Category: news

The effort officially releases September 18 via Better Noise

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CENOBIA has announced the details of their hotly anticipated debut EP ‘Lethal Devotion’, set to be released via the legendary Fearless Records.

The EP will be released on September 18 and is set to feature previously released singles ‘Devour Me’, ‘Throne Of Want’ and ‘Make Us Whole Again’.

The artwork will look like this:

And the full tracklisting like this:

1. Devour Me
2. Throne Of Want
3. Make Us Whole Again
4. Swallowed By The World
5. Hypoxia
6. Constellation

To celebrate the announcement, CENOBIA has also shared a new track from the release in the form of ‘Swallowed By The World’. A dramatic, sweeping, punishing piece of ethereal modern metal, it further expands the fascinating universe that is slowly being built via these curiously impactful songs. It also further showcases just how utterly stunning CENOBIA’s vocals are.

They had this to say about the track:

Cenobia gifts you her fourth chapter, ‘Swallowed By The World.’ Her end. Her beginning.’A divine awakening is upon us. Her eyes are yet to open.’ Devoured whole. A fractured rebirth. She was swallowed by the world, forged in trauma. Her quest to be made whole again draws to an end. Now, her divine awakening is upon us. She is Cenobia. She too will devour the stars.”

The post CENOBIA Announce Debut EP ‘Lethal Devotion’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

The new album drops October 23 via Relapse Records in North America

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After organizers were unable to secure an alternative venue for the two-day event

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[Cover artwork by Giannis Nakos / Remedy Art Design]

A rather impressive 12 years have passed since we last heard from Norwegian progressive power outfit Triosphere, which would normally indicate some level of internal upheaval or lamentable hiatus. Nope, just life and times, plus the added obstacle from our old friend the 2020 pandemic to further spice the pot. That stretched decade+ has essentially found the band comfortably optimizing songs—some written many years ago—and continuing to tour, with the biggest shift between 2014’s excellent Heart of the Matter to present date, beyond recruiting a “new” drummer (Kenneth Tårneby) waaaay back in 2014, bubbling up via a jump from AFM Records to Frontiers in 2025.

So, no tectonic shifts for fans to be concerned about, and if you’ve been keeping your thumb on the pulse of Triosphere across the last three months or so, you’ve now had several chances to literally hear the evidence that album number four, Oceans Above, Stars Below (love that album title, by the way), is testament to just how little has changed in the Trio-camp over the course of 12 years. As we often say, the more things change, the more things stay the same.

Despite what you may be thinking right now, the above sentiments are actually quite positive because: 1) Triosphere has always been really bloody good at what they do, and 2) Triosphere’s brand of power / prog slash prog / power that’s beholden to bands such as Nevermore, Evergrey and maybe a touch of Symphony X isn’t exactly the most traversed metal off-shoot in the year twenty twenty six, and even the bands that do play this particular style are hardly something most would consider prolific.

So, yeah, if the style happens to be your thing, you’re headed straight for nostalgic windfall territory. Add to that the fact that Triosphere vocalist Ida Haukland happens to be one of the best singers currently in the game, full stop, and suddenly the stakes are raised even higher. Brass tacks: I have always loved the instrumental side of Triosphere—excellent and plentiful soloing, seamless transitions into mellower stretches, and the way their more aggressive face has always reminded me of Forbidden. But Ida Haukland’s voice and her capacity to attach an intensely powerful hook to choruses and refrains on EVERY SINGLE SONG has always been the game winning goal / knock-down three / walk-off home run that ultimately makes Triosphere an essential piece to the heavy metal puzzle. For this reason, if the idea of a progressive power metal band being fronted by Ann Wilson (QUEEN) of Heart (my first concert in the ‘80s) piques your interest… My friend, you have just found your fucking Elysium.

