Труп Колдун "Under The Cold Moon" (2026)

 
Earlier this year, I passed on writing about Under The Cold Moon but the YouTube algorithm has surfaced Warlock Corpse's recent live shows. They are a delightful reinvigoration of raw Black Metal energy. The band's quirky fusion of deranged Dungeon Synth a breath of fresh air in an aging scene. Previously an occultic one man band, this live act had me thinking on the arrangements I heard on this dusky album. Now it all makes sense, they recorded this one as an actual band.

Despite seeming more like a traditional Black Metal record, a punkier, less bleak energy drives its harsh guitars and pounding bass. Cheesy Casio and Korg aesthetic synths penetrate the metallic menace with flushes of toxic color across nightly fogs. Everything is simplistic and energetic. Alternating A/B structures and Heavy Metal groove push its gravely momentum into cheap and cheery horror motifs.

Atop its oddity remains those snarling vocal howls. Distinct and charming, they do become somewhat of a "one trick pony" as the same cadence from low to linger on a high gets recycled consistently. No song here strides for greatness. It's more of a Vibes record, where you settle into this ghoulish mood as it runs through a bunch of gruesome riffs and eerie melodies. Highlights included Three Corpses By The Road and the end track Cursed Circle. Dabbling with dirty distorted synth effects for a grand conclusion. A spark of potential for something a little more unusual and involved. 

Rating: 6/10

Arcanist "Zothique" (2026)

 
Despite a misfire on an unusual Avero​í​gne, French duo Arcanist return to form as one of the most exciting Dungeon Synth artists of recent years. Their Berlin School synth and visionary atmospheres spark again as familiar instruments conjures familiar mystiques. Xeethra opens up the record dense and mysterious. Its swirling winds shroud subtle percussive lines that give way to an ooze of lead melody. Exotic and grand, we glimmer upon an advanced paradise often secluded by desert winds.

The Death Of Lliotha and The Master Of Crabs play as otherworldly melodies, transcendent tunes evoking esoteric adventures through lush arrangements where every note feels intentional upon the next. Placed around Zothique's two ten minute plus epics, they provide a change of pace from these ambitious compositions.

Empire Of The Necromancers is a brilliantly suggestive title. Around the three minute mark, a sense of arrival meets a gruesomely sluggish, grisly set of dark synths. The deep pounding below seeding dread. At its peak we mellow into a curious game of avoidance, as if attempting to penetrate undetected. The aesthetic could be a snug fit for Synthwave. Visions of dystopian 80s movies come to mind. Sadly though, it never concludes this direction and fizzles out to recycle the atmosphere heard at its start.

The Dark Eidolon is the albums crown jewel. Starting with distant thunderstrikes, It's eerie crawl towards a menacing buzzsaw synth is utterly foreboding, foreshadowing the coming crescendo. Its midsection promotes its most engaging Berlin school drive. The energy is almost danceable. After some brief theatrics, a swift transition occurs. The beast has arrived! Mustered along by a spacious drum beat, that buzz saw riff reappears a scowling cry of graven Doom Metal riffage. After some punishing repetitions, It swiftly subsides into an acoustic echo of that lurching menace, feeling as if it might return again, but the beast retreats into its hole.

This is the Arcanist I adore! Although this may seem like a "safe" return of sorts, the familiar motifs and techniques carry such vivid power. There is much yet to be explored and Zothique does that again, another adventure into the enigmatic!

Rating: 8/10

Willow "The Thread" (2026)

 
After a brazen foray of experimentation with Petal Black Rock, Willow bridges the gap between those Avant-Garde impulses and her prior personal peak Empathogen. The brief structures and short lived chemistries mostly felt unfinished, yet still charmed curious spells. The Thread unravels those intuitions, returning to conventional forms.

Finding itself in a stride of maturity, this newest chapter feels familiar and comforting, almost expectant at times, yet still excitable. Its magnetism often emerges from swells of entanglement. Momentum builds, her voices melt magic as layers of swooning vocal tones layer up, meeting the music's moment. This motif is becoming a signature.

Accompanied by warm soothing basslines, roomy acoustic guitar plucking, bright jazzy pianos and consistent percussive intelligence, a cohesive unity dazzles in its best strides. Whatever intensity a song strikes upon, all elements align to deliver Willow's voice through a collective guidance. It makes for such easy listening.

Although The Thread's creative peaks lean upon those unusual, experimental chemistries, this matured progressive refinement structures the music with an inviting, accessible tone, making the experience a simple pleasure with depth throughout. Perhaps that's its key takeaway, the brilliant songcraft housing her lyrical musings.

Once again, words fly over this humble listeners head. Despite that, I picked up a reflective nature towards relationships that sounded both therapeutic in expression and matured with age. Highlights included the title track, single song and lead out starting with Crush On Eternity. I especially enjoyed The Present Moment, something about the arrival of that song always signaled a timely feeling of finality to me.

Rating: 8/10

Machines Of Loving Grace "Concentration" (1993)

In search of a slice of the nineties? Absolutely! Having somehow evaded my radar, Machines Of Loving Grace embrace the lighter side of Metal. An Industrial Rock hybrid with a soft touch of Funk and Electro, spirited by the Alternative movement. They initially reminded me of NIN's debut but more so Head Of David, who two years prior struck a nerve with Seed State. This discovery has been a personal delight.

Machine's merits stem from a slick execution of sharp unravelling guitar riffs and tight percussion patterns rocking a snappy snare that cuts through the mix with intense mechanical precision. Powerful, hard hitting, repetitive, somehow never tiring one out. The pair lay a rhythmic foundation for the record to kick off with drive and groove. Its opening numbers make a meaty offering with amped up Ministry energy bangers.

