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In my hitherto short stint of indefinite indentured servitude in the hall, I’ve frequently noted the importance of albums with narrative. In my younger days, I was a simp for albums with as many tracks as I could find. Deluxe editions? Yes please. Reissues, demos, covers, unreleased bonus cuts? Heck yeah, inject that right into my veins. It’s only as the responsibilities of adulthood overtook casual listening time that I began to appreciate albums with brevity, direction, and a distinct sense of a complete, full-bodied work. Well, everybody buckle in, because somewhere in the ether a big middle finger on a monkey’s paw has curled in my direction, by way of Italy’s Dwellnought, presenting their debut album Monolith of Ephemerality. Oh, we will go on a journey together, alright, but will there be anything left worth recounting of this Monolith on our return?

Despite an album title seemingly indebted to the more thesaurus-riddled branches of slam, Dwellnought actually traffic in a brand of feedback-drenched blackened doom. Atmospheric theatrics are the name of the game, with an album that seeks to deprive the listener of anything approaching light, optimism, or major keys. Rumbling feedback collapses into slow bpm plods with sustained trem-chords filling in the negative spaces in time for single cymbal/bass drum hits before eventually metamorphosing into an earthquake shattering riff while vocalist S bellows and wails from just beyond the mix. The doom takes the biggest prevalence as Monolith of Ephemerality rarely exceeds a brisk trot in pace, with any spurts of speed eventually devolving back into exhausted continuations.

Such commitment to crippling atmosphere is admirable, but it comes at the expense of almost everything else. Dwellnought have attempted an unusual formula, channeling the claustrophobia of Teitanblood in production but channeled through an almost Bell Witch chord pacing with occasional flourishes of Ossuary crust-heaving. The formula finds its peak at the beginning, with long-form intro “Slumbering Through the Dream of Impermanence” flowing seamlessly into massive 17-minute barnburner “The Final Desire is Unbeing.” Here is the Dwellnought recipe at its most refined. The otherwise needlessly lengthy intro is atmospheric and mood-setting, with the oscillation of tempo and tone in its follow-up masterfully executed. Within this lengthy run comes segments heavily indebted to drum-machine era Blut Aus Nord gelling into a barbaric Cough waltz with effortlessness. This 20-minute kickoff shows real promise, evoking the abyss with texture as much as color, or lack thereof.

If only the rest of the album followed suit. The quality dip in the back three-fifths represents not a slope as much as a sudden drop-off where memorable songwriting is sacrificed utterly at the altar of mood. The dedication to the mood is palpable, as not one note approaches anything optimistic or upbeat, but in their avoidance of such things, Dwellnought also sidestep memorability or impact. “Crystalized Flesh Identities Condensed into Wombs of Matter” can’t make up its mind whether it wants to be fast or slow and has tempo changes marked more by indecision than deliberate arrangement. Both this and “Ill Whispers” frequently rely on chords ringing out via prolonged strum with minimalized drumbeats, but the notes are mixed so homogenously I struggle to tell if there are actual riffs or if Dwellnought are riding atonality into oblivion. The opening to both tracks borders on self-plagiarism in their similarity, and no single moment of menace comes close to matching the peak of the preceding songs. Additionally, Monolith of Ephemerality ends on a 6-minute assault of nothing but static and a grumbly voice speaking out of the void, which is wild since that’s exactly how “Crystalized Flesh…” ends as well. An attempt at a narrative is clear, and yet this climax is far from earned, given the drought of memorable set pieces to justify such a noise-rooted outro.

And yet, I keep coming back to those first twenty minutes. It takes balls the size of a bird of a plane of ClarkKent¹ to open up your already longform album with your highest quality riffs. Had these two songs made up all of Monolith of Ephemerality as a single-track ep (not dissimilar to Suffering Hour’s Dwell, for example), this would make an excellent addition to the end-of-the-year EP roundups. There’s a genuine seed of promise in how Dwellnought have put their best foot forward, but the collapse in quality as the album continues cannot be denied. The mix is massive, the tone dark, the atmosphere oppressive, and the influences are a recipe for a good time. But somewhere along the way, Dwellnought stared so hard into the abyss that eventually even the abyss stopped staring back. All atmosphere and very little riffage, this album is an excellent reminder to be careful what we wish for.

