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Never the prototypical black metal band, and hardly one these days, Enslaved are models for how to age gracefully and expand artistically. Their upcoming 17th album Mið is minorly different from its predecessor Heimdal in that it was entirely written in the studio rather than meticulously planned beforehand. It’s slightly floaty but retains the group’s signature gritty, progressive, and Nordic aesthetic. Long have Enslaved stayed within the realm of Norse mythology and culture, consulting with scholars and archaeologists to burrow deep within it. Mið is their first step outside that realm, venturing to the lands between their mythology and those of their collaborators.

Enslaved worked with Sami singer Johan Sara Jr. and Kevin Kicking Woman of the Blackfeet Nation, the latter of whom they connected with through Fire in the Mountains. Although musically interesting, Mið excels when it finds common ground between cultures. For instance, “I Am Ice” invites Sara Jr. into the Enslaved mythos and showcases how traditional Sami vocals fit into the Nordic culture that followed it. “Spirit Helper” inverts that relationship. Enslaved tailored the song around Kevin’s morning prayer song, adapting their string tunings to him. They modified themselves because Kevin placed his trust in them.

These tracks, and Mið as a whole, demonstrate the nuanced relationship dynamics between cultures; how separate regions and peoples arrive at similar conclusions, like Darwin and Wallace both hypothesizing natural selection independently. They are less interested in comparing beliefs and more so in presenting their harmony. Discussions of culture, heritage, and traditions in black metal can be dicey, and for good reason. Guitarist and songwriter Ivar Bjørnson spoke to us about how that needn’t be the case, explaining how we have been learning from each other for centuries and, ultimately, all seek to connect with the earth.

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You said to Decibel, “Every tradition has its own history and its own identity. I’m not interested in saying, ‘This is just like Norse mythology.’ It isn’t, and it shouldn’t be.” How did you make sense of Kevin Kicking Woman’s spiritual perspective without immediately connecting it to pagan or Norse mythology?

I think our motivation, and through that, my own, and the way we’ve come to regard these things is as follows: 

If we jump back to 2012 with RIITIIЯ, this thought or way of looking at things as a walk or hike in both geography and time, time stretched out along the path of these great migrations, and seeing where we are, we are a very young mythology up in the north, and what we know as Norse mythology, what was written down, it’s mainly from the years 400 to 700. So, it’s a very warrior-like focus with Odin on top, Father of War, which makes sense if you see it in the context of the great hungers and Fimbulvinter, the eternal winter. There was a lot of strife and fighting for resources. But before that, it might have been quite different; more focused on apples and poetry and skiing (laughs). 

It’s interesting because here, the Germanic tribes that ended up being Norwegians, Vikings, all that stuff, they also met some people, like the Sami people who were already here. Contrary to what the populist sentiment of the previous century claimed (i.e., the Vikings would pop out of the ground and be these pure beings with the holy mythology), the Germanic tribes were inspired by the Sami. And the Sami, the indigenous people of the north, were very generous in sharing their mythology and their esoteric stuff. If you want to look at it as a business, they were very forthcoming and gave away their secrets. Having that perspective, it shows that we all, our roots, have been at one place at some time and then started wandering off. 

So these narratives and this mythology— what is mythology? For us, it represents the psychic, psychological, metaphysical, esoteric history of our mental constructs. It’s easier to understand oneself the closer you get to where things come from. The Native Americans went eastwards over the Bering Strait and were at Turtle Island, the American continent, while some of us then turned west and north.

Talking to Kevin, who tells us about history, about the songs and the meanings of things, he’s part of a tradition that’s been unbroken for 15 to 18 hundred years. While we Norwegians are just rediscovering our own mythology. Just 15 years ago, it was quite problematic because there was still the stigma of right-wing politics associated with it because of what happened in the Second World War and after that. Now, in this year’s FIFA World Championship, the Norwegian national team had runes on their outfits, and they’re doing the Viking rowing thing. You should have seen how it was in Norway, it was just insane. People would gather everywhere and do that. And that’s what we wanted to happen, 35 years ago when we started with this concept. It’s a great thing. Kevin is a very good example of that, and just the generosity of sharing wisdom.

But, the learning point of all this turns out to be a lot simpler than maybe I’ve thought about before. It’s this–how do you get closer to your real, natural state? Isn’t that what we’re looking for? I guess why people are so ready for things like Fire in the Mountains or experiences going out in the wilderness is because that’s where we come from. We are part of nature, and that’s why it makes us happy when we find little green lungs in the middle of cities. It’s a beautiful thing because we are part of nature. And the connection isn’t that complicated. It’s just about noticing more in everyday life.

