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Space is very metal. So I’ve always been surprised that it’s a relatively underdeveloped topic across most styles. Bands like Enshine, of course, make it all the rage every now and again, but it’s not something I see often. Orbital Soul System (formerly Orbital Dawn) is working to correct this perspective. The one-man solo project of one U-Gene (Rakoth) from Russia is now releasing its third full-length album, Nightwing. Boasting a tag of blackened progressive death metal and a clear cosmic theme, Orbital Soul System feels like it’s reaching for the stars with its latest—it’s certainly an ambitious moniker for a single artist. They say to shoot for the moon, because even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. Let’s see where Nightwing lands.

Nightwing lands on the “death” side of its lengthy genre moniker, leaning on heavy riffs and harsh vocals and aiming to be a heavy-hitting cosmic spectacle. Space-themed synths hold up the melodic side, building spacious and appropriately cool atmospheres to give Orbital Soul System a distinct symphonic edge. Songs like “Enclosure” emulate Thy Catafalque, with heavy organ/synth use offsetting blackened death fury, and reaching for epic heights. Other tracks, like “The Wanderer,” take a slower and more deliberate approach, building on leads and melodies to create lengthy, intricate, and more progressive experiences. Throughout, U-Gene’s intentional, annunciated growls and whispered cleans are a frequent companion, but most of Nightwing is a feast for keys and guitars.

The cosmic theme of Nightwing, on the other hand, is a constant companion, so what you think about that theme will strongly impact how you enjoy Orbital Soul System. “The Last One,” for example, is the first break we get from the metal barrage, dialing up elements of electronica and introducing a heavy autotune to distort the lyrics into an alien, computer tongue. It works for the aesthetic, of course, but the delivery is, unsurprisingly, passionless. In truth, the growls have a similar issue—so well enunciated and intentional that they seem to exist more for the storytelling than to impart feeling—but it all “fits” an album of space-themed progressive death metal. “Into the Abyss” treads the line better, but it is interesting to notice that the main theme of the song involves three synth layers (as best as I can tell) and the only one adding melody is the simplest one, a basic-yet-effective tune that acts against the seriousness of the metal to give the song some bounce and character. I like it, but I can’t help but wonder if Orbital Soul System has traded some of its passion for music for its cosmic theme.

While I’m on the fence about the theme, I have a clearer issue with Nightwing that holds me back from really appreciating it, and it lies twofold in the album’s production. For one thing, the drums do not sound good, to the point that I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they aren’t real. They click and tap, but don’t add heft, and this is probably part of the reason I find Nightwing a less-than-impassioned listen. They sound the same in “Savage,” an instrumental, largely electric interlude track, as in the title track, my favorite song on Nightwing, a blackened epic of sweeping proportions, melodic and impressive—but not strong. This then exacerbates my next observation: nearly every song feels at least two minutes too long, including the three-minute opener. Most songs sit in the 7–9-minute range, but I think only one justifies the length (“Enclosure”). There are a ton of ideas in Nightwing, but 59 minutes is a long time for only nine tracks, too many of which spend time setting a mood that’s long been established.

Like Nightwing itself, I want to end this review on a positive note. Closer “42” is one of the best songs Orbital Soul System offers here, with a strong main riff, uplifting swells from the synths, and the album’s only guitar solo, which does a lot to lift the energy of the song. It’s a good indication that Orbital Soul System has a good instinct for its music and theme. For me, however, the choices made after the guitars are put away have made this an album I likely won’t return as often as even I’d like.

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Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 319 kb/s mp3
Label: Self release
Websites: orbitalsoulsystem.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Orbitalsoulsystemofficial
Releases Worldwide: October 1st, 2026

The post Orbital Soul System – Nightwing Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CATHARIA TO UNLEASH NEW SINGLE “WINTER SOLSTICE” AHEAD OF NOVEMBER 2026 ALBUM PORTRAIT OF ANTIQUITY

Melodic black metal force returns with a darker, more expansive sound featuring new permanent vocalist John Harrah and guest vocalist Kassandra Chandler of Divine Martyr

For Fans Of: Dissection, Immortal, Satyricon
CATHARIA is preparing to unleash its new single “Winter Solstice” 10/02/26, offering the first taste of the band’s upcoming full-length album, Portrait of Antiquity , due for release in November 2026.
The new single features John Harrah , Catharia’s new permanent vocalist, alongside special guest vocalist Kassandra Chandler of Divine Martyr , adding another dimension to the band’s evolving sound.
Formed in 2018, Catharia has spent the years since its inception developing a sound rooted in the cold atmosphere and ferocity of black metal while incorporating the crushing weight of death metal and a strong emphasis on melody. With Portrait of Antiquity , the band expands that foundation into a darker, more melodic and symphonic direction.
According to the band:


“More melodic and symphonic then previous releases.”


