Category: news

Their swan song will arrive in May.

The post ’68 Launch “ALWAYS LOVE” From Their Final Studio Album “They Are Survived” appeared first on Theprp.com.

Sepultura collaborated with members of Brazilian rock group Titãs – specifically Sérgio Britto and Tony Bellotto.

The post SEPULTURA Recruits Members Of TITÃS For New Single "Beyond The Dream" appeared first on Metal Injection.

• After The Sin
• Cold Union
• Date at Midnight
• Days of Sorrow
• Eat My Teeth
• Kurschatten
• No More
• Soft Scent
• Soror Dolorosa
• This Eternal Decay
• Winter Severity Index

Early Bat tickets are available here.

Follow Dark Decay Festival:

• Facebook

The post Poland’s Dark Decay Festival Launches this June With Selofan, Days of Sorrow, Bragolin, Ductape, Christ Vs Warhol, and More! appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Be honest: what do you expect experimental blackened death metal steeped in Left-Hand-Path Occultism to sound like? Dissonant? Oppressively heavy? Rhythmically complex and meandering? You wouldn’t be entirely wrong—in general, or in the particular case of Ain Sof Aur. Stereotypes exist for a reason. But Theos-Vel-Samael—serves as a vessel not only for a ceremonial invocation of wisdom-bringing darkness,¹ but also the interaction between musical identity and ideology. Our assumptions about the sound and style of heavy music associated with certain fringe spiritualities are a strange mirror of the demonisation heaped upon metal overall in mainstream media from the Satanic Panic onwards, though informed at least through experience and some degree of appreciation rather than ignorance and distaste. These ideas break down when we turn to extreme metal, where Ain Sof Aur and others like them sit: a sphere defined by pushing boundaries of complexity, intensity, and heaviness—itself a natural extension of the wider genre’s core trait of subversion. Theos-Vel-Samael is an extreme metal album expressing mysticisms at least adjacent to Luciferianism, and using any preconceived notion of these ideologies obscures the music’s actuality.

Theos-Vel-Samael prompts me to wax philosophical by its very essence. Its 45-minute runtime is divided into three movements simply labelled “I,” “II,” and “III”—though Ain Sof Aur explain that each respectively embody the progressive stages of the invocation: “vision,” “force,” and “action.” This itself is a kind of stereotype, and one could speculate on whether the steady contraction of song length across the record is saying anything about the significance placed on or effort required in each of “vision,” “force,” and “action”. The way these pieces enact their theme has more in common with a wonky, progressive strain of technical death metal than it does a diabolical, vehemently evil form of black metal; in many ways, it is weirdly reminiscent of Cryptic Shift in a Veilburner kind of setting, by way of Altar of the Horned God. “I” subverted my expectations entirely with its overwhelmingly exuberant tone—albeit in an odd key and time signature for much of the time—and “II” with lengthy passages of almost mellow atmospheric strumming. This isn’t a criticism but rather the point: The literal incantations that comprise the lyrics, and the artists’ say-so, are the tethers to the occult and so the almost Hathian melodeath charges and noodling amidst croaks and roars are to be taken at face value.

The other reason Theos-Vel-Samael causes me to wax philosophical is that it leaves me with strangely little else to say. There is much to appreciate: M.H.S’ gargling roars; L.B.W’s vivacious drum performance; the aforementioned creative approach to marrying discordant malice and melodiousness in such experimental, otherwise malevolent metal; Ain Sof Aur can turn a melodic phrase (“I,” “III”) and dramatic flourish (“II,” “III”). Yet it all feels somehow unfocused, and so less impactful. Moments of sanguinity are somehow bled dry—sometimes through repetition, but largely simply because they fade into the surrounding fluctuations of dissonance and harmony, choppy technical tempos, and the equal minimalism of pared-back stalks and full-speed double-bass (“I” is the worst offender here). “III” is possibly the strongest of the three tracks, arguably because of its superlative brevity² condenses if not excises the detours from what is a solid, decisively unsettling extreme death metal composition. Indeed, taken piecemeal, Theos-Vel-Samael can captivate and swallow (just after “I”‘s midpoint, the minutes just before “II”s, “III”‘s closing act), but as a whole, it functions more as an enjoyably creepy, if hazily remembered, background soundscape.

And yet what is Ain Sof Aur’s objective with Theos-Vel-Samael other than to evoke some esoteric ceremony with their interpretive music? Should the freeform nature of this expression surprise or disappoint? Was I ever going to put one of these songs on a workout playlist? The writing could use some editing to be sure, but the musical elements themselves are stellar—everything from the eerie ambience to the most violent technicality is executed assertively. I enjoy my experience of the rite even if it doesn’t convert me.

To be brief—for the first time in this review—don’t let an intimidating subgenre label, theme, or I, Voidhanger’s reputation colour your feelings about Theos-Vel-Samael. It’s creepy and unusual, but with a firm grip on more familiar death metal stylings. It doesn’t waste (much) time meandering, but it does have room to breathe. You could do far worse when dabbling in the occult.

Rating: Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

The post Ain Sof Aur – Theos-Vel-Samael Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Remixes and live tracks will appear on that expanded album.

The post BABYMETAL Announce Deluxe Edition Of “METAL FORTH”, Plus North & Latin American Tours appeared first on Theprp.com.

“I cannot. I cannot. But what I will say is this. Everyone’s online speculating who it is, and I have not seen a single accurate [guess,] Not even close.”

The post JACK OSBOURNE On The Mystery Band Booted From Back To The Beginning: "I Have Not Seen A Single Accurate Guess" appeared first on Metal Injection.

(Andy Synn presents the first of two articles covering some of the many things he missed in March) There were just SO many releases during March that I wanted, but didn’t have time, to cover, that you’re getting two “Things You May Have Missed” articles this week, rather than the usual one. Of course, even with […]

The post THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T) appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

The post appeared first on INFRARED MAGAZINE.