When I think of Enslaved or Norse mythology, I always think of ice, forests, lakes, very cold stuff. Very different from the setting of Fire in the Mountains and Kevin Kicking Woman. When you were making Mið, were you thinking about geography as well? 

Yeah, I would say we were on the song “I Am Ice.” We have a Sami guest there, Johan Sara Jr., who says that he’s utilizing a form of Sami singing that’s archaic and primal. It’s all about elements. This song, “I Am Ice,” is a reflection in all its simplicity. Like ice, as you said, there’s a lot of ice in Norse mythology, and in the runes, there’s the 14th rune, Isa. We’ve done a lot with that one, and it’s a powerful concept of all kinds of change, whether it’s like modern self-help, or if it’s more esoteric, or it’s Aleister Crowley stuff with wands and people in awesome robes and hats. It’s all about getting from one place to the other. Changing, becoming something other than what is now. But this concept of ice in this esoteric knowledge deals with the beauty of preservation. Some things that you want to change and evolve don’t mean that everything needs to change. There is always something good. And that’s also a comfort, I would say. There’s a comfort in the concept of something frozen and solid. That’s at the core of “I Am Ice.” 

As we started working more with the song, Grutle had been up in the north some years ago and spent some time there with Sami singers and learning about the traditions and learning the techniques. He’s very fond of that and found a great inspiration in that. When he suggested the singing technique and made some demos with it, it fit beautifully. Then, we needed to find and invite the Sami singer. And it turns out Iver (Sandøy), our drummer, who’s also a record producer as his job outside of Enslaved, had recorded it. He recorded with Johan Sara Jr. beforehand and had the recording on hand. That’s sometimes how the world works.

So, the difference between “I Am Ice” and “Spirit Helper” is that Kevin gave you his singing contributions first, and then you wrote it. Whereas with Johan, you had most of the song composed and then he gave his contributions. You can hear the one with Johan sounds a lot more like a traditional Enslaved song, but the Kevin song is very much his. I remember you said somewhere that you had to not base it so much on the rhythm but the language, right?

Exactly, because he wrote “Spirit Helper” 20-something years ago and he’s been singing it every day as his opening of the day. He decided this is the song that he wanted to take into the collaboration. We met in New York in October ’25 and he did a little ceremony and then gave me the song in the way he sang it. I recorded it there and then on my phone. He said that I can do whatever I feel. Actually, what he said is, “I know you’ll do the right thing, so you’re totally free to do whatever you want with it.”

He put quite a lot of faith in you, then?

Total faith. It ended up being that the right thing to do was nothing. I came home, put it into my little composer studio, and just sat there looking and thinking, “I cannot cut in this file or alter pitch, tempo. I can’t do anything. It’s just got to be what it is as it was recorded.” That’s what we said when we handed it off to Jens Bogren for mixing. 

For the song, we tuned to drop-D sharp, which is not exactly like standard blues tuning or anything. It’s a little bit weird. But what happens when I check it? Kevin’s singing in exactly our open string tune. When I tell him, “This is crazy,” he goes, “No, of course, that’s just natural, that’s how the universe works.” That’s a typical Kevin response. So yeah, then I got some books, and that reminded me of when I was there in ’25. One of my other Blackfoot friends gave me a book to read, and it’s called Blackfoot Physics, which is really interesting. It’s about Western scientists going and living with them for a long time, one of the northernmost Blackfoot tribes up in Canada, and making the case to say, if you look at Blackfoot metaphysics or mythology through the lens of modern quantum science, then they actually make a lot of sense. It’s not all fantastic. Not fantastic as a good, bad, but fantastic as a made-up thing. It’s not all that fairy tale-ish anymore if you apply quantum physics to it.

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If you’re trying to keep our cultural roots and ancestry, a lot of that can get warped by bad faith actors, as you said. You have always been open-minded and you’re collaborating with different cultures and doing so in a way that mixes and respects them. When you’re looking at these past ideas and traditions, what is the difference between how you see them versus signalling nationalist, reactionary stuff?

For me, the test is always quite easy. The ideology or the idea is probably good if it has a movement somehow. It can be destructive. It doesn’t have to be, let’s say, positive. I’ve been in this discussion when we talk about art and the question is, “Does art always have to lead to positive things?” What about art that is promoting the death of the planet or something like that? What if some art is going, “Oil is great, they should be sucking up more oil and burning more rainforest?” Is that automatically bad art? Probably, yeah, but it’s still art in a sense. 