I recognize that I alluded to the notion of ‘very little change’ in the Trio-camp since 2014, but longtime fans of the band will recognize a slight shift that pretty much falls in line with each of the shifts from one Trio album to the next, mostly dealing with the way the band continues to give a touch more emphasis on the power side of the equation as they move forward. Oceans Above, Stars Below is no different. No, I would not concede that they’ve lost their edge, as evidenced by “Of Tyrants” above, but the album does allow more wiggle room for mellow flourishes and R&R flourishes. Hell, there’s a beautiful little song that hits in the album’s back half called “Encore” that lands like Triosphere’s version of “Silent Lucidity” (hush! It’s a great song!), and I don’t recall them ever delivering a straight-up ballad before 2026. And even though they’ve flirted with a more commercial sound on songs in the past, a cut like “Shorelines” comes closer to a radio ‘hit single’ than they’ve ever managed to date. None of it feels corny, though, and “Shorelines” in particular mostly recalls how a modern band like Unleash the Archers similarly manages to bridge metal a more straightforward, hooky brand of rock.

Is the nostalgia angle necessary to fully connect with Triosphere and a record like Oceans Above, Stars Below in 2026? In other words, will progressive power metal of this ilk appeal to someone who remains unfamiliar with the style and didn’t experience its heyday as the late ‘90s rolled into the early aughts? I don’t believe so. But I did have to think about that for a minute. In the end, good music is good music, and Triosphere’s interpretation of the style doesn’t really sway deep enough into prog or power to sound too knotty or too sugary, so I choose to trust that anyone with an appreciation for catchy, melodic and powerful heavy metal could find plenty to enjoy with this record.

And as long as we’re on the topic of nostalgia, I think those who are quick to dismiss it due to some preconceived notion that it acts as a barricade to innovation are mostly just soreheads. I mean, I love innovation that pushes art as much as the next lunkhead, but there’s a reason granny’s peach cobbler recipe is guarded and lauded again and again as if it were shaped from a brick of gold. Humans are intrepid, make no mistake, but we also love reconnecting with great memories from the past, even when it’s someone / something new providing the connective tendrils. And with that in mind, I fully recommend grabbing a healthy slice of Oceans Above, Stars Below and reconnecting with, or introducing yourself to, the wonderful world of Triosphere.

 

The post Triosphere – Oceans Above, Stars Below Review appeared first on Last Rites.

Up on the stage in front of Hammer, a woman dressed in a furry loincloth two-piece, wolf skull and facepaint crouches down to the floor, beating the crap out of a Shaman drum as she yodels her head off. Behind her, a menacing-looking fella adorned in a Viking spangenhelm and chainmail peers out from the darkness, banging his war drums as an irresistible EDM beat blares over the speakers. Around us, a mixture of metalheads, pagans, wytches and weirdos are throwing serious shapes. This is the cult of Eihwar, and judging by this packed-out Dome in North London, it’s taking over.

“The idea for Eihwar imposed itself on us,” Asrunn tells us later, wolf skull still sat atop her head. They remain in character throughout our conversation, the latest in a line of lore-building artists to invade the metal world. We are told that they aren’t merely two human musicians, but ancient Norse spirits that have possessed human musicians. “We do not choose our incarnations,” Asrunn points out. “In a way, we do not choose the missions we are meant to fulfil.”

So what’s Eihwar’s mission, then?

“Doing a fair amount of reckless things,” growls Mark through his helmet. “Laughing loudly, headbanging until we nearly break a vertebra and pushing back our deepest fears together.”

The idea for Eihwar imposed itself on us

Asrunn

So far, so mysterious. Of course, this is 2026; nobody stays truly mysterious in metal, and if you’re gagging to find out Asrunn and Mark’s real back stories, ‘tis but a Google away. But where’s the fun in that? Here are some facts they’re happy to share: Eihwar was formed in France in 2023, dropping an eight-minute banger called The Forge onto streaming services that blew up in Nordic folk circles.

A smattering of tracks followed before a debut album landed the next year, titled Viking War Trance – the perfect moniker for their riotous mix of jaunty folk metal and pulsating dance music, all wrapped in Norse mythology and world-building. Imagine Heilung and Carpenter Brut dancing around a campfire together and you’re someway there.

