New Belgian post-black metal outfit Achryma are being a little cagey about their lineup, offering only that the quartet is, “a new collective, featuring members from several established acts within the European metal scene.” (If you really want to know the details Metal Archives will sort you out.) The mysterious quartet released its debut EP, Hollowlight, back in March and we’re premiering a video of the title track. It was shot in black and white while the band was in the studio and consists mostly of tight shots of the musicians playing their instruments and guitarist/vocalist J.H. growling/screaming. The track is a morose, moody slow-builder that eventually picks up steam from its melodic first couple of minutes to blossom into a full-on raging sonic black metal storm.
The Hollowlight EP was produced by Achryma and was recorded, mixed and mastered at CR Studio, Belgium. It’s available digitally here.
The band described its new single as such:
“Born from personal experiences of loss, grief, and pain, ‘Hollowlight’ serves as both a process of healing and a sonic catharsis. It is a harrowing journey defined by piercing riffs, immersive atmospheres, and raw emotional outbursts.”
Why Vampires Never Die: The Eternal Allure of the Undead
A figure stands at the edge of the night, untouched by time, untouched by death. The vampire is not just a monster—it is a mirror. For centuries, humanity has returned to this dark archetype, not out of fear alone but out of fascination. Why do vampires never die in our imagination? The answer lies in something deeper than folklore: beauty, immortality, desire, and control.
The Seduction of Immortality
Death is the one certainty we cannot escape, and that is precisely why the vampire captivates us. It represents the forbidden dream of eternal life. While myths across cultures explore immortality, the vampire adds a crucial twist—it comes at a cost. Eternal life demands sacrifice, isolation, and the slow erosion of humanity.
This tension creates a powerful psychological pull. We are drawn to the idea of living forever, yet we understand instinctively that such a gift would transform us into something unrecognizable. The vampire becomes the embodiment of that contradiction.
Beauty, Power, and Dangerous Desire
Unlike other monsters, vampires are rarely grotesque. They are elegant, magnetic, and often impossibly beautiful. This is not accidental. The vampire myth evolved to merge fear with attraction, turning danger into something seductive.
There is always a moment in every vampire story where the victim does not resist—but hesitates. That hesitation is the key. Vampires symbolize desire that overrides logic, a pull toward something we know is dangerous but cannot reject. This duality is what keeps the archetype alive in modern culture.
Control, Predation, and the Fear of Losing the Self
At its core, the vampire myth is about control. The creature dominates others, feeds on them, and exists outside moral boundaries. Yet, paradoxically, many vampire stories focus on the struggle to retain control over oneself.
This reflects a deeply human fear—the fear of becoming something we cannot recognize. Addiction, obsession, and unchecked desire all echo through vampire narratives. The monster is not just external; it lives within.
From Folklore to Gothic Icons
The earliest vampire legends were far less romantic. They emerged from fear of disease, death, and the unknown. Over time, literature transformed the creature into a symbol of gothic elegance. Writers turned horror into poetry, shaping the vampire into a cultural icon.
Today, the vampire exists everywhere in gothic culture—from cinema to music to fashion. Each generation reshapes it, but the core remains unchanged: a being that stands between life and death, desire and destruction.
Why the Vampire Will Never Disappear
Trends come and go, but the vampire endures because it reflects something permanent in human nature. We are fascinated by power, haunted by mortality, and drawn to the unknown. The vampire combines all these elements into a single, unforgettable figure.
As long as humans question death and crave more than one lifetime, the vampire will remain. Not just as a story—but as a symbol of everything we fear, and everything we secretly desire.
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Immortality is not a gift—it is a question with no answer.
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Few phrases have ever accentuated the passage of time like “Chance The Rapper released Coloring Book 10 years ago today.” But it’s true: Chance The Rapper released Coloring Book 10 years ago today. A decade is a long time.
Watch/stream YOTH IRIA’s “Harut, Government, Fallen” HERE
Hellenic black metal outfit YOTH IRIA presents their new video for “Harut, Government, Fallen.” The track appears on the band’s stellar third album, Gone With The Devil, out now on Metal Blade Records.
Comments bassist Jim Mutilator, “My path into occultism began in the late ’80s, shaped by revelations from my own demonic frequencies. This track is a tool for meditation and daily work with the demonic current. Real magic never breaks another’s free will – it leads to your own freedom and rebirth. Speak the words, visualize health and fearlessness, and change will begin.”
Watch YOTH IRIA‘s video for “Harut, Government, Fallen” HERE.
Watch the band’s previously released video for “The Blind Eye Of Antichrist” HERE and “Blessed Be He Who Enters” HERE.
