RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://goatmilker.bandcamp.com/album/gods-monsters These musically talented and friendly chaps from Bergen surprised this scribe greatly by means of their original-sounding, self-titled debut offering from 2025, which blended progressive metal, thrash metal, and subtle touches of stoner rock and classic heavy metal to great effect. It need also be mentioned that I had the immense…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://enslaved.no/ Norwegian progressive black metal veterans ENSLAVED return with their seventeenth studio album, Mið, and after more than three decades in the extreme metal scene, the band continue to explore new territory without completely abandoning the roots that made them such an important name in Norwegian black metal. Since the early days…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.cultofluna.com/ These Swedish legends never cease to either excite or confound the listener, or do both for that matter, but whichever way you see it, their outputs are something out of the ordinary and always warrant a good discussion. There is always more than meets the eye when it comes to Cult…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://originalasia.com/ From prog rock containing pop-esque hooks to hard rock and further on to the most atmospheric of ballads, Asia were one of a kind. Judging by the quality of this upcoming opus of theirs featuring a sparkling new line-up consisting of mainstay Geoff Downes (keyboards), Virgil Donati (drums), John Mitchell (guitar),…
Text by Andrea Chirulescu Photos by Jonathan Mazin: British alt rockers Placebo seem to find their way to Oslo only in October – they have performed this month both in 2016 and 2022 and they’re back at it in October 2026, this time at the bigger venue Oslo Spektrum. While it wasn’t sold at its…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://lumsk.bandcamp.com/album/einsemda This scribe was particularly enamored with the previous offering by Norwegian folk prog rock/metal collective Lumsk, more specifically the melancholy and evocative Fremmede Toner (2023), which marked a most welcome stylistic turn and ushered in what felt like a new era for the group. The follow-up, Einsemda, expands on the poetic…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://arabs.bandcamp.com/album/sorgens-kapittel What a lovely and fitting tribute to the sadly missed vocalist and organist Stig Arve Kvam-Jørgensen this magnificent 2026 opus is. A bit of context is probably needed here, so allow me to quote the following paragraph lifted from the group’s Bandcamp profile: “This will be a highly special and emotional…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/RainburnOfficial/ This progressive rock trio from Bangalore is a rather interesting proposition in that the group’s main man and multi-instrumentalist, namely Vats Lyengar, has turned a rather traumatic experience that happened to him at sea into a richly layered, ambitious-sounding, and oftentimes reflective opus containing plenty of clever ideas and quirky song…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: http://www.hevydevy.com Having been one of the fortunate ones to get a ticket to the live performance of The Moth at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, the Netherlands, in March 2025, rewatching this special event now feels a bit like time travel. It’s an opportunity to relive that magical evening while discovering all the…
There is something deeply satisfying about an album that refuses to hurry, as Norwegian fuzz/psych trio Kanaan have always understood the value of letting a riff breathe, allowing a groove to develop and giving atmosphere enough room to become something tangible. Their upcoming self-titled album, Kanaan, continues that tradition while pushing the band’s psychedelic and…
There are bands that merely play dark music, and then there are bands that seem to have made darkness their natural habitat. and without doubt, Gothminister belongs firmly in the latter category. With We Are All Demons, the Norwegian outfit continues its long-running marriage of gothic atmosphere, industrial electronics, metal riffs and theatrical bombast, delivering…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://open.spotify.com/album/4dyLEcLux9vPC2iEPXZnXY Leave it to the perpetually cool and interesting Apollon Records to release something as magical as Good Morning Rock and Roll by the enticing Herr Nilsson. There is more than a whiff of sixties-flavored charm, style, and aura to this wonderfully eclectic and oftentimes humorous collection of raw, spirited, and inspired…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/herald-the-dawn These twisted and talented chaps from France blew yours truly away – quite literally, that is – when they unleashed the raging sonic tempest titled Close to Complete Darkness two years ago. Their track record is impressive in general, but their new offering marks a high point in their career and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://danheide.bandcamp.com/album/change Dan Heide may primarily be known for his superb work with renowned acts such as Ljungblut and the impeccable Zeromancer, but as this intimate and reflective collection of heartfelt songs shows, the man is a brilliant artist in his own right and an incredibly skilled songwriter who is perfectly capable of…