“Winter Solstice” serves as the first preview of that expanded musical approach, combining Catharia’s established aggression and darkness with a greater emphasis on atmosphere, melody and symphonic elements.
The upcoming album Portrait of Antiquity continues to push the band’s melodic black metal and blackened death metal foundation into broader and more expansive territory. Drawing influence from the atmospheric intensity of classic melodic black metal and the relentless force of blackened death metal, Catharia aims to balance sweeping musical passages with uncompromising heaviness.
Portrait of Antiquity is scheduled for release in November 2026 . While Catharia is currently signed with Rockshots , the album will be released independently.
The album was produced and recorded with Jackson Ward at Strata Recording Studio , bringing a focused production approach to Catharia’s evolving sound.
With the arrival of “Winter Solstice,” Catharia begins the next chapter of its evolution, introducing a new permanent vocalist, welcoming a guest vocalist for the first single, and unveiling the darker and more expansive direction of Portrait of Antiquity .
Portrait of Antiquity

Artist: Catharia
Album: Portrait of Antiquity
First Single: “Winter Solstice”
Format: Full-Length Album
Genre: Melodic Black Metal / Blackened Death Metal
Single Release: October 2nd, 2026
Album Release: November 2026
Release: Independent
Label: Rockshots
Production: Jackson Ward, Strata Recording Studio
Permanent Vocals: John Harrah
Guest Vocals on “Winter Solstice”: Kassandra Chandler, Divine Martyr
For Fans Of: Dissection, Immortal, Satyricon


Connect:
https://catharia.com/
Contact:
Matt Powell
powellmatt52@yahoo.com

The fourth edition of Canadian festival Prepare the Ground is slated for June 4-6 in Toronto, Ontario this year and the initial lineup is looking stacked. Agalloch will play their first Canadian performance in over a decade, joined by the also-reunited Subrosa. Elsewhere, Primitive Man will perform 2025’s Observance in its entirety, Lamp of Murmuur play the country for the first time and KEN mode have a secretive performance listed on the bill.

From the press release, “Prepare the Ground is a three day independent & community based arts and music festival taking over two full blocks of downtown Toronto. Containing an outdoor arts market, four music venues (Trinity St. Paul’s Church, Lee’s Palace, the Cave, Transac) and a dedicated theatre for movie scores amongst so much more. The 2026 festival sold out in advance.”

Three day passes are on sale now.

Full announced lineup (more to come):

Agalloch
Bosse-de-Nage
Dark Castle
Franklin
Junius
KEN mode (performing ???)
Lamp of Murmuur
Malfet
Primitive Man (performing Observance)
Subrosa
Thrä

The post Prepare the Ground Announces Agalloch, SubRosa, Primitive Man and More for Initial 2027 Lineup appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Oh, fuck yeah. I’ve been in something of a low place recently, what with my brief foray into Satanism with the new Archgoat a few weeks ago, and my offputtingly enjoyable experience listening to Anthrax during my last review, so I feel like I need a reset.

Luckily, my editor over at MetalSucks decided to not be an insufferable shit for once in her worthless life, and gave me the green light to introduce a little wholesomeness to you wannabe purveyors of the Dark Arts.

That’s right, motherfucker, get ready to be bukkaked by the Love of Christ.

Here’s my review of the new Stryper, and if you don’t like it you’re more than welcome to get mouthfucked by Lucifer for all eternity. See if I care.

Track 1: Throne of Thorns

I feel bad for being so harsh in that intro. Now, with that being said, will I admit to being wrong? Fuck no.

Track 2: Here in Your Heart

Oh, hell yeah. That opening riff belongs in the goddamn Library of Congress. Speaking of which, this shit needs to be mandatory in public schools, like prayer. I’ll save that soapbox speech for another time, but you know it’s coming.

Track 3: Falling

You know what? Fuck it. They kicked Jesus out of our public schools, and then what happened? Kids are using litterboxes instead of bathrooms, if Fox News is telling the truth, and I’ve never known them to embellish anything or have any sort of agenda. That bullshit wouldn’t be happening if they were playing Stryper during the morning announcements, I’ll tell you that much.

Track 4: I’m Alright (I’m Okay)

I love this and, more importantly, so does God.

Track 5: Waiting For You

This is inspiring me to haul my old Gibson out of storage. I know it drives my old lady Doreen fucking crazy, but see if I give a toss. She can bitch all she wants. It won’t stop me from rockin’.

Track 6: Carry the Flame

Wait, nevermind. She’s in the living room watching Virgin River and I don’t want to bother her.

Track 7: Hollywood

7 tracks in, and these guys haven’t let up one bit. Is Stryper in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or do I need to go off on another Reddit rant? I swear, it hasn’t been the same ever since they let Missy Elliott in.