Pretty swiftly the album dissipates into its diversity. Each sequential track exploring charactered moods as the metallic energy drops out for more variety. Beautifully orchestrated alongside front man Scott Benzel's competent voice, we hear so much chemistry, from Ethereal synths to Trip Hop drums, a cast of 90s scenes emerge. Grunge, Shoegaze & Funk Metal dazzle among many stylistic tropes of the era.

The album caught my ear thanks to its standout track Butterfly Wings. The sliding distortion guitar keenly reminiscent of Michael Jackson's D.S. With some clear Industrial influence, its another trace of musical taste from my childhood. Tangents aside, Concentration is a fine record by talented musicians who explore their ideas with a seasoned maturity and youthful excitement that captures the moment well.

Rating: 7/10

Tartaros "The Red Jewel" (1999)

Further wallowing in the ghoulish theatric horrors of The Grand Psychotic Castle, Charmand Grimlock's Tartaros returns with The Red Jewel. Debut record and final release, It marks the end of a brief venture into a peculiar avenue of Symphonic Black Metal. Stylistically stagnant, It's eight cuts grind gristly distortion guitars against a rough clatter of rumbling blast beats. Emerging through the cracks of this raw, strenuous production, a twinkle of awe and wonder escapes the gloom.

Lacking groove, bombast or anything excitable in the rhythm guitar department, The Red Jewel ends up feeling like a one-trick pony. Its eerie b-movie horror synths whirl a nightly terror in singular tone. Practically every track ends up dominated by this by this animated, repetitive presence that swiftly becomes more bothersome than gratifying.

The overall atmosphere is ripe with mystique, a darkly obscure plane of existence. Shrouded in mystery and menace, it conjures the spooky, satanic and even occult. One can love the vision but dread a dreary execution as its musical ideas fail to punch through, to make themselves felt, alongside its dated recording. Even cranking up the volume doesn't save it of low end rumble and clashing instrument tones. 

The title track gets merits for going a little off course, throwing in a howling lead guitar to emphasize a momentum shift. Dropping the synths, utilizing sway and momentum shapes the song and sets it on a path for curious direction changes. The returning lead guitar over a stompy riff yields a rare moment of gratification. Sadly though, the record is mostly a slog weighed down by amateurish writing and recording. There's some brilliance in here, but it simply wasn't guided to execution. 

Rating: 5/10

Haken "In A Fever Dream" (2026)

Returning on an EP, modern Prog Metal titans Haken bestow a gorgeous run of five tracks to compliment one another like a single entity. Toning down technicalities, the band shift to the simpler pleasures, focused on swooning melody and tempered groove. Rocking in at a slower tempo, its pacing never hurries itself, even as Delirium whips up intensity with its rapid hit-hat and mammoth Djent riffs. Jennings vocals soar above the frenzied track, maintaining that cool head bangers half-time nod.

Eclipsed By You explores a gentler yet experimental side. Harmonizing voices gel under tone tweaking electronics techniques that lure us from an acoustic guitar intro, subtlety drifting towards Downtempo adjacent territory. That's as far as they push the envelope, the rest of the music resides within a crooning powerhouse of intense Djent groove and luminous melody. In A Fever Dream's power resides in beautifully crafted sways between intensities. A natural flow from power to colour illustrating its lyrical underpinning, amassing its conclusion as the final moments of Lotus sings its name.

A mightily impressive band, putting out a leaner release that feels as if its ambition was reached. Ending on such a dramatic note, It concludes the questions proposed in tensions heard earlier in the record. As previously mentioned, it's like a single twenty six minute track to be appreciated in one sitting. The opening and closing numbers feel deeply linked, while the three snug between explore their creativities. 

Rating: 6/10

Motionless In White "Decades" (2026)

As part of my passing musical diet these past two weeks, Motionless In White return for another cheesy romp of unoriginal modern Metal. Executed with grinning competency, Decades passes the sniff test as far as entertainment goes. I was unsurprised to hear shades of classic Nu Metal hallmark their songwriting. From the battering frustration of Slipknot to pop sensibilities of Linkin Park, Djent guitars lay aggressive foundations. Industrial Metal has its moments, strong whiffs of BMTH suffocates it crowd pleaser tracks. Other numbers attempt to bridge the Argent Metal motif with trancey electronic tones, even a flash of Dubstep gets some limelight.

Love At First Bite champions the crown of tackiest tune, a Synthwave Goth Horror anthem hinged on its overt lyrical pun. Blood Pact reeks of slowed Tetrarch groove. Afraid Of The Dark rides the classic Metalcore gallop into a ridiculously dull and predictable breakdown. Its reminiscent of the albums opening title track, rocking a classless cry of "Fuck a tombstone" to drop in with more cookie cutter brutality. These may seem like critiques but its all fair game. The band wear their influences bold and proudly, yet lack a sense of uniqueness emerging from styles explored. Their merits lay in an audacity to give anything a try and somehow make it flow fluently.

    A shock to myself, personal highlights were lyrical. "log_in//crash_out" and Playing God with Corey Taylor tackled key concerns of our times. Internet ecosystems of algorithmic influence, worldview shaping and device addiction. Somehow, these cheesy plain face lyrics channeling anger at such digital concepts resonated strongly. When you think about it, some of these terms are quite awkward to sing about poetically. Its tone isn't perfect but I adore the message they put across. The other highlight had to be sunglasses at night. A final song, pivoting to indulge in a full on dose of luminous eighty's Synthwave nostalgia. With soothing nightlight melodies, the singing finds a soothing peak on this one. A standout track to close upon.

All in all, Decades is a fair attempt. Another collection of broad influences converging from across the Metal spectrum with a healthy amount of electronic synths weaving there way in. It lacks sparks of originality, yet serves up a good dose of spirited modern Metal fit for festival stage energy. Decent but far from greatness.

Rating: 6/10