeral doom/death metal should own.
Track-list: 1. Intro 2. In Graven Image 3. Shades of Night Descending 4. Towers of Frozen Dusk 5. Into the Autumn Shade 6. The Hills of Arctic Stillness (Demo 1996)* 7. Embrace the Emptines (Demo 1996)* 8. Outro (Demo 1996)* 9. Among the Whispering Spirits (Demo 1997)* 10. Outro (Demo 1997)* * CD bonustracks
Track-list: 1. Intro 2. Tragedy Eternal 3. Chime the Centuries’ End 4. Lost Kingdom of Darkness 5. Ascend into the Maelstrom 6. To Sleep Eternally 7. Curse the Sunrise
The debut album from Belgian death metallers ABYSMAL DESCENT, “Dismal Thoughts”, is now streaming in full exclusively via Death Metal Promotion. A monolithic statement of death metal, the record stands as a jagged and menacing work: cold, unyielding and built on unshakable foundations.
“Dismal Thoughts” will be officially released tomorrow, on October 31st, 2025, through Nuclear Winter Records.
From the depths of Brussels’ death metal underground rises ABYSMAL DESCENT, a new entity forged from the ashes of Dehuman and strengthened by the twisted visions of R.S., L.L. (Putrid Offal, Echo Solar Void, Terrifiant) and M.D. (Echo Solar Void). Soon joined by R.M. (Neptunian Maximalism) and A.L. (Saqra’s Cult), the band completed a sinister line-up dedicated to conjuring a harrowing requiem of death metal.
Their debut full-length, “Dismal Thoughts”, will be released via Nuclear Winter Records on October 31st, 2025 – a suitably unholy date for this descent into sonic darkness. Drawing inspiration from legendary forces such as Immolation, Morbid Angel, and Incantation, the album weaves a tapestry of gloom and malevolence, crushing riffs and abyssal atmospheres.
“Dismal Thoughts” is a testament to death metal’s most oppressive traditions: a record that drips with menace, channeling both the cavernous weight of old-school brutality and the suffocating dread of modern extremity. It is a soundtrack to decay, despair, and the shadows that loom ever closer.
Prepare to be engulfed.
Tracklist:
01. Discordant Calls 02. Labyrinth of Distress 03. Death Rope 04. Dismal Thoughts 05. Obscured Visions 06. Fragmented Soul 07. Abyss of Despair 08. Imaginal Horror
Line-up:
Laye Louhenapessy – Drums Martin Dozot – Guitar Rafaël Sellekaerts – Guitar Romain Martini – Bass Adrien Luxen – Vocals
One of the most intriguing rising names in Finnish metal, Rioghan, begins a new cycle with the release of “Chapter I: Frozen“, the first single from their upcoming ‘Frozen EP’. Known for their blend of modern metal, gothic melancholy, and cinematic atmosphere, Rioghan transforms Madonna’s 1998 hit into a darkly ethereal experience that bridges fragility and crushing heaviness.
The song serves as the first chapter of a story that will continue through the band’s upcoming original material. The ‘Frozen EP’, set for release next spring, will feature five tracks – each accompanied by its own music video. Rioghan worked again with their long-time collaborator Aarni Visuals, and like always, the results are breathtaking.
“We’ve continued our usual way of releasing a new EP after an album. However, this time there’s only one cover song. We were planning a fourth cover EP and wanted to include our own version of Madonna’s ‘Frozen’. But as we began working on it, Valtteri and Teemu started developing a broader narrative idea based on the song – something that could extend into a full EP”, vocalist Rioghan Darcy comments.
“So, we decided to abandon the idea of cover EP entirely, and dive into this alternative path that we could shape into something truly our own. ‘Chapter I: Frozen’ lays the foundation for a heart-melting story rooted in the theme of the ‘Kept’ album.”
This year has been an eventful one for Rioghan. Their sophomore album ‘Kept‘, released in February, debuted at #6 on the Finnish physical album chart and received glowing reviews internationally. Following the release tour, Rioghan joined Finnish alternative pioneers SARA for a show at Helsinki’s Ääniwalli and marked their first-ever festival appearance at the legendary Nummirock.