But where the line goes, it’s something we have reflected a lot on. Aleister Crowley, with his phenomenal robes and hats again, he advised do what thou wilt, right? As that’s been quoted so many times in the world of metal. And it’s a fantastic thing to live by, but it’s so misunderstood. It sounds on the surface like you should puke in your neighbor’s shoes and piss in his hallway because you can do exactly what you want. But the thing is, you’re limiting when you’re acting bad, limiting other people’s freedom of action. That’s a very different thing from freedom. I believe that 100% freedom is unattainable, of course, as long as you talk about more than one individual, because we all have to make sure that our freedom is not limiting other people’s freedom.

And that’s where you come in with this national pride and culture. Mythology is saying something about the temperament, the suspicions, the weaknesses, and the strengths. Norway can be very, on the surface, conformist. When we have people coming in here from other parts of the world, it’s an interesting question. Norwegians, they always go, “You should put on this Norwegian costume and eat Norwegian meatballs and be Norwegian.” America has traditionally been, “Keep wearing your crazy outfits from wherever you come from, and we’ll just be Americans from different places.” 

I think Norwegians, we’ve been afraid of our history because it’s ended up, especially with how the Nazis used it. We become a little bit scared of the whole thing, and that makes us suspicious of people who have strong identities when they come in colorful costumes or have weird rituals and all that. But I think going in the direction that things are going now, that we are more open, not only during soccer championships, but in general; knowing our background and loving it for what it is, being proud of it for what that is. 

It’s a big difference from saying, “I’m proud to be of German heritage and I eat white sausages on Thursdays.” Where is that reasoning going? It leads to, “if you’re not doing that, there’s something wrong with you and you’re inferior because you’re different.” It doesn’t really make sense. I don’t really buy it. I think they’re using something that on the surface looks like an easy way to hide pure uncertainty and hostility and existential angst. The world is too scary a place, things are too unpredictable and connectivity is lost. You don’t know where you come from. So,  you feel like you’re drifting alone in the world. And then acting out this childish fantasy of putting on a uniform that’s different from the other guy’s uniform and then saying this is reason enough for me wanting to kill you or send you out of whatever country you’re in because you look different. It’s just, I don’t really buy that it’s genuine.

When you’re looking at preserving cultural ties and a cultural norm versus progressing forward, is there a line there when it gets too harmful?

If you’re going to be real about it and if you really mean that you want to preserve your culture and that it has a place in the world and it’s a valuable thing to teach your children and so on, you have to be critical. I’m not a revisionist. There are so many things that are worth looking back at. It’s a typical thing when you come to the whole concept of slavery, for instance, in the Viking Age. These discussions tend to go a little bit sour. Revisionists say, “Yeah, but slaves had social mobility. It was fantastic because a slave could be given his freedom and then he would get all these fantastic rights.” But there were still people being born into having to serve people with different surnames. It reminds of the Indian caste system. Their last names would bind them to a social standing for most of their lives. And yes, there were incidents where they were promoted and given freedom and all that, but it’s still pretty problematic. They had the same ethos of what they did in war that people still are doing; using sexual violence, for instance, as in, in most wars during history. If you’re going to go and say that it’s time to re-establish a Norse way of thinking, I certainly wouldn’t vote for the version where you just blindly implement whatever they were doing in the year 900 and say, “Let’s do that just with electricity and cell phones.”

We have a lot of ground to cover there also, but that’s also the problem. If you say that there’s a problem with certain aspects of a culture, people confuse that with racism, all kinds of phobias are immediately called into play, and people lose their heads. It’s a very bad climate for discussions these days in the world, I would say, except for interviews like this where we can be civilized and have civilized conversations, which is great.

Other artists use the argument, “Oh, we’re just talking about our history. What’s wrong with that?” But it’s the way that they’re implementing it. 

It’s often a lot easier than you think. It’s like the whole MeToo discussion when people go, “You can’t have a chat with a young secretary anymore because you’re gonna get cancelled or whatever.” Nah, it’s not really that complicated. There are a lot of people who hang around attractive young women all day and for years and years, and there are no accusations of anything inappropriate. I think people know. And it’s the same with this. If you’re using this argument of, “We’re just talking about history,” it’s like, nah, it’s easy to tell.

What did you think after performing at Fire in the Mountains? Did it make you feel explicitly more connected to a new culture?

Yeah, it’s the beginning of something. And that happened, I think, very early on, when the curiosity from both sides and the talking started, the connection was established. And then I think we are on our way to explore that further. It’s not all grandiose and a concept album. It’s personal friendships being forged and having a connection to the land. I think a lot about that just coming back after 2025 and coming back this summer. The first night we went down there to the lake and waded out there in the middle of the night.  I just felt really really special. 

