‘Voodooland‘ featuring the late Karl Cochran, along with Ace Frehley, Joe Lynn Turner, John Corabi, Eric Singer, Bob Daisley, and many more, arrives on vinyl for the first time on October 30th. Since beginning his professional music career at just fourteen years old, Karl Cochran built an impressive legacy as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, and […]
Darkest Hour have confirmed a set of headlining North America shows in December. Direct support will be provided by Judiciary. On select dates, they will be supported by Kill Chain, Nehemiah and Justifications. Read more…
The Swedes Sarcator have debuted a Claudio Marino-directed music video for “Ain’t Fit To Live”, the newest single from their upcoming studio record The Ones We Follow. Read more…
OOTORO’s CHANEL brings a sleek, club focused sound that blends disco influences with tech house grooves and a heavier bass house edge. The production is built around a strong rhythmic foundation, with punchy low end and crisp electronic details giving the track plenty of physical energy. OOTORO keeps the arrangement tight and focused, allowing the groove to remain at the center while the disco elements add a playful sense of movement and character. There is a polished quality to the production, but the track still carries enough attitude to feel immediate and built for a crowded dancefloor. CHANEL moves between funkier touches and harder hitting bass moments without losing its sense of flow, creating a confident electronic cut with plenty of bounce. OOTORO shows a clear instinct for rhythm and club dynamics, making the track easy to drop into a late night set.
Symphonic black metal one-man band Fading Light has inked new deal with Apostasy Records for the release of debut long player, The Spell Of A New Dawn, on November 13, 2026. The band’s mainman Totleben recorded all the guitars, basses, and orchestrations himself and is also responsible for all the lyrics, artwork, and music videos. The drums were recorded by Michiel van der Plicht. Mix and mastering were handled by Joost van den Broek at Sandlane Recording Facilities. Read more…
‘Leap into the void’ for an exhilarating assault on the senses with the debut full-length studio offering, Into The Void, from Sweden’s Thrash Punks Razorvoid as they take you on an eleven-track, thirty-five-minute roller coaster ride through “the darkness” with their “soundtrack for a world spiralling towards total oblivion.”
Formed in 2021 from the members’ shared obsession with old-school Death Metal, Thrash, d-beat punk, and traditional Heavy Metal, Razorvoid deliver a crushing, unrelentingly ferocious sound inspired by the likes of Motörhead, Anti-Cimex, and Repugnant.
Sweden’s Razorvoid unleash their debut album Into The Void on 2 October 2026 via Jawbreaker Records.
Into The Void follows on from their self-released compilation cassette of their early singles Sonic Decay and their Terror In Time EP. This latest offering packs a punch from the outset, as opening track Sign Of The Curse sets the pace both here and largely across the whole album with its engaging d-beat alongside a hugely catchy repeating riff that grabs your attention.
The lyrics are snappy in both content and delivery, and the second half is energy-packed, with searing lead work that completes the track perfectly.
Title track Into The Void bursts into being out of a wave of pounding drum rhythms, of which there is a glorious abundance across this piece. The pace drops midway and takes on a moment of crushing heaviness, then a shout of “Aaghhh!!” heralds the return to the former pace.
Blasphemic Assault delivers riffs that are sharp, raw and insanely catchy. This is a driving beast of a track that doesn’t pull its punches, especially when the vocal delivery kicks in. The lead work makes a massive self-announcement as it builds rapidly and tears through much of the second half, making it an exhilarating listen.
Although Desolate Future delivers the familiar up-tempo drive, riff-wise it feels a little bleaker and darker. Not surprising, given the title and lyrically, it says it like it is. I love the chugging undercurrent that courses beneath much of this track, and as always, the leadwork is fast, intense and soaring. This is one of my favourite pieces because I love its frank, bleak honesty.
An Everlasting Flame has a superb Motörhead vibe. The pace is slightly slower than the predecessors, but it has a massively addictive groove and a superbly dark undercurrent both musically and lyrically.
