BraveWords Records has announced the Bandcamp digital release of Australian (Newcastle, New South Wales) fantasy power metallers Ilium‘s 2026 album, ‘Scythe Ballet‘. The band states: “The response to the physical release has been fantastic, and so we are happy to announce that from today, the album is available digitally via Bandcamp through BraveWords Records. Other digital […]
Canada’s own Cursed Blessings Records is putting out a split, Eye For A Pie between two Great White North’s skate punk bands, The Fomites and We Are Not A Cult.
First up is the Fomites, a three piece skate punk band. They sing about the holy trinity of pizza, Stephen King, and anti-fascism. We have a preview of their song Down the Drain, per the band:
…Equal parts melodic anthem and furious call to action, The Fomites wrote “Down The Drain” as a product of the times we find ourselves in: a boring dystopia wherein the rich get richer at the expense of everyone and everything else for as long as we allow them to do so…
What’s better than one skate punk band? Two! We also have a track from party punks, We Are Not A Cult. Their track is called “Taken Men”:
…”Taken Men” is about being the daddest, most married band on the planet. It’s a thank-you to the partners who could do better, and don’t. It’s a song that we couldn’t get out of our heads once we wrote it, and now it’s going to be stuck in yours…
Eye For A Pie split featuring The Fomites and We Are Not A Cult is out now at Cursed Blessings Records.
The Oslo duo performed their 2006 single K.I.N.G. on the catwalk at the 2011 edition of the Nordic World Ski Championships, playing the snarling metal track as models walked past in high-end dresses. Looking back during an interview with Metal Hammer, Wongraven, 50, calls the booking “bizarre” and admits he still has no clue who came up with the idea.
“The production was done by NRK, which is Norway’s equivalent to the BBC,” he explains. “And if you do anything with NRK, they will do it exactly the way that they want to. They’re not gonna sit down with a band and go, ‘How do you want it, guys?’”
The only theory Wongraven can come up with is that the organisers wanted to blend skiing, something “deeply rooted in our [Norwegian] sporting culture”, with black metal, “something else that is uniquely Norwegian”, and “show it to the world”. But, “I have no idea who came up with the idea to blend it with a fashion show!”
Elsewhere in the interview, Wongraven talks further about the creation of K.I.N.G., the lead single from his band’s 2006 album, Now, Diabolical. The heavy, groovy track – sometimes referred to as ‘black’n’roll’, a term Satyricon reject – saw the band remove keyboards and technical drum parts from their sound.
“Now, Diabolical was trusting more that a song could be more powerful if we strip it of unnecessary elements,” Wongraven recalls. “When you think of Iron Man by Black Sabbath or Let There Be Rock by AC/DC, you think of the signature riff, and when you have a riff that can carry a whole song on its shoulders, everything from this point onwards is about what complements that part.”
Upon release in April 2006, Now, Diabolical was the band’s biggest commercial hit, reaching number two on the Norwegian charts. It also charted in Finland, Sweden and the UK. K.I.N.G. became their biggest song: at time of publication, it has 19,800,000 Spotify streams, more than double their next-biggest track, 2002’s Black Crow On A Tombstone.
Satyricon’s last album, 2022’s Satyricon & Munch, marked a stark departure from their black metal sound. It was a single, hour-long, atmospheric song, designed to soundtrack the art exhibition of the same name that the band put on at Oslo’s Edvard Munch Museum. In 2024, Wongraven said that Satyricon’s next album will be “more conventional” but “very, very varied”.
The band will tour Europe from September to November. The first show will take place at the Floyd venue in Athens, Greece on September 18. On October 31, they’ll support Dimmu Borgir at Oslo Spektrum in their hometown, with Enslaved opening. They’re also booked to headline Damnation festival in Manchester on November 8.