YOTH IRIA‘s Gone With The Devil is available on CD (jewel case – US / digipak – EU) and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
Red Electric Blue Melt (US)
180g Black (EU)
Oxblood Black Merged (EU – Ltd. 500)
Oxblood Blue Silver Merged (EU – Ltd. 250)
Gold Black Splatter (EU – Ltd. 250)
“Gone With The Devil… both transcends scene boundaries and defines them anew. Big songs, big choruses (and choirs), big riffs and ambition all break from the band’s blackened cocoon, giving way to a much bigger, broader sound — deathly verses, clean choruses, melodic grandiosity…” – Decibel Magazine
“It is melodically bombastic, epically narrative. and goth-doomily dramatic.” – Sweden Rock Mag
“The music brings a compelling mix of aggression, melody, and grandiose worldbuilding into existence. It carries an epic streak and an inherent power, as well as atmosphere that’s thick and generously built.” – Wonderbox Metal
“Every ounce of Gone With The Devil sounds like a spirited battle against oppressive structures (be it political, societal, artistic), and Hellenic force YOTH IRIA are holding aloft the torches for the march… The music… gives a sense of personal power and ambition reminding that your heart is alive, as is your mind, and there is no reason to give up for anyone or anything.” – Meat Mead Metal, Pick of the Week
“…highly addictive.” – Deaf Forever
“Gone With The Devil is a Hellenic black metal feast – an album that seizes me with its impressive melodies, occult atmosphere, sonic power, and depth, refusing to let go. Fans should absolutely take a closer look at YOTH IRIA – an unexpectedly fabulous band.” – Break Out Germany
“Within the music, one hears and feels sentiments of intense rebellion, sincere adoration for the Fallen Angel, surges of pure heroism (‘The End Of The Known Civilization’), and sweeping melodies that often sound like a sonic reflection of a true Greek tragedy…” – Rock Tribune Benelux
“In terms of the landmark album that YOTH IRIA were seeking, it is reasonable to say that they have achieved it.” – Metal Talk
Photo by Alex Haritakis
ABOUT THE BAND: YOTH IRIA‘s trajectory has been on a steep ascent since crafty 2021 debut As The Flame Withers and 2024′s hypnotic Blazing Inferno, but there has audibly been a concerted determination to develop and expand in sinister new directions. “The creative workflow was similar to Blazing Inferno, yet we deliberately pushed ourselves to bring new elements into our music. We kept the immediacy of Blazing Inferno, the psychedelia of As The Flame Withers, and all the characteristics people expect from Hellenic black metal, while adding fresh sounds and atmospheres never before heard from YOTH IRIA.”
Predominantly stately tempos ensure the dark riffs, memorable melodies and flamboyant leads have space to breathe their fire, so that the blastbeats, when they come, devastate even more utterly. Flecks of Mediterranean folk and gothic cadences further expand the band’s sonic palate, while there are countless melodies so atavistically simple and primally satisfying they could be a thousand years old.
There’s a thrilling balance of ancient and modern, good and evil, harmony and dissonance on Gone With The Devil advancing YOTH IRIA as a hungry contender for extreme metal’s big leagues – an ever-improving unit with a glorious future. Appropriately, however, Gone With The Devil is best summed up with a line already coined by the band to describe their ongoing body of work: “Every note tells a story of rebirth, tradition, and the relentless pursuit of musical transcendence.”
The daemonic avatar YOTH IRIA was first explicitly summoned on Rotting Christ‘s legendary debut Thy Mighty Contract in 1993. Bassist/lyricist Jim Mutilator formed that band as Black Church in 1984, before also becoming a founding member of cult Athenian BM heroes Varathron for their first five years. Renewing the otherworldly atmospheres and occult ravishment for a new era, YOTH IRIA functions almost as the third panel in an apocalyptic triptych of Hellenic black metal excellence.
YOTH IRIA:
HE – vocals
Jim Mutilator – bass
Nikolas Perlepe – guitar
Naberius – guitar
Bill “Vongaar” Stavrianidis – drums
(written by Islander) We heartily welcome the return of Connecticut-based Xenosis, who will have their fifth album Hermetic Transmutation released by Transcending Obscurity Records on June 5th. We also enjoy imagining the looks on people’s faces when they get their brains scrambled by the music. Brain-scrambling will likely occur even among listeners who got their […]
Texan five-banger Frozen Soul crept into my promo pile back in 2021 with their glacially imposing Crypt of Ice. Unfortunately, I missed covering the improved follow-up Glacial Domination properly, relegating it to a Filter blurb instead. But that’s no excuse for Century Media to withhold No Place of Warmth from me when it was time. No matter, because Frozen Soul deserve a full-bodied tongue bath from this hot-blooded sponge, and I intend to give it with great relish.