Under The Lash, the shortest track, at just over two minutes, may be brief, but there is a lot rammed into the timeframe. This is a high-speed driver that barely gives you time to grab your breath. It does briefly drop back slightly in the second half, becoming a crushing pounder, then ramps back up for an exhilarating swathe of sonic leadwork and returns to the original high-speed delivery. An excellent piece.
I love the opener on Rituals Of The Damned. It is dark, haunting, and suspenseful and makes you wonder just where this piece might take you. This is rapidly revealed as the pace ramps into a frantic full-throttle charge. The vocals are delivered with well-phrased precision and punch, with very little let-up in pace until the end and when the vocals drop away.
When you get to the latter part of the track, the riffing feels darker than when the leadwork finally hits in the closing thirty seconds. It is searing and intense, making it a hugely dark and exhilarating listen overall.
The next piece, The Howling Wind, is an anthemic, pounding driver of a track, catchy in equal measure in both the lyric and riff departments. What is not to like?
As far as attitude goes, 422 Gutterpunx has bags of it. The riffs are excellent, dark, sharp and undulating. Then there is the overall repeat and phrasing of this piece, which is powerful and catchy, alongside equally powerful pounding drum rhythms and leadwork that rips out of the latter part of the track.
If that is not enough, there is an equally and delightfully dark undercurrent too. Another of my favourite tracks.
Penultimate offering White Death delivers a brutal meld of ominous driving riffs and a haunting subtle melodic element which comes to the fore midway through alongside spoken lyrics and a lower key. There is still excellent leadwork towards the close, making this a piece with a superbly unnerving atmosphere.
The final piece, Jaws Of Perdition, is a rousing, up-tempo thrashy driver that grabs hold of your attention and drags you kicking and screaming all the way to the close. Despite the rapid pace, it switches seamlessly, keeping your interest, and the lead work is abundant and excellent.
The track is melodic enough to be catchy, the vocals are delivered with well-phrased punch, and it’s exciting enough to make you want to play the whole album over again.
Released on 2 October 2026 via Jawbreaker Records, Into The Void is a blistering listen from start to finish. The album will be available as a vinyl LP, a CD, and in digital format. For more details, visit linktr.ee/razorvoid.
In her recently deactivated post-metal band Svalbard, singer/guitarist Serena Cherry’s lyrics tackled such hard realities as mental health and abuse. You can’t blame her for retreating to fantasyland every now and again. Her solo outlet Noctule offers her refuge in videogames, and this second album takes the perspective of the bosses from Elden Ring, the hit RPG that helped Serena through her depression.
Noctule’s debut, 2021’s Skyrim-obsessed Wretched Abyss, was a raw introduction written during the Covid lockdowns and a promising start – Serena played every instrument herself, as she does again here – even if much of it sounded similar to Svalbard’s heaviest parts. It was a side-quest for fans of her then-main pursuit.
On Extinguish Thy Flame, there’s a musical identity as well as a thematic one. Although the pained Goddess Of Rot would have fit in on Svalbard’s 2023 swansong, The Weight Of The Mask, the rest combines the slicing guitars of Serena’s heroes Arch Enemy with the apocalyptic textures of Emperor.
Starting with a demented war cry over death/thrash riffing, opener proper Devour The Gods explodes forward. The titanic imagery – ‘Teeth like daggers, throne of flame! Reject the order and say my name!’ – scores high on the holy-fuck-o’meter, and Grafted doubles down on that epic scope. It’s an unencumbered symphonic black metal rager, where stabbing strings and ominous keys give way to frostbitten tremolo picking.
Everything else, from Lament Of The Omen King’s melodeath tapping to Age Of The Stars’ tower of vocal tracks, is dedicated to that same blend of exhilaration and grandeur. If you were to battle a 12ft colossus, sword in hand, this is the soundtrack you’d choose. It’s the first time Serena’s truly shone beyond Svalbard – and, released just one month after their final set, it’s come at the perfect moment.