It’s forming a connection to another place, which is really strange. It’s far away, but it feels really close. So I’m really excited to see where it goes. I’m gonna go back there both in musical terms, but also as a Norwegian dude going over to visit my friends and learn more and have fun.

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Mið releases October 30 via Nuclear Blast.

Despite being mostly comprised of Autopsy members, Static Abyss are a starkly different act from the death metal progenitors. What began as a project between Chris Reifert and Greg Wilkinson (Deathgrave, Leather Glove) as a low-stakes exercise in d-beat-influenced death metal has solidified into a three-piece, now that Necrot’s Chad Gailey took over drum duties on their recent third album, The Dying Hunt. While Autopsy is a well-oiled machine in terms of songwriting, Wilkinson composes Static Abyss’ framework by himself, leaving just enough space for Gailey to flex his percussive acumen and Reifert’s recognizable growl. Then, after aligning the fragments, the trio records; no metronome, no click track. It’s a quick turnaround process that diffuses doubt and hesitation. If anything, it encourages Static Abyss to go against conventional wisdom. Although nobody in the trio considers d-beat and death metal to be miles apart from one another, they hold both in mind simultaneously, creating a fluidity that begets stark transitions. It’s oxymoronic–being so comfortable that the off-kilter feels natural. Take the non-transition between death metal and d-beat on the opening track “Skull Blasted” or the psychedelic rock passages that crop up midway through The Dying Hunt. There are no rules here; everything is fair game so long as the parameters are set to “vicious.”

Below is my full conversation with guitarist and bassist Wilkinson about how The Dying Hunt came to be.

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How are you feeling about the new album?

I’m really excited about it. I think that this one is definitely an expansion on our last two records. And then adding Chad to the record added a whole new dimension as far as drumming styles. I think it’s just a little more intense and visceral of an experience.

Now that Chad is involved, does that change your songwriting process?

It’s very similar in a lot of ways. I write the songs from front to back and then work on the composition with whoever’s drumming. So in this case, it was Chad, but Chris had already listened to all the songs, so I picked his brain and saw if there were any ideas. Everyone still has input on the composition, but from beginning to end, the only main difference is how the drummer is going to treat these riffs because they’re going to be a little different. When it comes to the lyrics, Chris does everything for that. He surprises me with fun text messages of his lyrics scribbled on a piece of paper. 

How does the dynamic differ when writing for Chris versus writing for Chad on drums?

Originally, when I wrote the record, it was going to be just Chris and I. We started tracking the record and that’s when we discovered he had a shoulder issue. We were two songs in on a session and his shoulder was hurting and we both knew we had to stop because we had an Autopsy show the next month. Chad actually filled in for that Autopsy show because Chris, at that point, his arm was gonna fall off if he didn’t get the surgery. 

So, I wrote all the riffs with Chris in mind originally. I’ve already recorded Chad’s bands, so I knew him and I had a working relationship. Plus, he played drums on Leather Glove, which is my solo death-doom project. So, the transition was super easy for me to go from Chris to Chad because I know how both of them are. 

You don’t have to test the waters with either of them, right? You know what Chad is really good at, and if you’re already thinking about the record, you can play to those strengths.

Yeah, exactly. Because everyone has a slightly different Rolodex of intentions with riffs and ways of doing beats. At this point, I know Chris’s drumming style really well as well as Chad’s, so it was cool because I knew certain beats were going to be a little different with Chad playing it than what Chris would have done.

You guys go down pretty different paths. Like, you have a few songs where it’s D-beat. Seems like you guys hadn’t played around with that before. Was that more influenced by Chad’s abilities?

Chris does a really good D-beat too. The first record we did together, Chris and I did together, we were literally in the room writing together. We had never jammed before, had no fucking plan. We just got together and we would just string songs together. So we did all but three of the songs for the first album that way. And then, by the time we did the second record, we had the debut and an Autopsy album together. Fast forward a year of jamming and making two albums together, I started to know his intentions and styles. I was able to compose a little easier. And then on The Dying Hunt, I’m two Autopsy records and two Static Abyss records deep.

I knew Chris’ stuff and that he has a really good mean D-beat, so I wanted to incorporate that. And then it just happens that Chad can do a D-beat great too. So, it all worked out, but I wanted the songs to have a little more of an individual departure per song than before, where it was, it was a little more mixed together and blended. 

Since you did four albums with Chris at this point, was there more of a push to see how weird you can get? 