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Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Caligari Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026

The post Dwellnought – Monolith of Ephemerality Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

A pair of dates in Nashville and Raleigh have just been unveiled.

The post Sleeping With Sirens Reveal New Spring Headlining Shows appeared first on Theprp.com.

Hear a previously unreleased version of "Who Do You Love" from the upcoming collection. Continue reading…

They're scheduled to perform more than 90 shows this year. Continue reading…

Heavy metal stalwarts Armored Saint are geared up to release their ninth studio album Emotion Factory Reset on May 22 via Metal Blade Records. As if that wasn’t enough reason to get hyped, they dropped the new album’s first single — a ripper titled “Close To The Bone”.

Produced by bassist Joey Vera and mixed by Jay Ruston, the album sees the 40+ year old band soar to new heights as a collective. Vera said that sort of thing was very deliberate this time around.

“Each Armored Saint record, to me, is like a new skin for the band, a different chapter. I don’t think we’ve ever repeated ourselves. Every album has been pretty different from the previous one, a snapshot in time. In 2026, Emotion Factory Reset is where our heads are at.”

Written and recorded with a very collaborative mindset within the band, the title Emotion Factory Reset stems from a phrase from guitarist Phil Sandoval.

“To me, ‘Emotion Factory Reset’ means to reset yourself back to clarity. Take a pause and breathe before you respond or react. You can’t control outside events, but you can control your mind. How you interpret things is what hurts you, not the event itself.”

As for the single itself, Vera said it was “inspired by my love and appreciation for metal that was coming out around the time of the NWOBHM, which is right when Armored Saint was formed. As always, I try to reimagine my early influences by giving them a slight modern twist.”

Meanwhile, frontman John Bush explained that the lead single and album opener “Close To The Bone” showcases the band’s raw energy while maintaining a more modern feel overall.

“The first track on the record sounds like vintage Armored Saint. Yet vintage that comes out in 2026! How did we do that? The title of the record, Emotion Factory Reset appears as the first line of the bridge. Killer riffs, awesome rhythms and attacking vocals gets this train rolling. The title implies the human response to withdraw and keep things to yourself instead of being confrontational; Something I believe we all struggle with as humans. Do you just say, ‘aww, whatever man,’ or do you say, ‘hey, fuck you!’ Depends on the moment I guess.”

And now just like that, Emotion Factory Reset is barreling toward its release on May 22 via Metal Blade Records. You can ensure you get a copy by preordering today. The band also has some live shows coming up around the world, so be sure to check out the full list of dates and get your tickets today.

ARMORED SAINT Live:

4/19/2026 Rainbow Bar & Grill – West Hollywood, CA w/ L.A. Guns, Pentagram, Alien Ant Farm, Boy Hits Car
5/17/2026 San Luis Metal Fest – San Luis Potosí, MX
5/22/2026 Rock Hard Festival – Gelsenkirchen, DE
6/06/2026 Milwaukee Metalfest @ The Rave/Eagles Club – Milwaukee, WI
7/30/2026 Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, DK w/ Metal Church
7/31/2026 Skogsrojet Festival – Rejmyre, SE
8/01/2026 Pustervik – Gothenburg, SE w/ Testament, Metal Church
8/02/2026 Mejeriet – Lund, SE w/ Testament, Metal Church
8/05/2026 Brutal Assault – Jaroměř, CZ
8/07/2026 Alcatraz Festival – Dessel, BE
8/08/2026 Poppodium Boerderij – Zoetermeer, NL *ARMORED SAINT headlining show
8/09/2026 Keep It True Legions – Geiselwind, DE
8/11/2026 Progresja – Warsaw, PL w/ Savatage, Nevermore
8/12/2026 Collosseum – Kosice, SK w/ Vio-Lence
8/13/2026 Klub Studio – Krakow, PL w/ Testament, Metal Church
8/29/2026 Stonedead Festival – Newark, UK

The post Armored Saint Announce New Album ‘Emotion Factory Reset’, “Close To The Bone” Out Now appeared first on MetalSucks.