The Frozen Soul formula carries over into No Place of Warmth, but evolves incrementally just as Glacial Domination did three years prior. As these homo glaciali continue their ascent into a full upright stance, their Bolt Thrower-meets-Sanguisugabogg-meets-Rotpit riff orgy enters a new realm of ferocity, carrying a murderous momentum and relentless grooves across a dick-skin-tight 35 minutes. Vocalist Chad Green puts down a vicious performance of caveman roars, rancid rasps, and infectious barks. Matt Dennard pounds the mammoth skins with a single-minded bludgeoning that oozes blood, pus, and attitude. Bassist Samantha Mobley, always rumbling beneath these well-tread tundras, anchors the affair in muscular heft and scalpel precision (though the unforgiving compression in the mix makes her great work difficult to make out in many listening environments). Most importantly, however, are guitarists Chris Bonner’s and Michael Munday’s unflappable riffs and infectious hooks. Familiar perhaps to a fault but nonetheless brutally effective, Frozen Soul’s guitar work crests a summit on No Place of Warmth, generating heaps of energy with minimal tooling and using it to slam skulls into each other with devastating impact.
What more could you ask for in a stripped-down, meat-and-potatoes death metal record? A better mix, sure, but not much else. “Invoke War (ft. Machine Head)” brings Bolt Thrower aggression, anvils, and icepicks to my cranium with cold prejudice, leaving me a drooling mess whose only joy in life demands MOAR RIFFS. Thankfully, the slamtastic “Absolute Zero,” “Dreadnought (ft. Sanguisugabogg),” and “Skinned by the Wind,” along with mid-paced stompers “Chaos Will Reign,” “DEATHWEAVER,” and “Frost Forged” shoot overdoses of riff-laced adrenaline directly into my veins, reducing me to animalistic mindlessness. As that progresses, the urge to zoom becomes a new inconvenience in daily life, but Frozen Soul prepared for that. Rippers “No Place of Warmth (ft. Gerard Way),” “Eyes of Despair,” “Ethereal Dreams,” and “Killin Time (Until It’s Time to Kill)” roar and rage through flesh and bone with sleazy grooves that fit right at home at any local bar brawl, giving my overflowing energy reserves an outlet through fist and boot.
You might notice a rare occurrence in the preceding paragraph: I highlighted every song on No Place of Warmth to extol their virtues. This was no accident, as every track has something memorable and engaging to take away, but No Place of Warmth isn’t perfect. As mentioned earlier, No Place of Warmth is crushed pretty heavily. Consequently, Samantha’s bass struggles for audibility—despite offering ample textural heft—behind chunky guitars and ferocious roars. With a little less compression and a few tweaks to instrumental positioning, her input would be heard more fully and thereby make even greater impact. Additionally, Matt Dennard’s bass kick feels a bit plastic, creating a bit of tactile unpleasantness during initial spins. In other areas, the album’s various guest spots don’t stand out as distinctly as a guest spot should. It took a few spins to nail down Machine Head’s contributions to “Invoke War,” especially, and Gerard Way’s unexpected blackened rasps deserve greater presence, too. I still can’t confidently pick out Sanguisugabogg in “Dreadnought,” though it is a killer tune. As a criticism, this mostly points to a thoughtfulness in features that Frozen Soul neglected, but that they might easily rectify with more intentional writing that gives those features more significance and definition going forward.
All told, No Place of Warmth is more than just rock-solid Bolt Thrower worship. It is a consistently entertaining record tailor-made to ensure gains in the gym, incite massive mosh pits in any given venue, and cause spinal trauma to any receptive passers-by. It’s nothing new, and nothing groundbreaking, but its tectonic grooves and boundless vitality crack the crust regardless. Should you be in need of more quality death metal this year—and we all know you can never have too much—No Place of Warmth is a worthy part of a balanced breakfast rotation.
Cyber alt-rock swagger meets gothic Metalcore as Smash Into Pieces headline London’s The Electric Ballroom with support from Enemy Inside and Dark Divine. It is a good thing The Electric Ballroom is in Camden, because the desire to raid Cyberdog’s rails becomes an urgent need by the time Smash Into Pieces have had their way. And good luck singing anything that was not on tonight’s setlist for at least a week.
Dark Divine – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Dark Divine
“Let’s have some fucking fun,” roars Dark Divine’s vocalist Anthony Martinez, before launching into a performance that’s chock full of screaming earworms and untethered gothic obsession. And there’s nothing like a band sporting futuristic Halloween outfits, haunting black makeup and white contact lenses to ignite the excitement of a crowd of alternative kids on a Wednesday evening.