I knew that I wanted this record to be faster, like right out the gate, without ditching the death-doom and slow industrial elements. I wanted to keep that, of course, but I wanted to push it a little further. The funny thing is, it worked out because Chris has a single kick pedal. He doesn’t have the double kick pedal. He’s got two single kick pedals and two single kick drums. But when we do Static Abyss, it’s pretty improvised and we learn the song and just track it on the spot. That’s how we work with stuff. So we just use my house kit here at the studio. And so I don’t have two; I have one kick drum. So for the Chris stuff, he did everything with a single foot. Those whole albums are just single-foot blast beats and single-foot everything. There’s no double kick on any of it. 

We thought it was cool because our intention was that Static Abyss is a little more of a punk-feeling band than Autopsy is. We just leaned into it and it wasn’t a hard rule. We weren’t trying to not sound like Autopsy. That’s what we had, and we leaned into it. When Chad showed up and he’s got the double kick pedal–he has both options. We can use the double kick now, but I did write the songs more aggressively with the intention of Chris doing single foot. My thought was that we’re just going to work this and lean into the old-school one-foot blast. But then, we got a double kick, so some of those could be double-kick parts,  

The composition as far as the drum beats, I have an idea if the song is supposed to feel fast or slow or mid-tempo. Sometimes there’s certain stuff where I’ll literally say it’s a D-beat here, but for the blast, I usually don’t have that in mind. I let the drummer interpret how they want to blast it. And that stuff is definitely on the fly and off the cuff. We learn the whole song from front to back. We play through it. Once we get through the song, I push record and it’s set in stone.

Yeah, that is a very punk-like mentality. It feels like a rip it and grip it, in that order, type of thing. You guys don’t use click tracks or metronomes.

Not for these projects.

Has crust punk always been like a big part of your musical interests?

I’m honestly into a lot of different extreme music genres up until the 2000s. That’s where metal loses me on certain genres; with nu metal stuff, it doesn’t vibe with me or whatever. When it comes to anything that’s extreme and punk and metal, there are so many different genres that I really enjoy. So whether you’re talking about Poison Idea or something like that to Autopsy or Suffocation, I like all those different facets of metal and death and what have you. Even Slayer is just different. There are just so many different ways to do stuff. I love all of it. 

Then, you think about Bolt Thrower, and you start getting into the crustier stuff like Deviated Instinct and stuff where it’s like punks playing metal. Things like Discharge and Disrupt. It comes naturally at that point because you’re already tap dancing around all these bands. All of a sudden you’re like, “Well, if I’m going to do punk stuff, I’m going to do metal stuff, the D-beat is right in between. “

Chris’ ideology is really similar too, right? These bands all exist in a similar spot in your head, so to break them up doesn’t make sense.

There is an unfortunate circumstance that can happen with that is that it’s harder to categorize what you’re writing, right? When we’re going from front to back, someone asks to give them the new subgenre that we’re playing. And I don’t really know because we’re not doing anything super unique or different, but at the same time, we’re not modelling our stuff after one type of music. It gets a little slippery when you start having to market yourself because somebody is going to read a word and think, “not another crust band or death metal or whatever.”

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Now that you’ve done three albums with Static Abyss and two with Autopsy, have you felt your perceptions of what you want to do with each band start to diverge more?

I think a big thing with Autopsy is that four people write songs for that band, and I write the least for them except for my big songs. I’m technically still the new guy, with Danny being the second new guy, and he joined on their demo. The other three guys have been in the band forever. It’s funny because, being the new guy, they fully let me come in and write songs. I don’t have to worry too hard about trying to keep Static Abyss and Autopsy separated because my brain’s already going to go somewhere different than what Eric, Chris, or Danny are going to write. Autopsy is already going to sound like Autopsy no matter what, because you have the three original brains still in there.

For me, for Autopsy, my main focus is writing bass lines and trying to fit in with that and keep that going. So I put a little more effort into that, whereas with Static Abyss, I definitely love playing bass for Static Abyss, and it’s one of my favorite things to track, but I do all the guitar parts first, and then I sit down with the bass and, knowing the riffs, I know what to play or whatever. I improvise a lot of the bass lines for that, which in Autopsy I would never do.

I enjoy playing bass for both projects. It’s just, with Autopsy, there’s a little more studio pressure to have your ducks in order. Now I’ve got like two guitar players harmonizing and soloing and doing all this stuff and, all of a sudden, it’s a little easier to find myself out of key somewhere with all that going on. With Static Abyss, sometimes if it’s a little out of key, it’s fine. It’s more punk and it makes it sound a little more weird.

Talking about the differences mentally for you between Autopsy and Static Abyss, what about for Static Abyss and Leather Glove? Do you have very different ideas for those?