Since that first album dropped, Eihwar’s reputation has grown apace – shows at landmark Euro fests like Midgardsblot and Bloodstock have sparked elation, curiosity and not a little cynicism, some stewards of the European trad-folk movement questioning whether the duo are truly enveloped in the Norse universe their characters inhabit, or simply hiding in it to ride a cheap gimmick.

When Hammer asks whether they’ve personally experienced any shittiness from the scene, however, they shake their heads in surprise.

“Not at all,” insists Mark. “We have shared the stage with many bands and had some remarkable encounters. We were very honoured to be invited to play at Midgardsblot, a festival that brings together the folk scene in Europe. Every new meeting with musicians from the folk scene in real life has been a pleasure so far.”

It’s all led to this year’s Hugrheim album, Eihwar’s second and a full-hearted continuation of the brilliantly fun vibes of their debut. This one comes wrapped in a thick but digestible concept: Hugrheim is the hidden tenth world of Yggdrasil, the cosmic, world-linking tree at the centre of the Viking universe (if you’re well educated in Viking mythology or have watched Loki season 2, you’ll be well up to speed). Put simply: the album is here to tell its story.

“We wanted to speak about the world we come from,” Mark explains. “Hugrheim is a world in constant flux, a world shaped by the mind. Our emotional states manifest into reality. Our deepest fears can take the form of monsters, while our greatest hopes can paint rainbows across the sky.”

Alright, let’s cut the mythical mumbo-jumbo for a second and talk logistics: Eihwar’s set-up as a two-piece means they employ a backing track on stage to help with some of the extra instrumentation. Do they plan to add more members to the band to take up the slack?

“Our music requires an electronic setup,” Mark says, much more matter-of-factly. “Over time, our performance may include external contributors, but always in service of scenography, theatrical elements and lighting. There will never be an orchestra with a tagelharpa in every key on stage. If we continue to grow, we have many ideas to create highly inventive stage productions; we are not yet building a Daft Punk-style pyramid, but who knows, maybe one day.”

We are not yet building a Daft Punk-style pyramid…but maybe one day

Mark

You don’t see Daft Punk get dropped as a reference point very often around here, but that speaks to what a unique proposition Eihwar are. Part metal gig, part forest rave, part ritual, they’re currently packing one of the most idiosyncratic live shows in our world, and at this rate, those shows are only going to get bigger.

“We devote 100% of our energy to connecting with the audience and creating a festive and joyful moment,” says Mark. “That is where the authenticity and sincerity of our approach truly lie. We also try not to take ourselves too seriously. We are to Vikings what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are to turtles, and that’s just how it should be.”

So what’s the endgame? What does Eihwar hope for their future while they grace this world with their presence?

“That it lasts as long as possible,” Asrunn says sagely. She pauses before adding with a smirk: “and that our human hosts don’t die too soon to enjoy it!”

Hugrheim is out now via Season Of Mist

There’s an energetic first-day-of-the-main-festival kind of buzz on this sunny day in Walton on Trent. It can only mean one thing – Welcome to Bloodstock Open Air 2026. Tents have been pitched. Huge flags consisting of niche memes and references have now been hoisted (two massive flags of Patrick Bateman during his Phil Collins monologue alongside each other, with the captions ‘Black Metal Fans when the production is unlistenable’ and ‘Sleep Token fans when the song gets worse at 6:14’). Everyone also seems to be barbeceuing. That’s just the beginning – once you’ve finished your questionable looking burger, there’s a stacked lineup of bands from every possible area of the metalverse, nine of which we’ll be discussing below.