Sleeping Giant has just released The Beauty of Obliteration, a six-track live recording. I spoke with Árni Björn Björnsson (guitars) about the approach behind the record, their songwriting process, and the themes shaping their sound.

You’ve just unleashed The Beauty of Obliteration – six tracks culled and refined from your catalog into a single statement of intent, recorded live as a unit in Stúdíó Paradís. Did the idea of capturing the band as a live force in the room change anything about how you approached these songs?
ÁB: No, we aim to have as little of the parlor tricks between the studio, the rehearsal room and live, meaning we can absolutely replicate what you hear on the album once you hear us live.

The opening track Conqueror hits hard and even gave the album its title. Did that track set the tone for how the rest of the record came together? When you were arranging this track, was there a moment where the song felt bigger than just the music, like a theme emerging that demanded the rest of the record be shaped around it?
ÁB: Perhaps inadvertently – it’s usually been the song we open with, which surely influenced the decision to have it coming first. The heavy, unsettling atmosphere that Conqueror begins with definitely does set the tone for the dystopian, misanthropic soundscape of Sleeping Giant, but yeah, the decision wasn’t a strategic masterplan.

Mobilizer of Evil already has a video out and it’s a relentless burst of groove-driven heaviness. In the room, when that riff first locked in with drums, did you feel it had something almost unstoppable about it? How did that energy push the rest of the tracking?
ÁB: Yeah, definitely, and not just in the room – from day one, Mobilizer has pretty much taken that relentless momentum with it. The lyrical matter of Mobilizer also helps push the grittiness of it all the way and hasn’t stopped being relevant since it was first crafted about 15 years ago.

A lot of the lyrics, from The Monk to Abysmal Flame, mix mythic imagery with raw, almost grotesque scenes. Were the words written alongside the riffs, or did the music actually hint at its own storytelling as you were recording?
ÁB: I think it usually doesn’t start off in a tangent, the initial process is all over the place but usually goes a little like this; “have zillion riffs, arrange the riffs, arrange the lyrics” and we all have our input on the process until we’re all content with the direction of it. There’s also way more fun to write about something grotesque!

Speaking of The Monk, its gritty, relentless sludgy grooves contrast sharply with some of the album’s slower doom parts. Did you ever find yourselves letting a really heavy groove take over a song, almost beyond your control?
ÁB: Inevitably it does happen up to a point, sometimes the convergence of the guitar and drums takes on a life of its own when working on it. We however try to be as cohesive as possible without being too repetitive.
Slay the King of Hell rides this huge stoner-doom riff that almost feels like a journey. From a playing standpoint, was there any mechanics or arranging decision that made you keep that one so long and rolling?
ÁB: Like most songs on the album, this initially is a pretty old work and we first worked on it with our first drummer, Magnús, when Sleeping Giant existed as a four-piece. Slay was initially more of a half-time stoner/doom track before Ási took to harshening the groove to the best of his abilities and help make it the relentless riff-fest that it is today.

On the other end of the spectrum, the shorter Venom Ripper, Gorgon Blaster is a blast of old-school thrashing intensity. What do you think made that one stick as such a focused, short-and-punchy track on a record that otherwise favors sprawling heaviness?
ÁB: It would probably do it a bit of a disservice to call it a joke track, but when it was written, it was intent to make a fun, sort-of 80s thrash/NWOBHM-style track with lyrics very heavily on the bad-guy-hail-satan-kill-’em-all spectrum – we have a lot of fun playing it and it‘s jam packed with metal clichés.