Fountain Road’s What Great Light sits in the hazy space where chamber pop, art rock and shoegaze overlap, building an atmosphere that feels both intimate and expansive. Saturated guitars and angular grooves provide a restless foundation, while the melodies remain clear enough to linger through the layers of sound. There is a sense of tension running underneath the track, but also a quieter feeling of hope that gradually emerges from the noise.
The songwriting carries a reflective quality, balancing contemporary unease with images of nature and fleeting moments of beauty. Rather than relying on a huge climax, What Great Light draws us into its textures and allows its emotional weight to develop naturally. Atmospheric, thoughtful and subtly melodic, it is a strong introduction to Fountain Road’s distinctive meeting point between artful indie rock and dreamier shoegaze textures.
Soaring sonic soundscapes, a satisfying blend of Progressive and Post-Metal, cultivated in a modern, crisp production that is as immersive as it is immediate. The debut release from French duo Thibaud Lépicier [Guitar, Bass, Additional Production] and drummer David Annenkoff hits a nerve that is all good.
This is an outfit that has literally fallen into my inbox and struck the right spot. My journey through Post-Rock and Post-Metal in the past few years has been intense, and in Ølyp we are presented with a band that would sound ideal at Arctangent or Dunk! Fest.
Instrumental music must always have the power to capture the messages held within. The absence of lyrics means the music must really forge the story.
Ølyp – I(m)MORTAL: A Compelling Collision Of Beauty And Crushing Power
Ølyp explore humanity’s fractured relationship with nature, and although this album is a fiery burst, there is no doubting that there is also a melancholic feel to many parts of the record.
It is not at all surprising to trace the band’s early origins to the fjords of Norway, for it is at times as emotive and haunting as that country.
Ølyp may be a duo, but their cinematic approach is fully enhanced by an ensemble of guest musicians, including violinists Pauline Henric and Zoé Sallefranque, violist Sylvain Rullier, and cellist Eugénie Ursch. Songs such as Solace are impressive, a kaleidoscope of sounds that entwines the listener to places where the meanings behind the music can be explored.
There is plenty of heft in opener The Human Error, which strains at the leash with punishing riffs and thundering drums. The chopping work on 797 is in stark contrast, with a more abrasive delivery which is both aggressive and technically precise. Even on these two opening tracks, you can get the feel for what the band has to say. It is modern but without the overkill production and huge breakdowns that often damage newer soundings.
Throughout the album, there are shifts from crushing intensity to more beautiful contemplation. It is what makes this album interesting and enjoyable. Intricate passages that would sit well on an album by Opeth switch with gargantuan cascades of riffage that explode and burst in a sludgy doom broth. Then the band will hit another two gears and erupt into a chaotic frenzy.
This is an album that would sit well with purveyors of The Ocean, Russian Circles, the power of Psychonaut or Night Verses.
A compelling combination of technicality, sophistication and raw power, all overlaid by emotion that can hit you in the feels. A worthy addition to the ever-expanding selection of excellence emerging in the latter half of 2026.
Ølyp release I(m)MORTAL on 25 September 2026 via Klonosphere Records/Season of Mist. For more details, visit the band on Bandcamp.
Piper Connolly’s beautiful life is a bright, hook-heavy pop-rock anthem that captures the rush of youth with an appealing sense of freedom and abandon. The track moves on punchy guitars, energetic drums and a polished but lively production, while Connolly’s vocals bring both attitude and emotional warmth to the performance. There is a strong melodic instinct here, with the chorus designed to stick around long after the song ends.
What makes beautiful life work is the balance between its carefree surface and the emotional immediacy underneath. It feels cinematic without becoming overly grand, channeling the excitement of young love, summer nights and windows-down freedom. Confident, catchy and full of momentum, it marks a convincing step forward for Connolly, with enough pop appeal to make the hooks immediate while retaining a clear pop-rock bite.
PAIN CONFESSOR Soul Wound Diabolisher Helsinki Finland The SFP organization put together one hell of a killer night with three awesome bands on Friday. […]
