After blowing everybody away with their majestic 2024 release “Kinship”, Iotunn has been making the rounds playing their highly melancholic music to live audiences. Lucky for those of us that haven’t been close enough to catch them live, Metal Blade opens 2026 with the band’s “Waves over Copenhell” live album. Featuring five tracks and tons of energy, the band gives us a little glimpse of their live show.

Opening with “Waves Below”, the band showcases fierce rawness and their signature emotive sound that oozes melancholy. Jón Aldará is a very talented vocalist and masterfully showcases his range as Jesper Gräs and Jens Nicolai Gräs guitars lead the way. The band’s live sound seems to be more organic and powerful, delivering tracks like “The Tower of Cosmic Nihility” and “Access All Worlds” with a vicious edge, while keeping things engaging and heavy.

Starting 2026 with a bang, we have Ellende with their latest opus “Zerfall”. Featuring a distinctive and very fierce approach to Post-Black Metal, this Austrian one-man outfit delivers nine tracks and over 53-minutes of highly emotional and crushing music. Constantly improving and refining their sound since their breakthrough “Todbringer”, this release showcases poise and maturity while keeping their signature sound mostly intact.

Opening with the mood setting “Nur”, the band quickly escalates their onslaughts with their fierce two part opener “Warheit”. In the first part we get the band at its finest with waves of crafty riffs alongside L.G’s punishing snarls and very crafty drumming. This nicely transitions into lush atmospheric passages and dramatic guitar leads as this blends into the second part. With both songs so well developed and connected, one only wonders why not have a very long song rather than two movements.

Hailing from Chile, today we have a very unique and interesting Atmospheric Black Metal release titled “Quintaesencia nocturna”. Featuring a poignant Black Metal sound with heavy Doom influences, this outfit delivers eight tracks and nearly 40-minutes of hypnotic and ritualistic music with a certain retro edge, and some truly haunting passages. This band has a similar, albeit less theatrical sound that one of our favorite Mexican bands of the 90’s: Argentum, and their captivating Black/Doom Metal.

After a magical and lush atmospheric opening, “El vacío de una flama bajo el firmamento” kicks off with blistering drumming and punishing riffs. The deep monotone vocals are quite engaging, keeping things very eerie, particularly thanks to the Spanish lyrics that add that extra layer of mystery (to non-Spanish speakers). The harsh vocals are very fitting of the genre, and a solid contribution, but the atmospheric components of the music is what draws the listener’s attention as “Vientos del clamor del pasado” and “Polvo - piedras - silencio” showcase.

As one of the most brutal and punishing releases of 2025, “Draumsýnir eldsins” comes directly at your throat and never lets go. Featuring four tracks and over 36-minutes of demoralizing Black Metal, this Icelanding/American duo unleash one hell of a blistering sound that is both violent and chaotic. For fans of outfits like Misþyrming, this album took us by surprise as it is quite masterfully crafted and equally vicious, making us listen to it non-stop for several days

Opening with the blistering dissonance of “Sköpunin”, A.P. and H.V. Lyngdal set a high bar with a seemingly chaotic riffing onslaught that is masterfully flanked by an assortment of different vocal styles, creating a very immersive and demoralizing atmosphere. Particularly with the well planned atmospheric interludes that further elevate the tension and allow the songs to build up momentum, like on the brilliant “Líkaminn”.

For their first release in over five years, UK’s Lychgate returns with their cavernous and maddening Avant-garde Black/Doom metal, unleashing “Precipice”. Featuring nine tracks and over 45-minutes of truly chaotic and haunting music, the band’s sound is enveloping and this release does feel like falling into a hellish precipice as it descends into total aural annihilation. For the fans of the weird and the bizarre, this release has plenty of magical things to digest.

The madness immediately starts with the haunting intro, as it sets a chaotic backdrop for “Mausoleum of Steel” to unleash some crafty doomy riffs alongside harrowing vocals, creating a dense and immersive atmosphere. As “Renunciation” and “The Meeting of Orion and Scorpio” roll around, the band delivers some interesting and sultry jazzy passages alongside hearty guitar driven sections that further expand the band’s creativity and reach.

Always an event when the wolves of Ulver return with their signature antics and superbly produced sound. Waiting until the last day of 2025 to unleash “Neverland”, the band continues to expand and explore with their sound, removing all vocals and focusing on creating trippy ambient soundscapes that capture subtleties of other genres like Post-Punk and Synth-pop. For 11-tracks and over forty minutes, the band weaves back and forth between dreamy and ethereal soundspaces, to darker and hypnotic pieces, always being uniquely Ulver and completely enthralling.

Setting a somber opening mood, “Fear in a Handful of Dust” creates a very ethereal vibe, similar to outfits like Hælos. The exploration of synths/pianos of the sultry “Elephant Trunk” and “Weeping Stone”, takes us back to the band’s “The Assassination of Julius Caesar” sans the vocals, while “People of the Hills” has that funkiness to it of walking into a time machine. Crafty tempo changes and Ambient elements make "They're Coming the Birds” and “Horses of the Plough” be dark and yet quite refreshing, alongside more catchy pieces like “Hark Hark The Dogs Bark”.

Unleashing an explosive and totally awesome EP, today we have North American outfit Burial Gift with their three song debut. With a sound that evokes the likes of Deafheaven, Heretoir, Alcest, etc. and but with a hefty dose of heaviness and rawness, this release makes a statement to keep an eye out for these guys.

After a six year hiatus, the legendary Enthroned is finally back with one of their most hard-hitting releases to date. “Ashspawn” delivers nine tracks and over 50-minutes of demolishing Black Metal. Nornagest and company showcase that the band still has that vicious edge and craft one hell of a ride filled with massive drums, blistering guitars, and a hefty dosage of hellish screams.

Opening with the pummeling “Crawling Temples”, we get a barrage of riffs alongside pummeling drums and Nornagest’s highly energetic screams. The band’s vicious approach to the genre leaves the listener very little room to breathe as the onslaughts continue with crushing tracks like “Basilisk Triumphant”, “Stillborn Litany”, and the Death-metal-ish album title track and its chugging riffs.

The wait for one of the year’s most awaited releases is finally over. Blut Aus Nord returns with their epic “Ethereal Horizons”, unleashing over 51-minutes of nightmare inducing Atmospheric Black Metal. Constantly improving and expanding their sound over the years, from their more Industrial days, to their later Avant-garde/Atmospheric Black Metal influences, this release captures the band’s bombastic and yet hellish music in a very piercing and punishing way.

Opening with the dreamy Atmospherics of “Shadows Breathe First”, we get an hypnotic opening that quickly transitions into intense riffing and nightmarish shrieks paired with ethereal clean vocals, creating a very unique and yet pummeling vibe. The band excels in creating unsettling music as “Seclusion” and “The Ordeal” weave back and forth between crafty drumming, dramatic atmospherics, and engaging tempo changes, keeping the listener engaged and enthralled with the proceedings.