Full photo galleries available here: Photos and text: Andrea Chirulescu It’s not often you get to attend a ‘revived’ festival, such as the Graveyard Gig in Notodden (Norway), a festival which was first held in 1990 in this town in Telemark county and now, 30+ years later, the concept has been revived by Mikael Siouzios,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://thedredgemusic.com/ This scribe was quite smitten with the fully formed and utterly rewarding debut offering by the eclectic Norwegian prog rockers The Dredge featuring Helheim drummer Frode “Hrymr” Røsjø, which saw the light of day a couple of years ago, so naturally, expectations were high for their sophomore effort. Sporting the evocative…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.sarischorr.com/ I distinctly and vividly recall the great Sari Schorr performing a forty-minute set at the WinterStorm Festival in Scotland one late afternoon a few years ago, and she and her talented bandmates blew us all away. Catchy choruses you just cannot argue with, an endless supply of shark hooks, all the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/how-does-it-feel-the-jim-lea-autobiography While renowned British rockers Slade are the stuff of legend and the very definition of cool in so many ways, one of its principial songwriters and sonic architects, namely bass player extraordinaire Jim Lea, seemingly always thrived in the background and was rarely the center of attention, nor did he desire…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://knivad.bandcamp.com/ There are bands that use aggression as an aesthetic, and then there are bands that sound like they genuinely have something they need to get out of their system. Göteborg’s KNIVAD clearly belong to the latter category. Five years after Insidans ärrvävnad, the Swedes return with Lilla vackra människa, an album that promises to…
When you type the final word of an event’s summary/review, it feels like only then you somehow leave it behind you. And I still don’t want to do it and accept that Dark Bombastic Evening festival, 2026, has already ended. And it’s been at least 2 weeks now but given how beautiful each of the…
KINGS OF THRASH/UNDER THE OAK Anmeldt av Roger Hagerupsen BYSCENEN 19 August 2026 TRONDHEIM Bilder fra eventen: Om vi går helt tilbake til 1980, så var det noen unge gutter som kalte seg Iron Maiden som var support for noen langt mer meriterte karer som kalte seg Kiss, å ryktene sier at unggutta spilte flettene…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://edgedcircleproductions.bandcamp.com/ Norwegian black metal does not get much better than this. Formed in 2018 and having quickly gained a well-deserved following in the underground, these skilled chaps are the real deal when it comes to churning out meticulously crafted songs of impassioned, bleak splendor. Like a swirling mass of all-consuming negativity that…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/triggertone This delightfully hard-hitting outfit from Belfast blew my socks off by means of the four riff-fueled, passion-soaked compositions that constitute their upcoming EP titled Bombs Away and judging by the depth and electrifying vibe of this particular piece of work, something tells me that Triggertone will go far in life. …
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://doublemute.bandcamp.com/album/corporate-culture-ceo-edition This twisted and hugely enjoyable little gem came out roughly two months ago, so I shall keep it relatively short and concise here and merely sum up in a few sentences why it deserves your time and attention. First things first, the enigmatic entity Double Mute is never boring and about…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://metasoma.bandcamp.com/ The London-based squadron known as Metasoma will release their five-track EP titled Core in early August, and if thick, massive grooves and body-slamming riffs designed to numb your skull stimulate you, now is the time to get excited. There is a modern edge and a subtle melodic sensibility on display that…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://thosemadebroken.bandcamp.com/ The Glaswegian purveyors of heavy, emotionally charged, and occasionally brooding alt. rock sporting the appropriate moniker Those Made Broken are a most enticing and rewarding musical proposition, and judging by the overall quality of this muscular-sounding effort, this writer needs to check their entire discography out asap. A Door You Can…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/cognitive-dissident Cognitive Dissident offers something quite extraordinary and different to the usual fare of (auto)biographies out there; what we have here is an organic, fluid, and essentially long-form talk and exchange of ideas and viewpoints between none other than the multi-talented Matt Johnson of THE THE fame and author Jason Wood. The…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/cairiss Formed back in 2013 and having released a well-received demo the following year and then an EP two years later, this intriguing debut album of theirs may be said to have been a long time coming – ten years to be exact – and the term blackgaze is most definitely an…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://deafbeatvanguard.bandcamp.com/album/libido-induced-anabasis Given that this highly entertaining gem came out in early June and that I either missed or subconsciously overlooked its release date due to laziness, I shall keep it short and simply tell you why Libido-induced Anabasis by the intriguing outfit Deaf Beat Vanguard is worth your time and money. This…
Photo galleries can be found here Photos by Jonathan Mazin and Andrea Chirulescu Text by Andrea Chirulescu Saturday was, yet again, a day when there are tons of events in Oslo, including the ever-colorful pride parade, and that led to some logistical challenges for the transport to the festival area. You’d get there, but need…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.relapse.com/pages/left-to-die-initium-mortis What we have here is akin to a wet dream for any fan of old-school death metal performed by veterans of the genre. As the title of the album, the splendid artwork, and the line-up itself all indicate, this is a homage to the early catalog of the legendary Death and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/do-what-you-fear-most Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground is undoubtedly the most comprehensive study of one of the most fascinating and mythic acts of all time, and to many rock music obsessives out there it will turn out to be one of the year’s most important books. …
Photo galleries can be seen here Photos by Jonathan Mazin/Andrea Chirulescu text by Andrea Chirulescu Eivør – Vampire Stage As the festival has announced that they’d show a football game on a screen on the main stage and thus having the day’s headliner end their show before 9PM, the whole of Friday’s schedule was a…
Full photo galleries here Photos by Jonathan Mazin and Andrea Chirulescu Text by Andrea Chirulescu Audrey Horne – Scream Stage Audrey Horne opened the Thursday program with a polished hard rock set built around strong riffs and melodic structure and a lot of scene playfulness by guitarists Arve Ice Dale and Torkjell Rød, who elegantly…