It’s funny because I haven’t done a Leather Glove album since 2018. It was before Static Abyss. And because I sing on that too, it’s a whole different process. I actually have an album that I wrote in 2020 that is literally riffs just sitting in Dropbox waiting. Chad and I were talking about recording that, and then the Static Abyss thing came up and it was like, “We’re talking about getting together in January, let’s do Static Abyss instead.” It worked out awesome because we were already planning on jamming, and I don’t have to write lyrics and we’re already on a label. It’s all great. We can just do it and have it come out,  

For Leather Glove, I would say that I still improvise a lot of the riffs. The process is very similar except for Leather Glove, I do have to sing, and I want it to be a little more unnerving and uneasy the whole time where it’s like a tapestry of just complete brutality. Whereas Static Abyss explores all these different musical ideas and concepts, and the tempos vary more.

The Dying Hunt, obviously, it’s still death metal, and even when Chris goes on about, like, spraying brain matter, it’s never to that unnerving degree that Leather Glove would be, right?

In Leather Glove, my vocals are very singular and just always low, and everything is really downtuned. Everything’s in B-standard. The vocals are all deep at all times. Everything sounds uncomfortable, and I think that the vocals affect the music a lot differently, whereas Chris is narrating a story. His vocal style is unique and amazing. I can’t do that personally.  

He goes in with a game plan, but he doesn’t practice any of it. He just throws it out there. And he’s stoked on any suggestions. For me with vocals, it’s a little more of a process because of how I want to phrase certain stuff. It’s a whole different mentality. 

Do you find that you’re the same way with that lyrically?

For decades, I really didn’t take lyrics very seriously. Leather Glove was one of the first projects where I started focusing on lyrics a little more. I was always that guy in the studio that was like “Fuck these words, we have half a studio day to knock this out, scribble some lyrics and, bang it out.” Nowadays, I want the lyrics to paint a picture. So that’s a newer thing for me.

Would you say that all of you in Static Abyss are pretty easygoing?

When it comes to music, yeah, I think so. Especially with Chris and I, I feel like we’re always cranking music out. I have Chris come in and do vocals for other projects that want him. We have that brain where we’re just always creating and spitting stuff out. Both of us being songwriters, it’s super easy. I wouldn’t say that we don’t let random shit slide. If something is bad, we definitely will shut it down. We understand and write with a similar mentality, so there aren’t really too many sticky moments. We haven’t had to trash a song yet, so that’s cool.

I really like how you guys expanded on the psychedelic rock elements on The Dying Hunt. Were you big into that scene of psychedelic rock?

I went through my Turkish psych rock phase and old prog music and all that stuff, but I’ve also had my industrial phase too, bands with noisier guitar playing like Godflesh and Zeni Geva and Big Black. Stuff where the guitars are uneasy at times. I think incorporating all that and using weird time signatures and transferring that over fast parts too, but not being cool. Like Voivod, like weird in a different way. 

That’s such a good way to put it. “We want to do this, but not in a way that sounds sick.”

Yeah, it’s not sick. It’s no Piggy or whatever. I’m my own thing. But I like that mentality of, what would an old-school industrial guitar player do over this D-beat riff? That’s definitely in the proggy stuff. I feel like everyone reading this listens to like 10 different genres of music all the time. So I think everyone feels the same.

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The Dying Hunt is available now via Peaceville Records.

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High fantasy invades the land of country music.

Sometimes a fresh start begins with reaching for something outside of one’s own neighborhood, or even one’s own country, in the case of Nashville, Tennessee-born symphonic power metal newcomers Valkyrie’s Fire. Though not the first metal act to hail from the same city that gave rise to legends like Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson and the recently departed Dolly Parton, one can’t help but note the uncanny resemblance this sextet’s sound carries to that of nearly every prominent 2^nd wave European band to put an elaborate orchestration behind a blend of Helloween and Blind Guardian influences. Yet when considering the massive, 71-minute-plus extravaganza that this band has unleashed in their debut LP Out Of Darkness, something a bit more nuanced and multifaceted emerges than the onslaught of Rhapsody Of Fire emulators that came streaming out of southern and western Europe a little over two decades ago.

Perhaps the most curious aspect of the arrangement at work behind each of these high octane, melodically rich anthems is just how straightforward it comes off; approximating something a bit closer to a Deep Purple-like instrumentation. Guitarist Joey Grimaldi stands as the lone six-string surgeon of the flock, bringing a surprisingly traditional metallic lead assault more comparable to Ritchie Blackmore and Vivian Campbell to complement the usual assortment of speed metal riffs and neoclassical harmonic progressions.

