Today, Floor Jansen returns with her new single “Run,” along with a lyric video, released via REVAMP Music in collaboration with Warner Music. Following her solo debut album Paragon, a sold-out tour, and nearly 150 million streams across her entire solo catalog, “Run” marks the beginning of a powerful new chapter in her solo career…. Continue Reading →
New albums emerge from the ever-expanding planet commonly known as Heavy Metal, but like a tiny piece of space dust, few make any real impact. They are like meteors, flashing across the sky, a brief, highly intense glimmer, and then gone in a flash. Then there is Dead Kosmonaut and Retrospectre.
The Swedish Metallers are possibly one of the best bands that you have never heard of. However, their new album, Retrospectre, will well and truly put them on ye olde map of the stars.
Dead Kosmonaut – Retrospectre is one of 2026’s standout Heavy Metal albums
Featuring Pelle ‘Hellbutcher’ Gustafsson on vocals, Mattias Reinholdsson on bass, drummer Henrik Johansson and the double guitar attack of Fredrik Folkare and Peter Hallgren, this album will surprise and delight in equal measure. With seven stratospheric songs, there is something to please everybody.
First out of the traps, Wake Of Aquarius features some rather satisfying bass and a rocket-fueled riff. It has the feel of a track which could be featured on one of Iron Maiden’s last three albums. The vocals are exceptional, and lyrically, it is compelling to listen to.
Out Of The Shadows Rising blasts off with an understated, relatively gentle guitar, which then gets punctuated by a vital urgency. The way the song is constructed throws you off-balance and goes in a direction that you cannot really anticipate. Again, group founder Matthias Reinholdsson’s bass really is the driving force behind this song.
View From The Future and Eyes Grow Old seem to dock onto each other like the Shuttle to the International Space Station. They come at you like a double-team. With some rather tantalising key changes, the vocals take you hurtling through Dead Kosmonaut’s own personal universe.
Clever, punchy and with some exquisite fretwork, you can hear many a classic NWOBHM group’s influence within these two tracks.
The Battle Is Over then follows with an element of the staccato and yet strangely plodding feel to it. You do not just hear the drums, you feel them, but they are not overpowering.
Although they pilot this track, they are unobtrusive. This is another track which is heavy on the bass, but they do not dominate the song. As for the vocals? They are wonderfully operatic in parts and a joy to the ears.
The Lies is a mid-paced number with some rather nice fretwork from Messrs Folkare and Hallgren. This is another ‘out of this world’ piece of work. It draws you in with its dark and highly descriptive lyrics, before breaking out into what could only be described as an upbeat sound from a West End musical and then reverts back to that plodding Metal sound.
There is a real sadness which emanates from the very soul of this number. It comes across as highly personal. It really is an off-kilter track and I love it.
Retrospectre, the title track on the album, has a haunting, low-speed opening, with some beautiful musicianship from the guys. Again, as in the previous track, it depicts a sadness or longing, although it does eventually accelerate at a rapid rate.
It has something of a film-score feel about it, which accentuates its appeal. Then there is the twin-guitar attack, which really makes this track special. As with previous tracks, it has that NWOBHM feel that we all know and love.
Overall, there is a melancholic beauty to this album. The band are clearly influenced by the likes of Maiden, Priest and Sabbath, but they are not shackled by those influences. They embrace them, they strip those influences back to their stem, and then the band build on them, using their own experiences, imagination and sheer talent to create something rather special.
If there is one criticism to be had, it is that the album was so good it left me wanting to hear a couple more numbers. Seven tracks are just not enough.
In the mid- to late 1980s, Whitesnake exploded from a popular British hard rock band into a worldwide phenomenon, becoming one of the decade’s most successful rock acts. This fall, Craft Recordings revisits that landmark period with vinyl reissues of Slide It In (1984), Whitesnake (1987), and Slip of the Tongue (1989). Powered by hits including “Here I Go Again,” “Is… Continue Reading →
Fast-rising London-based alternative trio Teiger have officially released their dark and deeply personal new single, “Bloodwork”. Issued via Kycker, the track serves as the premier taste of the band’s upcoming sophomore studio album, showcasing a heavier, more intense sonic evolution following the widespread acclaim of their 2023 self-titled debut record. Operating at the eclectic intersection … Continue reading Teiger release haunting new standalone single “Bloodwork” featuring Jo Quail
After Phantom Corporation already left a trail of destruction with their latest album, Time And Tide, at the end of 2025, the next wave is already rolling toward us on August 7, 2026! And it comes in the form of a split release with Catbreath. The split consists of one EP from each band: Commando by Phantom Corporation and Die By… Continue Reading →
Today, multi-platinum hard rock powerhouse Five Finger Death Punch announce their highly anticipated tenth studio album, ‘Legacy‘. The digital version arrives July 31st pre-order here while the CD, vinyl, and cassette versions will land on September 18th — pre-order – here. “Every album is a snapshot of who we were at that particular moment in […]
THE AUTUMN AURORA Make Their Debut with ‘Plastic Altar’ – A
Darkwave-Infused Journey Through Faith, Disillusion & Inner
Awakening!
Available now on all digital platforms, “Plastic
Altar” is the debut single from Italian post-punk/darkwave outfit THE
AUTUMN AURORA, released via Volcano Records.
With this first
release, the band introduces a deeply personal and emotionally charged
sound, blending post-punk, darkwave and alternative rock into a dark,
immersive and visceral sonic experience. “Plastic Altar” tells the story
of a painful awakening — the moment when someone who has spent a
lifetime kneeling before an altar, seeking miracles, answers and divine
salvation, finally realizes that no one is coming to save them. The song
unfolds as a reflection on faith, disillusionment and the need to stop
searching outside for what must ultimately be found within. It is an
invitation to reconnect with the divine as an inner force, rather than a
desperate response to suffering. Musically, the track moves through
suspended, twilight-soaked atmospheres, interrupted by sudden bursts of
extreme fuzz-driven distortion and stripped-down minimalist passages,
where delicate arpeggios carry the emotional weight of the vocals. The
song constantly shifts between tension and release, building toward a
central section openly inspired by doom metal, adding further depth and
weight to its sonic landscape. To accompany the release, the band has
also unveiled the official music video on YouTube — a visually intense
and highly symbolic piece that expands on the song’s themes of
alienation, conflict and transformation, fully embodying the band’s
aesthetic and narrative vision.
The Autumn Aurora is an Italian
post-punk/darkwave band with a distinctive and unconventional sonic
identity, built around a rare lineup featuring two bass guitars,
keyboards, drums and vocals. Through layered bass lines, synth-driven
soundscapes and dark atmospheric textures, the band creates an immersive
and magnetic world suspended between emotional tension, introspection
and raw expressive power.
"Washington State Charm" is the latest studio album from Austrian brutal death metal band MONUMENT OF MISANTHROPY, released today, June 26, 2026 via Listenable Records. The release is a concept album centered on the life of Ted Bundy, one of the United States’ most infamous serial killers, tracing his story from a troubled childhood and adolesc… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com