Words: Kathryn Edwarsd  //  Photos: Ryan Hildrew

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Skynd

Nothing at Bloodstock looks quite like this. It’s the very beginning of the day, so the audience is comparatively sparse, but everyone who’s decided to start early(ish) today to see SKYND is either unsettled or utterly transfixed. Masked, anonymous performers SKYND (lead vocalist) and Father (multi-instrumentalist) turn true crime into full-blown horror theatre, each song a dramatisation of a real killer or tragedy, and they’re all named as such; standout tracks are ‘Columbine’ and ‘John Wayne Gacy’. It’s less a gig than an art exhibition with a heartbeat. These icy electronics, guttural screams and macabre visuals wouldn’t feel out of place in a slasher film. It’s not surprising that this Australian outfit frequently collaborates with Jonathan Davis of Korn. Not for everyone, but exactly the kind of left-field booking that makes this festival worth the mud.

Life of Agony

The tent’s filling out nicely by the time Life of Agony take to the stage. There’s a heaviness behind what follows not just in the riffs, but in the thirty-odd years of history that lead vocalist Caputo carries with them. Guitarist Joey Z and bassist Alan Robert, both founding members, anchor a sound that’s grunge-tinged and melodic where much of this weekend leans towards the extreme. When they dip into River Runs Red highlights like ‘This Time’ and ‘Weeds’, the emotional gut-punch of that record lands as hard now as it did in 1993. Caputo pauses between songs to thank the crowd for ‘still giving a damn’, and the response makes it clear the feeling’s mutual.

Fit for an Autopsy

FfaA don’t just do breakdowns, they do dread. Will Putney’s production nous translates into a live sound that’s crushing, yet strangely cinematic. It’s all atmosphere and tension before the floor drops out from under everyone on ‘Oh, You Think We’re Distant Now?’. This crowd already knows them well from their run supporting Lamb of God earlier in the year, and it shows; circle pits open before the first chorus of ‘Sound of Sirens’ even lands, and vocalist Joe Badolato barely needs to ask for a wall of death before he gets one.

Biohazard

Brooklyn’s finest are reunited, and it feels so good. The sound of NYHxC colliding with metal and hip-hop hits just as hard thirty-odd years on. The classic lineup of Graziadei, Hambel, Schuler, Seinfeld tear through Urban Discipline-era cuts like ‘Punishment’ and ‘Business as Usual’ as if no time has passed at all, and the tent turns into one enormous, sweaty singalong the second those old-school breakdowns kick in. Shouted phrases about persistence and struggle boom through the speakers before ‘How It Is’, and the pit obliges accordingly. History lesson and party in equal measure. Absolutely delightful.

Municipal Waste

Party thrash exists for exactly this moment. Municipal Waste don’t do subtlety. Tony Foresta bounces around the stage like a man possessed, songs like ‘Born to Party’ and ‘The Art of Partying’ blast past in under two minutes apiece, and the pit is one continuous, gleeful mess of bodies from the first note. Foresta doesn’t so much introduce songs as bark instructions at the crowd. Get down! Get up! Get insane! We’re having a blast, and happily oblige. Zombies, beer and chaos; nobody at Bloodstock is having more fun than the people currently crowd-surfing to this lot.

Neckbreakker

If you don’t know Neckbreakker yet, you will by the end of this set. The young Danes have built their reputation purely on live ferocity, and it’s easy to see why. Their hardcore-inflected breakdowns on tracks like ‘Nakkeknaekker’ collide with old-school death metal brutality, and a band barely out of their teens somehow commands the tent like seasoned headliners. Between songs, frontman Christoffer Bach Kofoed looks genuinely stunned by the size of the pit, laughing about how mental it is for being this early in the day. Easily one of the weekend’s best ‘tell your mates about this one’ discoveries. This isn’t Neckbreakker’s first time at BOA, either – they were here in 2023 on the New Blood stage, returning three years later on the Sophie Lancaster stage. If their track record is anything to go by, we’ll see them climb further up the bill over the next few years.