The closer, Abysmal Flame, is the longest track here and has become kind of a signature piece live and in the recording. Was that extended form something you intended from the start, or did it grow naturally as you recorded?
ÁB: It’s the oldest song we still play so it’s hard to recall the exact thought process that went into it but I do think we set up to make it a bit of an epic. The song and lyrics play well together here, with the lyrics being rooted in the Poetic Edda part about Ragnarök. The progression of all the riffs blends together really nicely with the lyrics, and they end in a really doom-y manner once the old norse prophecy of everything ending comes to fruition.

Reviews and listeners have noted that while your sound has clear stoner and doom roots, there’s also a sludgy, almost death-edge to the vocals and aggression. Did you ever feel pulled between leaning heavier into doom versus pushing throw-heavy extremity?
ÁB: I can’t really speak on the vocal techniques being utilized for the tracks but musically, we’re all over the place and since we’re influenced by various bands and styles it tends to come across that way. Personally, I think the straight-forward guttural and growly vocals add a good cohesion to the variety of underlying riffs.

The album encompasses such massive grooves and thick, memorable riffs that some reviewers compare you to classic heavyweights but also newer giants of heavy psych. Did making this debut feel like defining your own lane before anything else?
ÁB: Not as a clear mission statement but perhaps unintentionally. When we’re working on music we definitely hear what riffs and grooves make the cut pretty quickly. Comparisons can be helpful but sometimes feel like you‘re being boxed in a bit, we‘ve always tried to make Sleeping Giant tracks first and foremost.

Iceland’s scene has a reputation for extreme music – from black metal to massive doom and sludge. How does your home turf creep into the tonality, pacing, and atmosphere of what you do here?
ÁB: I think it‘s bound to happen, there‘s a lot of sombre melancholy in a lot of artists even though they‘re not on the extreme-metal end of the spectrum. Collectively, we as a nation are bound to be somewhat affected by harsh winters with no sunlight as well as the proximity with nature and its forces, and it in turn shapes how we see the world.

With The Beauty of Obliteration, you’ve dovetailed riffs that are sinister and unforgettable with grooves that feel like they could melt faces or floors. Was there ever a moment in the studio where you unexpectedly found a tone or texture that redefined a track?
ÁB: When we entered the studio we had the tracks pretty much nailed, in the sense of what we wanted to do. Perhaps we rushed a bit in that sense, although we‘re all happy with the outcome. But the magic you‘re asking about here is usually something that happens when rehearsing.

This record blends heavy genres, doom, stoner, sludge, death, even a bit of thrash, yet it comes off cohesive rather than confused. Were there any particular arrangement battles where you had to decide whether to keep a part big and sprawling, or trim it to the point?
ÁB: Yeah definitely, it’s rare that I or someone else comes in with a song idea that doesn’t go through some cutting and polishing before coming together. Normally we can tell quickly if something feels off, and it’s a joint effort to arrange it.

The title The Beauty of Obliteration comes from a lyric deep within Conqueror. On a creative level, did that line act as a guiding principle for the record, or was it more of a retrospective choice once the heaviness locked in?
ÁB: We didn’t have any concrete title in mind when we finished recording, so it was a happy accident, really, that occurred to us after the fact. But, speaking for myself, I absolutely think it defines what we’re all about and the recurring theme of the songs.

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Filmed in Paris, France this past January.

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Armored .

The post Armored Saint unleash video for new single “Close To The Bone” from upcoming studio album first appeared on Sleaze Roxx.

Rock has a way of marking time with moments you can’t quite shake, and one classic rock band is back with a full slate of tour dates.

The post Classic Rock Legends Announce Over 90 Shows for 50th Anniversary Tour appeared first on Audio Ink Radio.

Featuring members of ten56., Extortionist, Fox Lake, Heavy/Hitter and more.

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