Recently acquired keyboardist and cellist Salem Belladonna delivers the cinematic factor masterfully and shapes a generally textbook power metal foundation into something quite lofty. The rhythm section, comprised of bassist Dave Hale and drummer Ryan Metroka, comes off as the most typical element at work, playing things mostly straight and allowing the voices at the foreground to soar. The dueling vocal work of Adam Sanders and Betty Floyd is where the mystique factor truly comes into play, as the latter’s boisterous operatic soprano invites comparisons to icons like Sharon Den Adel and Simone Simmons, contrasting brilliantly with Sanders’ more standard tenor.

In storybook fashion, Valkyrie’s Fire ushers in their maiden full-length studio voyage with a gallant instrumental prelude featuring Belladonna’s cello work and recalling the classics of the subgenre that ushered in the current century. Immediately after setting the stage, the first majestic foray arrives in “Evermore”, spearheaded by a riveting neoclassical guitar harmony right out of the Luca Turilli playbook and laying on the early Rhapsody of Fire stylings really thickly.

Subsequent banger entries like the band’s eponymous anthem “Valkyrie’s Fire” and “Skylark” blaze a similarly triumphant musical trail, trading the aforementioned early Italian symphonic power influences for a lighter tone in line with that of Fairyland and Hamka. Even the more radio-friendly entry “Cascade” avoids becoming too grounded despite leaning into more of a mid-paced stride and keeping the melodic hooks sing-along friendly. A more aggressive tone is struck with the riff blitzkrieg “Burning Sky”, throwing some harsher vocal elements into the mix to complement a heavier presentation that flirts heavily with the melodic death territory of Children Of Bodom and Skyfire, but the general power metal tone remains the lynchpin.

As this extended auditory journey progresses, a more progressive element takes root and finds this band membership’s classical training becoming more pronounced. The first hints of this come with the more rhythmically nuanced and mixed up “Shattered”, which functions as more of a quasi-ballad in comparison to the first half of the album and really plays up Belladonna’s cello and piano chops, to speak nothing of Floyd’s expansive vocal chops.

The extended power ballad “I See The Angels Fly” treads a similar stylistic path at an even slower tempo, and also sees Grimaldi’s old-school blues, rock, and metal tendencies paraded out over a brilliantly executed series of guitar solos. The mixed-meter romp “Labyrinth” goes heavy on the spacey synthesizers and odd time riffs and drum work, essentially blurring the lines between Nightwish and Dream Theater. “Nocturne” stands as the only overt nod back to the fast-paced power metal thunder of this album’s earlier entries, but also throws plenty of stylistic twists and turns before calling it a day. A trio of extended epics round out the final moments of this towering affair, and between the folk-infused cinematic excursion “Bone And Thorn”, the darker progressive showcase “Dark Moon” and the grueling 10 minute final hurrah “I Will Rise Again”, this Nashville upstart successfully blurs the line between ambitious songwriting and showing off without overdoing it.

Contrary to popular opinion, the American metal scene remains alive and well, even if it’s a bit spread out and still largely underground compared to the cultural hegemony of pop and country. For their part, Valkyrie’s Fire presents an extremely potent and effective alternative to the latter genre that has typified their hometown for the better part of a century, not to mention a quality of sound that can stand toe to toe with European and American staples like Kamelot, Delain, Epica, Rhapsody of Fire, and Powerwolf.

The only real Persian Flaw to exist in this magic carpet ride of fantasy-oriented power metal with a cinematic edge is that there’s so much material contained within that it becomes overwhelming to all but the most seasoned fans of the subgenre. They are definitely a band to watch as the latter half of the 2020s progresses, and hopefully a sign of a coming renaissance of power metal on the west of the Atlantic.

Release Date: September 18, 2026
Record Label: Eclipse Records
Genre: Symphonic Power Metal

Musicians:

• Dave Hale / Bass
• Ryan Metroka / Drums
• Joey Grimaldi / Guitars
• Adam Sanders / Vocals
• Bettie Floyd / Vocals
• Salem Belladonna / Keyboards, Cello, and Vocals

Out Of Darkness Tracklist:

1. In Spirit, In Shadow
2. Evermore
3. Valkyrie’s Fire
4. Cascade
5. Burning Sky (Ft. Mikael Sehlin)
6. Shattered
7. I See the Angels Fly
8. Skylark
9. Labyrinth
10. Bone and Thorn
11. Dark Moon
12. Nocturne
13. I Will Rise Again

Order the album here.

The post VALKYRIE’S FIRE – Out Of Darkness (Album Review) appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

VANA has shared another captivating single, continuing her current winning streak in visceral style.