Full photo galleries can be seen here Photos by Jonathan Mazin/Andrea Chirulescu Text by Andrea Chirulescu Tons of Rock started, once again, on a Wednesday in late June 2026 with a dense schedule across multiple stages all carefully setup at Ekeberg area in Oslo, where you’d usually see a lot of football fields for bigger…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://onsegenensemble.bandcamp.com/album/a-tale-2 The Finnish folk prog rockers known as Onségen Ensemble have unearthed and sculpted a most bewitching and atmospheric offering in the shape of this fifth full-length album of theirs enticingly titled A Tale, and I cannot thank Karisma Records enough for sending a copy of the CD my way. With its pastoral…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/dear-boy-the-life-of-keith-moon-omnibus-remastered?srsltid=AfmBOoryhaCbxlk8SoCO06TrDJvAuPy3cRfsez_jHAMHZVhkmUqBGaTX What we have here is undoubtedly one of the greatest rock music biographies ever written. The very thought and idea of summing up the magnificence and quality of this vivid portrait of the infinitely talented and sadly missed Keith Moon of the Who fame is a daunting task as mere words…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/twilight-of-the-golden-star Polish post-black metal executed with precision and discipline is what is on the agenda for today, and few bands pull that off better than Zørza do. Somewhat comparable to MGLA and Kriegsmaschine in terms of riffs and sonic punch yet more despairing and agony-filled with respect to atmosphere, Zørza weave together…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://open.spotify.com/album/3PsAZFXqy2Sb94LbMEApbJ?si=xAbw8ytbQ4mtUktAzz9Ryw The hard-hitting and musically excellent metal constellation known as Tessia hails from the flourishing underground scene in Bergen and has made quite the name for itself these past few years thanks to some killer outputs and impressive live performances. The Cataclysm is essentially two EPS along with brand-new material combined into…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: http://www.hevydevy.com For much of his career, Devin Townsend has seemed less interested in writing what many would call ‘usual’ albums than in constructing entire worlds. From the celestial vastness of Terria, the coffee-hunting saga of Ziltoid, to the emotional turbulence of Empath, his work has consistently occupied a strange intersection between the realsm…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://nunslaughter.bandcamp.com/ For more insights into the upcoming release, checkout our interview with Don of the Dead here: https://eternal-terror.com/2026/06/19/nunslaughter-interview/ Primitive, punishing, and proudly stuck in its ways—Satanic Chaos Legions is less a progression and more a ritual reaffirmation of everything Nunslaughter stand for. Nearly four decades into their blasphemous existence, the Cleveland veterans return…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://liminalskyband.bandcamp.com/album/all-tomorrows-darkness What we have here is undoubtedly one of the most unique and captivating records that you will come across this year. Spearheaded by the two multi-instrumentalists Jaime Gomez Arellano and Daniel Knight and then backed by a stellar cast of musicians including Mathew “Kvohst” McNerney (Hexvessel), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), and Daniel…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://einherjer.com/ For more than three decades, Einherjer have stood as one of the most steadfast acts within Norwegian Viking metal, proven by their faithful audience and great feedback received by their live presence and releases. The Haugesund veterans have consistently found ways to evolve without losing sight of their roots. If the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://thisisredkite.bandcamp.com/album/this-too-shall-pass Formed back in 2013 and having released a couple of strong and robust-sounding records fueled by unfiltered enthusiasm and memorable riffs, Red Kite’s 3rd opus titled This Too Shall Pass, which will be out via Is It Jazz? Records in June, marks a high point in the group’s career and sees…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://ram-zet.com/ After thirteen years of silence, many wondered whether RAM-ZET would ever return with new material and the answer arrives in the form of Sapien, an album that not only reawakens one of Norway’s most eccentric and adventurous metal acts, but also proves that time has done little to dull their creative…
VENUE: HulenDATE: 05.06.2026ORGANIZER: HulenPHOTOGRAPHER: Sander Lindholm AndersenPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context. Two superb Norwegian acts from Bergen and Trondheim respectively, more specifically Goatmilker and Dune Sea, paid the excellent venue that is Hulen a visit last Friday, and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://einarsolberg.com/ If has become increasingly clear over the last decade, it’s that Einar Solberg has long since outgrown the role of merely being the frontman of Leprous. And from my side that is a nice surprise as I struggled to get into a good deal of the band’s releases since…what feels like…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://falaren.bandcamp.com/album/ljora What a delightful surprise this was! Not being familiar with this intriguing and explorative outfit beforehand, I had no idea what to expect but suffice to say that I was blown away by the gripping soundscapes that constitute Ljora. Fälaren inhabit a space located somewhere between jazz rock, folk music, psychedelic…
VENUE: Lemon TreeDATE: 23.05.2026ORGANIZER: Aberdeen Performing ArtsPHOTOGRAPHER: C. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context. How often does one come across a tribute band as good as this? The answer is “rarely”, and the highly talented constellation of musicians collectively…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://bjornriis.bandcamp.com/album/lifandi While many prog fans might associate the talented guitarist Bjørn Riis with the amazing outfit Airbag, the fact of the matter is that Riis has been quite prolific outside his main band these past few years and carved out an equally interesting solo career. The man has never denied where much…