The momentum continues through the end of the year. On October 31st, Rioghan will perform at the H-18 Halloween event at Science Center Heureka, followed by a show at John Smith Frozen Festival in Jyväskylä (November 28th). Both performances will be special acoustic shows, offering audiences a new perspective on Rioghan’s world – intimate, mesmerizing, and emotionally powerful.
Rioghan is: Vocs – Rioghan Darcy Guitar – Teemu Liekkala Guitar – Tero Luukkonen Bass – Antti Varjanne Keys – Aleks Toppari Drums – Valtteri Revonkorpi
Chilean Blackened Thall outfit ATER is proud to unleash their gripping new single, “Venus.” The track serves as the first glimpse into the band’s upcoming full-length album, ‘Everlasting,’ set for release in 2026 and produced by acclaimed producer Dan Lancaster (Bring Me The Horizon, Muse). The new track arrives alongside an official music video, available below.
“Venus” captures ATER’s signature fusion of blackened ferocity and modern thall precision, blending dissonant atmospheres, punishing rhythms, and melodic undercurrents that reflect the band’s continued evolution. The single marks a bold new chapter for the Chilean collective, pushing their sound into deeper emotional and sonic territory while maintaining the visceral power that has defined them since their formation.
Founder and frontman Fernando Bühring comments:
“New single and video ‘Venus’ dropped today! Catch us on the road this fall for the Morbidfesttour with Possessed, Terrorizer, Massacre, and Nightfall. Merry Samhain from all of us at ATER — see you in the pits!”
Kicking off next month, ATER will be touring Europe as part of Morbidfest alongside Possessed, Terrorizer, Massacre and Nightfall. The tour will begin on November 24th in Warsaw, Poland at Progresja and conclude on December 19th at La Machine Du Moulin Rouge in Paris, France. For the full list of dates, please see below.
Founded by composer and multi-instrumentalist Fernando Bühring, ATER is a Chilean dark-metal band from the city of Santiago. Formed in 2010 but really began to be active in 2018 with the release of their debut album ‘Eternal Gray Spiral.’ The band is known for their dark, emotive sound and captivating live performances.
ATER’s sophomore release ‘Somber’ was released in 2024 and catapulted the band into the global metal scene. The band has been touring extensively in support of the album and participated in many international tours with bands such as Cradle of Filth, Patriarkh, Hate, Venom Inc. and many more. This album is known for its sheer heaviness and dense ambient elements.
In 2025 the band released the single “The Fall” which has become one of the band’s most popular tracks and best live show moments.
Currently, ATER is working with producer Dan Lancaster on their upcoming album ‘Everlasting’ which will be released in 2026.
Yesterday, October 29th Canadian Roots, Rock, and Soul band Bywater Call released their second studio single of 2025, “Ain’t No Friend of Mine.”
The single is available on all streaming platforms via – https://linktr.ee/bywatercall. Watch the official “Ain’t No Friend of Mine” music video below.
“Ain’t No Friend of Mine” is a ripping, rootsy, blues rock anthem about betrayal and broken friendship. Inspired by the styles of Gary Clark Jr, The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Marcus King and the Rolling Stones, the song boasts a driving rhythm section, smoky female vocals and searing electric guitar.
“We wanted to write something bold and confident, mixing traditional blues influences with a modern rock attitude” say lead singer Meghan Parnell. “The intention was to convey the strength in acknowledging hurt, letting it out, sharing it and then letting it go for good. This is reflective in the gang vocal yell in the chorus, which is meant to be freeing and powerful to sing along to.”
The song was recorded at Palace Studios in Toronto, captured and mixed by Patric McGroarty, and mastered by Kristian Montano of Montano Mastering. The music video was shot in studio, by Zack Murray of Lightning House Media, who captured a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of the track.
The single arrives hot on the heels of their live album Sunshine, met with rave reviews last August and the band’s previous single “Hold Me Down”, released in September.
Often transcending genres, Bywater Call is known for their dynamic, emotional live shows, featuring powerful vocals and exciting interplay between all band members.
In their August 2024 issue, Classic Rock made Bywater Call’s 2024 album Shepherd their “Blues Album of the Month” and said it was “an inventive and uncommonly catchy record,” and added, “the sense of a band on the brink is unmistakable.” The album was also selected as the “Top Blues Album of the Year” in the magazine’s year-end round-up.