Sepultura

There’s no getting around what this one means. With the band’s farewell tour drawing to a close later this year, this is very likely the last time Sepultura ever play the UK, and Derrick Green makes sure everyone in the tent knows exactly what’s at stake, telling the crowd how much these final shows mean to the band, and getting the crowd to smile as they stand together and turn their backs towards us to take a massive group picture, before launching into ‘Arise’. Andreas Kisser’s riffs still sound as vital as they did decades ago, and when ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ finally arrives, the whole tent seems to detonate at once. By the closing notes of ‘Ratamahatta’, it’s hard to find anyone not singing along like they’re saying goodbye to an old friend, because, in a sense, they are.

Shining

Probably not the Shining you’re thinking of, Jørgen Munkeby and Co. are a much more joyous affair. This gloriously unclassifiable Norwegian outfit is doing things nobody else on this bill would dare, and it’s a treat to watch. Sax solos erupt out of industrial black metal riffing on ‘The One Inside’, jazz breaks down into blast beats, and the whole thing sounds like nothing so much as a fever dream soundtrack. Munkeby cracks a grin mid-set and asks if anyone brought their inflatable saxophones this time and it looks like a good chunk of the crowd, delightfully, has. A cult crowd turns out to be exactly as wonderfully weird as the band themselves.

Lamb of God

As night finally falls, Lamb of God take the Ronnie James Dio stage like the seasoned headliners they are. Randy Blythe stalks every inch of it, no signs of the two-plus decades since the band clawed their way up from the Richmond hardcore scene as Burn the Priest, and it’s obvious within the first few bars why they’re closing out the first night. The setlist itself intersperses ‘Oblivion’ cuts with classics like ‘Omerta’ and ‘Ruin” Whatever the balance, the new material sits comfortably alongside the classics, proof that a band this far into its career can still write songs that hit as hard live as the ones that made its name.

‘Vigil’, ‘Laid to Rest’ and ‘Redneck’ predictably make up the encore, Nothing all night comes close to the reaction ‘Laid to Rest’ gets. The moment those opening riffs land, the whole field seems to move as one; a mass singalong that drowns out Blythe himself for long stretches, and the biggest pit response of the entire day by some distance. It’s a communal, cathartic chaos that only a veterab headliner could conjure this at the end of such a full-on, sweaty, and tiring Friday of non-stop sets, with legs already gone and sunburn setting in. There’s nothing perfunctory about it either, nor any sense of a band coasting on nostalgia. Thirty-plus years in, Lamb of God still look and sound like they mean every second of it.

 

And that’s day one of Bloodstock Open Air 2026 done! From SKYND’s unsettling true-crime theatre first thing in the morning to Sepultura’s tearful farewell and Lamb of God tearing the field apart, it’s been a lineup that swung between the brutal, the bizarre and the profound, within the space of a single afternoon. We’ve all involuntarily swallowed so much dust, our ears are ringing, and we’re looking forward to a nice sit-down, but looking ahead to even more madness in store for day two, we head to our tents already buzzing.

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Click the image below to see more pictures from Bloodstock Open Air 2026 – Day One

Manntra is a Croatian folk metal band, and we had the chance to interview them during this year’s edition of Wacken Open Air!

Benedetta

I’m here with Manntra. How are you doing today?

Manntra

I’m doing great, actually. We slept finally a little bit. We came in the morning and we are checking the place. We felt really good because we checked the place before people started to enter. So we had finally the opportunity to really see how big the place is and how big the production is. So it was really, really a cool trip. It’s really big. I played once before and I didn’t notice how big it is because we just went to the main stages and then to the stage where we played at the time. We didn’t have time, we had to move out early and so on. But this time we really took time and we watched a lot of bands so far. And I think I’m gonna watch some more before we play, so it’s cool.

Benedetta

You’re playing in an anniversary edition of Wacken. How does it feel to be part of something so legendary?

Manntra

Anniversary or not, it’s Wacken, so it’s always special, you know what I mean? I think this is the most special festival. In Europe, for sure. I mean, I don’t know, United States festivals or whatever, something like this happens. But to have a festival that people come from all around the world and they venerate that as a holy ground, you know? It’s kind of crazy and you need to see this once in your lifetime. And either play or either come here as a spectator, it doesn’t matter. But you should see that once in your lifetime for sure.