Track 8: Beautifully Broken

Big surprise: another stellar tune. Praise the Lord!

Track 9: Ashes to Roses

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this is the best album any band has ever released, ever.

Track 10: Alone Again

It’s heart-wrenching that there’s only one song after this. They’re really making sure it closes out with a bang, though.

Track 11: Shadowbreaker

Good thing you can’t see my eyes welling with tears over how much of a transformative experience listening to this album has been for me. I’m going right back to Track 1 after I finish this review for you freaks.

There you have it. 5/5, of course. It feels good that I’m finally using my incredible music-reviewing skills to spread the Gospel. Love you, Jesus.

As for the rest of you degenerate fucks, see you next week.

The post DISGRUNTLED DAD REVIEWS With DAVE MUSTCOMPLAIN: STRYPER – THRONE of THORNS appeared first on MetalSucks.

Puscifer and The Cult will support

Source

California deathgrinders Deathgrave recently returned with the third album, Hell Is Evil, and Decibel could not get enough of it. We were so smitten, in fact, that we asked guitarist and recording wiz Greg Wilkinson (Autopsy, Brainoil, Earhammer Studio), to rework a version of album standout “Hard to Swallow” — featuring guest vocals from one Christopher Reifert — in his studio lab. He emerged with the even sicker “Hard to Swallow (Redux ft. Chris Reifert),” which is now the latest entry on the never ending Decibel Flexi Series!

The only way you can score a copy for yourself is to sign up for a deluxe Decibel subscription by Wednesday, September 30 by noon ET. Blowing the opportunity would be a hard one to… well, you know.

The post DEATHGRAVE to Release Exclusive New Track, “Hard to Swallow (Redux ft. Chris Reifert),” via the Decibel Flexi Series! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

At this point, it’s an annual tradition: The acclaimed, intense, Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon heads out on tour with his indie rocker buddy Jason Narducy, and they pay tribute to a different classic IRS Records-era R.E.M. album. Actual members of R.E.M. sometimes join them. A couple of times, this has led to unofficial R.E.M. reunions. In the past few years. Shannon and Narducy have taken Murmur, Fables Of The Reconstruction, and Lifes Rich Pageant on tour. They’ll hit the road again in 2027, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Document.

The post Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy Announce Tour Covering R.E.M.’s <em>Document</em> For Its 40th Anniversary appeared first on Stereogum.

The post Album Of The Week: Greg Freeman <em>All Set The Bone</em> appeared first on Stereogum.

Jim Root has given Slipknot fans the clearest picture yet of the band’s next album, and it comes with a warning: ‘It’s gonna hurt some feelings.’ Answering fans online, the guitarist said the one rule for the record is not to repeat themselves — ‘Don’t expect another Iowa or self-titled record.

We’ve been there’ — and when a fan wrote ‘Please don’t make another The End, So Far. We need this to be heavy and not Stone Sour,’ Root replied with a single word: ‘Agreed.’ The album was tracked live on the floor with new drummer Eloy Casagrande, is fully analogue, is being produced by Matt Wallace, will be the first release on the band’s own (sic)est Records, and does not include this month’s surprise single ‘Arsenal.’

There is no release date yet, but it now has to land before the stadium tour that opens at Wembley next July.

STREAM THE METAL BREAKDOWN DAILY NOW:

Jim Root just admitted the last Slipknot record missed — and told us who the next one isn’t for. Scott Penfold breaks down every word on today’s Metal Breakdown Daily, plus a Loaded Radio exclusive on Type O Negative’s lost October Rust song. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play and stream the show now.

I have interviewed Corey Taylor more than once, and I can tell you the man has never in his life said a Slipknot record fell short. Clown speaks in riddles. Mick doesn’t speak. So when a Slipknot guitarist answers a fan who says the last album sounded like Stone Sour with the word ‘Agreed,’ that isn’t a throwaway comment. That’s the most candid anyone in this band has been about their own work in twenty-five years.

What Jim Root Actually Said

Root has been taking questions from fans, and the answers read like a man who’s been waiting to say it.

On the direction: ‘One very important thing for us at this time is to not “repeat” ourselves. It’s gonna hurt some feelings.’ On what not to expect: ‘Don’t expect another Iowa or self-titled record. We’ve been there.’ On what it feels like: ‘The vibe feels honest and true to me. It’s uneasy and reminds me of recording in the earlier days.’

And on the sound: ‘Everything is analogue and played. All the pieces that need to be there are there.’ He’s previously called recent Slipknot material over-produced. This time, he says, they tracked on the floor live with Eloy — ‘We hadn’t done that in a long time’ — and he calls it the most exciting and liveliest sounding thing they’ve done.