Early 2025 the band was nominated for the UK Blues Awards for “International Act of the Year” for the second year in a row.
In November 2025, Bywater Call headline their third UK tour and play Planet Rock’s Planet Rockstock Festival in Wales on 27th November. Tickets are available from The Gig Cartel and Bywater Call.
Planet Rock & The Gig Cartel Present
BYWATER CALL NOVEMBER 2025 UK TOUR SPECIAL GUEST: DAN PATLANSKY LSS TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM THEGIGCARTEL.COM
NEWCASTLE, ANARCHY BREW SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025-Tickets: The Gig Cartel Benfield Business Park, Unit A1, Benfield Rd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE6 4NQ www.anarchybrewco.com/events
29.10 | Zwickau, DE | St. Barbara 30.10 Isernhagen, DE | Blues Garage 31.10 Joldelund, DE | Gerd’s Juke Joint 1.11 | Joldelund, DE | Gerd’s Juke Joint 2.11 | Bonn, DE | Harmonie 3.11 | Solothurn, CH | Kofmehl 5.11 | Barcelona, ES | Sala Wolf 6.11 | Zaragoza, ES | Rock and Blues Cafe 7.11 | Valencia, ES | Loco Club 8.11 | Granada, ES | Sala Tren 9.11 | Jerez, ES | La Guarida del Angel 11.11 | A Coruña, ES | Sala Mardi Gras 12.11 | Madrid, ES | Sala Copernico 14.11 | Landerneau, FR | Centre Culturel Le Family 15.11 | Penmarch, FR | Cap Caval 19.11 | London, UK | The Garage 20.11 | Southend, UK | Chinnerys 21.11 | Gloucester, UK | Guild Hall 22.11 | Newcastle, UK | Anarchy Brew Co 23.11 | Glasgow, UK | Oran Mor 25.11 | Leeds, UK | Nath Brudenell 26.11 | Manchester, UK | Band on the Wall 27.11 | Porthcawl, UK | Planet Rockstock 28.11 | Southampton, UK | The Brook 29.11 | Faversham, UK | The Old Brewery Store
USA: WINTER 2025
*more to be announced EC 18 | PLYMOUTH, MA | The Narrows DEC 20 | JIM THORPE, PA | Mauch Chunk Opera House DEC 21 | SHIRLEY, MA | The Bull Run
ABOUT BYWATER CALL
Often transcending genres, Bywater Call is known for their dynamic, emotional live shows, featuring powerful vocals and exciting interplay between all band members. A powerhouse seven-piece Southern soul, roots rock outfit from Toronto, Canada; the band is comprised of Meghan Parnell (vocals), Dave Barnes (guitar), Bruce McCarthy (drums), Mike Meusel (bass), newest member, Andrew Moljgun (keys), Stephen Dyte (trumpet), and Julian Nalli (tenor sax).
Bywater Call was nominated for the “2025 UK Blues Award” for “International Blues Artist of the Year” for the second consecutive year, alongside artists including Beth Hart and Walter Trout. The band has also received multiple Independent “Blues and Canadian Maple Blues Award” nominations including “Entertainer,” “Electric Act,” and “Best Female Vocalist” at the 2024 Awards Season.
In March, Bywater Call played their second Joe Bonamassa “Keeping the Blues Alive” cruise, featuring headliners Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Larkin Poe. In 2025, they play the Netherland’s BOSPOP Festival alongside the likes of the Black Keys, Warren Haynes Band, Marcus King, and Blackberry Smoke.
The band has opened for Canadian award-winning musicians Whitehorse and Tom Cochrane, and singer Meghan has joined renowned pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph on stage at his request.
Their newest studio album Shepherd was selected as the Blues Album of the Year by UK’s Classic Rock Magazine. Band leaders Meghan Parnell and Dave Barnes were featured on the cover of Blues in Britain in January of 2025. Their 2025 live album Sunshine was released in August 2025 to rave reviews.