Benedetta

Definitely. So since you have experience in live shows and you have experience also in music and recording, do you think that the life of an artist is a lonely life?

Manntra

I think it’s less lonely now than it was before with all the technology that keeps you connected with your family and loved ones. I think this is a good side of the technology, which totally fucked us and alienated us, of course. But this is the good side and I think it’s less lonely because of that. But still, it’s a nice job that I will never trade for any other job in the world. But it has its challenges that are not maybe for everyone. It’s hard also.

Benedetta

Do you think that we will ever have some sort of equality between men and women in the metal world?

Manntra

I think metal is a really open-minded community and they don’t look at that, at least not anymore. I don’t know what was happening 30 years ago and what people were commenting in the crowd 30 years ago. It was not there at the time. But I see now somehow that they are equal. So nobody will take a female band with disrespect because they have female members. I don’t think that. At least they will even look at them more like, “Wow, look at this chick she’s banging the drums“, because it’s not a thing you see that often. And this is not because there’s discrimination. It’s just because less girls are playing drums. I mean, you need to get this interest from someone. Maybe some girl would like to play a drum, but she comes to her father and says, “I would like to play the drums“. And the father says, “No, it’s not for a girl“. And the dream is over. You know what I mean? This is a normal thing. I don’t see that discrimination. I don’t feel it from my side. When I see a band with a female or male member, I don’t see a difference anymore. And I think this tag that was before active, like a female fronted metal band, you remember these tags. They were really big 20 years ago. I don’t think this is a thing anymore even to mention. It’s just a band with a female singer. You know what I mean? You like them, you like them. It doesn’t matter if she’s female or not. I mean, I think it’s kind of equal. But the thing is that there are less women in this business in general, but in general in the music industry. This is not a thing about metal. It’s just, let’s push more girls and women to do it, you know? And I hope they will do more. I mean, more girls that will try this. I think it’s also about the education in schools and whatever. It’s always been looked at like a more male job, let’s say, in parentheses. But I think so. I mean, they just need to get this punch. You can do it and you need to do it. And there are many great female artists that are kicking asses, really. They play so well, their instrument. They have so much energy that they are better than a lot of… Or maybe some are better than the best men in that field. You know what I mean?

Benedetta

The last part, say it louder for the people in the back.

Manntra

You think they don’t think that way? I think they think that way. Nowadays, I think metal is a really cool community because it’s not excluding. It’s excluding in a minimum way that other communities are excluding. You know what I mean? I think there are no boundaries. And this shows a lot of bands that are famous and that are really weird if you look from a perspective outside of metal. But they got, you know, really famous because metal is accepted. This is good. And I like it. I think this is the healthiest community of all music communities that exist in the world, to be honest with you. And I’m proud that we are part of it and that it’s not a toxic environment and that it’s an environment that pushes forward bands and fans. So this is the most important thing. And Wacken is doing their job for that too. A big punch of the work is the way they set up the whole festival. Not only them, but other big festivals that are influential and they are doing a good job of spreading love and acceptance, not spreading bullshit or corporate greed because they are big, but you don’t feel that it’s all about the money. You still feel that it’s about music. And this is why it works.

Benedetta

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview and for being such a good sport. Is there anything else that you want to add to our viewers and readers?

Manntra

I would like really to see Finland and play Finland with Manntra. So maybe you read that, people, and you start to ask your festival owners or whatever to bring Manntra to Finland. I would really like to visit your country because this is one of the most metal countries in the world. And not being there is a shame, I think, as well. Hopefully, we see each other soon.

The post Interview with Manntra first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

The band will be out on the road with him next month alongside Fear Factory, Hate & more.

The post Crystal Lake Welcome Prompts Vocalist PK As Their New Frontman appeared first on Theprp.com.