Then the exchange everybody’s screenshotting. A fan: ‘Please don’t make another The End, So Far. We need this to be heavy and not Stone Sour.’ Root: ‘Agreed.’

Why ‘Not Stone Sour’ Lands Harder Coming From Root

Here’s the part the other write-ups are skipping. Jim Root was in Stone Sour. He played on every record from the debut through House Of Gold & Bones, and his exit in 2014 was not a quiet one — he’s said publicly that he was pushed out while he was working on a Slipknot album.

So a fan asking him to make sure Slipknot doesn’t sound like Stone Sour is asking the one member of the band with a personal history in the comparison. And he agreed. Read into that what you like. I read a guitarist who’s been thinking the same thing for four years.

The End, So Far came out in September 2022 as the band’s last album for Roadrunner, and the split in the fanbase was immediate: clean choruses, a ballad-adjacent opener, Corey’s melodic side all the way up front. Plenty of people loved it. Plenty of people heard the other band. Root has just told the second group he’s with them.

What’s Actually On Tape

Strip out the attitude and here’s the factual state of the album:

• Recorded live on the floor with Eloy Casagrande on drums — the man who replaced Jay Weinberg and whose first Slipknot recording was ‘Arsenal.’
• Fully analogue, per Root, with the over-produced era explicitly in the rear-view mirror.
• Produced by Matt Wallace — the producer behind Faith No More’s The Real Thing and Angel Dust, and the first outside producer Slipknot have used in years who has no history with the band.
• First release on (sic)est Records, the band’s own label, which is why the stadium tour carries the same name.
• ‘Arsenal’ is not on it. The surprise single from earlier this month was, in Root’s own words at the time, just the one they could finish soonest.
• No title, no track count, no release date. Everything you’ve read with a date attached is a guess.

If you’re tracking the whole saga, our running page on the new Slipknot album has every confirmed detail in one place.

The Band Making It Isn’t The Band That Made The Last One

This is the context that makes ‘don’t repeat ourselves’ more than a slogan.

Since The End, So Far: Jay Weinberg was let go and Eloy Casagrande came in. Craig Jones left the sampler station. Sid Wilson’s exit played out in public and ugly. Three of the nine chairs have changed, and two of the three were the members most associated with the electronic and textural layer that The End, So Far leaned on.

Take those layers out, put a drummer who hits like Eloy in the room, track it live, hand it to a producer who cut his teeth on Faith No More, and uneasy is exactly the word you’d expect. Root isn’t describing a plan. He’s describing what happened when this lineup played together.

Why This Matters Before The Stadiums

The tour is already sold. Nineteen dates, Wembley to Bogotá, presales open, and the album that goes with it doesn’t have a name.

That’s a strange order of operations for any band, and it puts real pressure on the record. If it lands the way Root is describing — heavy, raw, closer to Iowa‘s spirit without copying it — the stadium run becomes a coronation. If it doesn’t, the band will be playing the biggest rooms of their career behind a record their own guitarist warned would hurt feelings. Either way, ‘Agreed’ is going to be quoted back at him for a year.

For what it’s worth, my read: a member volunteering that the last one missed is the healthiest sign this band has shown since .5: The Gray Chapter. Bands that defend every record make the same record. Bands that admit a miss make the ones that end up on lists like this.

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A post shared by James Root (@jamesroot)

TL;DR

• Jim Root on the new Slipknot album: ‘It’s gonna hurt some feelings.’ The rule is not to repeat themselves — no Iowa rerun, no self-titled rerun.
• A fan asked for ‘heavy and not Stone Sour.’ Root replied ‘Agreed.’ Root was in Stone Sour until 2014.
• Tracked live on the floor with Eloy Casagrande. Fully analogue. Root has called recent material over-produced.
• Produced by Matt Wallace (Faith No More). First release on (sic)est Records.
• ‘Arsenal’ is not on the album.
• No title, track count or release date yet. The 19-date stadium tour opens at Wembley on 3 July 2027.
• Since The End, So Far: Jay Weinberg out, Eloy in; Craig Jones and Sid Wilson gone.

FAQ

Has Slipknot’s last album been a Stone Sour record with masks on? Or is Root about to alienate the fans who loved it? Tell us in the comments which side you’re on, and follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post New Slipknot Album Will Hurt Feelings, And Jim Root Just Said Whose appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Things are afoot in Father John Misty’s universe. No word yet on the follow-up to 2024’s Mahashmashana, but Josh Tillman has dropped two singles this year. “The Old Law” and “The Payoff” were both apocalyptic, Beatles-esque bangers with sweeping Drew Erickson arrangements, and there’s another one of those today. “The X-panded Universe” finds FJM once again reckoning with his religious heritage, once again sounding glorious.

The post Father John Misty – “The X-panded Universe” appeared first on Stereogum.