In 2024 alone, the band played 140 shows across 10 countries. Bywater Call’s music is an exploration of life’s highs and lows. From intimate ballads that lay bare the complexities of human emotion to electrifying anthems that demand to be played at full volume, their catalogue is a journey through human experience, featuring influences from the likes of The Band, The Wood Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Otis Redding, Little Feat, Sly and the Family Stone, and many more.
Tomorrow, Friday, on October 31, 2025, French melodic death metal trio AEPHANEMER is celebrating the release of their much-awaited, new studio offering, entitled Utopie, to be unleashed via Napalm Records.
In support of the new album, the band will embark on a European tour kicking off in early November, with special guests VALHALORE, DARK OATH and WALDGEFLÜSTER. Find all upcoming live dates listed below! But to shorten your wait for the hotly-anticipated album release and tour, AEPHANEMER have just premiered a music video for their final album single “Contrepoint”, that erupts at high speeds with anthemic, baroque influences woven together with inescapably melodic black metal arrangements.
“Contrepoint was such a joy to write and play. It’s the most polyphonic track on the album,”the band comments.“Beyond its immediate catchiness, we hope listeners will discover new layers, ornaments, secondary melodies, and details — with each listen, which is exactly what we love about the music that inspires us.”
Following the roaring success of their latest album A Dream Of Wilderness(2021), the Toulouse-based melodic death metal powerhouse strikes again with their fourth studio offering. With Utopie, AEPHANEMER recalibrates their formula, surging with heavier classical influences, blistering riffage, majestic orchestrations, and Slavic folk undertones — etching a sound equally ancient and futuristic.
Blending ferocious melodic death metal with cinematic grandeur, Utopie sees the band unleash an ambitious, razor-sharp assault of epic melodies, relentless speed, and philosophical depth, pushing their sound into bold new territory. Led by the commanding presence of Marion Bascoul, AEPHANEMER delivers a fiercely technical and emotionally immersive record, lyrically exploring the uniquely mythic urgency of modern times.
“With Utopie, we set out to create a sound that brings together the elements we’ve always loved — the intensity of melodic death metal and the depth of classical music,”AEPHANEMER recently said. “We spent a lot of time shaping melodies, drawing inspiration from polyphonic writing, and building orchestral arrangements that feel both powerful and natural to us. It was a challenging but fulfilling process, and we sincerely hope listeners will connect with what we’ve crafted.”
Lyrically, the record engages with the concept of utopia not as escape, but as confrontation — dissecting philosophical ideals with their refined sonic scalpel, and pushing for a world of harmony between living beings.
Actively bucking genre conventions, AEPHANEMER continues to reinvent their path in the melodic death metal landscape. Utopieis more than just an album, it’s a storm of sound, an ideological reckoning, and a powerful new chapter from one of Europe’s most vital and visionary metal bands!
AEPHANEMER live: Album Release Tour w/ Valhalore, Dark Oath, Waldgeflüster:
06.11.25 DE – Weinheim / Cafe Central 07.11.25 DE – Leipzig / Hellraiser 08.11.25 DE – Berlin / War Against War Festival 09.11.25 DE – Kassel / Goldgrube 10.11.25 DE – München / Feierwerk 12.11.25 AT – Wien / Escape 13.11.25 HU – Budapest / Dürer Kert 14.11.25 PL – Kraków / Klub Gwarek 15.11.25 CZ – Praha / Black Pes 16.11.25 PL – Warszawa / Voodoo Club 18.11.25 LT – Kaunas / Klubas Lemmy 19.11.25 FI – Turku / Nirvana 20.11.25 FI – Helsinki / On The Rocks 21.11.25 FI – Tampere / Varjobaari 22.11.25 FI – Turku / Nirvana 26.11.25 DE – Hamburg / LOGO 27.11.25 DE – Oberhausen / Helvete 28.11.25 DE – Oldenburg / Cadillac 29.11.25 BE – Ghent / Asgaard Gentbrugge 30.11.25 NL – Harlem / Patronaat 02.12.25 UK – London / The Underworld 03.12.25 UK – Manchester / Rebellion
AEPHANEMER is: Marion Bascoul – Vocals Martin Hamiche – Guitars, Bass, Orchestrations Mickael Bonnevialle – Drums
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