Add in the announcement that Dark Divine have been collaborating with Motionless In White on a song, Blood Rave, from the Metalcore kings’ upcoming album, Decades, and no wonder some particularly excited fans sounded like they are about to climax amid all the screaming.
Dark Divine – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Alternating between pig squeals that give Will Ramos of Lorna Shore a run for his money, guttural roars that shake the very ground beneath your feet and utterly entrancing cleans, Anthony’s vocal range is…beautiful. As are the drum blasts that enunciate every impassioned “blegh” and the darkened futuristic synths that weave atmosphere into every crevice.
This is a band that can be sang along to and raved to, whether you have listened to Dark Divine before or not, so fun and instantly catchy is every note of their setlist.
Dark Divine – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
After untangling himself from the mic wires, much to the giggling amusement of the crowd, Anthony announces it’s time for some crowd participation.
“When I say ‘it’s a long way to hell’ you’re gonna say…” the crowd interrupts: “YOU BETTER START DIGGING!” Dark Divine had better start digging a grave for their support band selves, because these Floridians are needed by headline slots, the world over.
Dark Divine – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Enemy Inside
A quick crowd karaoke round of Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer keeps spirits spinning, until the huge symbol in the centre of the stage begins flashing white – Enemy Inside are going to appear any minute, and the anticipation sizzles.
Enemy Inside – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Unfortunately, it’s probably one of the most exciting moments of their set, as, despite having more cool outfits and flashy production, some technically great vocals from Nastassja Giulia and a couple of songs that verge on being catchy, their performance lacks any real spark or charisma.
However, their newest single, R.I.P., hits shiveringly hard. Nastassja reaches the impassioned levels of ex-Battle Beast vocalist Noora Louhimo in her power choruses and maniacal, harsh vocals, which add a much-welcome, evil depth. More of this, please.
The Enemy Inside – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
A mini pit gets going, proving that not the entire crowd has zombified, and the band’s energy definitely ramps up a notch. They finish with Phoenix, whose unpredictably tasty guitar solo helps leave a couple of positive thoughts floating about as Enemy Inside are clapped off the stage.
Smash Into Pieces
Smash Into Pieces have an arsenal of infectious anthems that sit teasingly at the intersection of synth-pop and alternative rock. As if this arsenal was not enough to take over London with, they have also brought with them four screens of hypnotic futuristic scenes and a shit-ton of cyber-Nickelback swagger.
Smash Into Pieces – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
The Swedish alt-rockers are decked out in gear that sits somewhere between dystopian warrior, Tron extra and club DJ, and they glide about the stage with just as much versatility, while APOC, the drummer, serves as the masked narrator of this futuristic rock ‘n’ roll rave.
They start the night with Man or Machine, the first of many, many bangers. Venom sees the whole Electric Ballroom bouncing, and Six Feet Under opens up the voice boxes as darting laser lines transform the ceiling into a stormy neon sky.
Smash Into Pieces – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Benjamin Jennebo and Emanuel Magnil are a magnetic duo on the guitars, with Benjamin oozing cheeky cheerfulness out of every orifice and through every riff, and Emanuel shredding like a sophisticated, lusted-after young space warrior.
When the cityscapes morph into flickering orange flames all across the stage, Smash Into Pieces bring out their country groove with All Eyes on You. Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye’s vocals get gritty, the riffs roll with Southern charm, and there’s even some cowboy whistling.
Smash Into Pieces – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Then the crowd sing-alongs continue with Arcadia, Trigger and Heroes Are Calling, and it is an entirely too addictive visual and aural experience.
When things turn acoustic for Somebody Like You, which they admit they fucked up once before, “so hopefully not twice tonight,” laughs Chris, emotions threaten to bubble up.
Smash Into Pieces – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 6 May 2026. Photo: Aggie Anthimidou/MetalTalk
Chris thanks their amazing crew not once, not twice, not three times, but at least four times. He shouts out all the other bands multiple times and says how much they love the VIP meet and greets.
Basically, Smash Into Pieces are some of the loveliest musicians, and they are not afraid to get cheesy with emotion and gratitude. One can only dream of a world full of people Like This!
Having recently wraped up their colossal Arcane Dimensions Tour with Amaranthe and Charlotte Wessels, symphonic metal titans EPICA have unveiled an exhilarating live version of their track ‘Cross The Divide‘, taken from their critically acclaimed, latest studio record Aspiral. This action-packed version was recorded early this year at the band’s biggest headline show to date – a sold-out night at Amsterdam’s […]
Texan five-banger Frozen Soul crept into my promo pile back in 2021 with their glacially imposing 