The track is titled ‘Bleeding Heart’ and follows the arrival of previous singles ‘Pray’ and ‘In Your Name’.

Continuing the gradual build of VANA’s expansive cinematic universe, the haunting new track whisks you away to a whole other dimension. Creating a rich soundscape and drawing you in deeper with every note, the ambitious music video also furthers the lore surrounding this project, adding to the mystery surrounding her forthcoming debut album.

Speaking on what ‘Bleeding Heart’ means to her, VANA shared:

“The song began with the flower itself, ‘Bleeding Heart’ or ‘Lamprocapnos spectabilis’. This song showcases how feelings grow like flowers do; beautiful but destined to wither. Perhaps that’s pessimistic, but flowers blossom just to die in winter, and they do it every year. I think there’s a sort of beauty in that. This song and video further explores a world of oppression and betrayal. Adah can’t hold us both. Hail Mara.”

Having completed her first headline run of the US earlier this year, VANA still has a handful of stateside shows lined up for the remainder of 2026, including Louder Than Life, Riot Fest, Vans Warped Tour Orlando and a slot on the returning Taste Of Chaos tour.

The post VANA Drops Visceral New Track ‘Bleeding Heart’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

News from the band Dim Gray, who released the brilliant album ‘Shards’ last year.

For the past four years, Dim Gray has consisted of five band members. Drummer Tom Ian Klungland has been a band member since the very beginning of Dim Gray, and together with bassist Kristian Kvaksrud and multi-instrumentalist Milad Amouzegar (who both joined in 2022), he has helped shape the band into what it is today.  Tom Ian, Kristian and Milad have recently moved on from Dim Gray, leaving Oskar Holldorff and Håkon Høiberg as the remaining members.

“We have shared unforgettable experiences, created music we’re incredibly proud of, and played lots of shows together. We are deeply grateful to each of them for their dedication, musicianship, amazing recordings, live performances, and everything else they have brought to the band over the years. They all leave Dim Gray as our friends and with our very best wishes for the future.

As we move forward, Dim Gray will continue as a duo.

While this marks the end of one chapter, it is also the beginning of another.

Today we launch a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise funds to record and release what will be our fourth studio album. We’ve written loads of new songs that we are extremely excited about, and we think the record will take us in a very interesting direction. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dimgray/dim-gray-the-fourth-studio-album

The increased relative costs for just the two of us making a record means we’re reliant on financial support to make the album a reality. On the Kickstarter, you can purchase the album in advance, get exclusive access to stems and demo versions, get your name in the liner notes and have the opportunity to be inside and outside the studio with us, among many other things. Head to the website to see everything we offer.

Stay tuned for a new song very soon.”

– Oskar Holldorff and Håkon Høiberg

The post Dim Gray to continue as duo – Launch Kickstarter campaign to fund new album appeared first on The Prog Report.

Posted on September 18th 2026, 1:23pm

Imminence have revealed that they have made a new film to sit alongside their upcoming album ‘Axis Mundi’.

With the album set to arrive on October 02, a series of theatrical screenings of the film will take place on September 29 in the US and October 01 across the UK, Europe and Australia.

Released in collaboration with Sumerian Pictures, the ‘Axis Mundi’ film will invite fans inside the album’s complete world, with the one-night-only screenings set to feature tracks from the album, including unheard music and never-before-seen visuals that bring the story to its conclusion.

Created in parallel to form two parts of the same world, the album and film are intended to be experienced together.

Teaming up with longtime visual collaborator and album artist Jakob Koc to establish the world and its mythology, before bringing in scriptwriter Juan Felipe Zul and director Pavel Trebukhin to turn it into a fully realised film, this is Imminence on a whole new level to how you’ve seen them before.

Speaking on the announcement, guitarist Harald Barrett has shared:

“Someone told us: ‘You’re such a cinematic band, you should take it to the next step and make a movie.’ You can’t just say that to a band like IMMINENCE.“

Below you can find a list of screenings that have already been confirmed, with more information available here.

September 29 – US

TEMPE, AZ: Harkins Tempe Marketplace
DALLAS, TX: SMG Spring Valley
ATLANTA, GA: SMG North Point

October 01 – UK / Europe / Australia

LONDON: VUE West End
MANCHESTER: Flix Screening Den
AMSTERDAM: Melkweg
SYDNEY: Dendy Newtown
MELBOURNE: Cinema Nova
BRISBANE: Dendy Coorparoo

The post Imminence Announce Details Of New ‘Axis Mundi’ Film appeared first on Rock Sound.

Google listed the Piano Man as having passed on Sept. 17 – but his publicist confirms he’s still alive. Continue reading…