Vafurlogi - Gneisti af eldi Guðs (2026) Review

We're no strangers to the glory of the Icelandic black scene, which has always aimed for production of music with ever-present ferocity, and continental significance. Most of the bands active during the previous decade dominated my playlists of favorites, some of which I still consider recordings or such magnitude that elevates the whole genre. 

One could argue that one of the perpetrators of the movement was Svartidauði with their earliest demos in the mid 00s, then continued by numerous impressive bands, such as Sinmara and their 2014 debut, Aphotic Womb, as well as the more well-rounded continuation, Hvísl stjarnanna (2019).

Both bands have been totally silent for the last few years, but one of the masterminds behind them, Þórir Garðarsson, has moved on to new avenues of exploration with a project named Vafurlogi. In 2024, I naturally checked the debut, Í vökulli áþján, but I almost missed the musicians involved in it, and the realization struck me while listening to the music instead. Having missed the heavyweight black metal sound from Iceland, it was a revalation to listen to that record, and I was now way more aware of the situation once Norma Evangelium Diaboli surprise-announced the follow-up, Gneisti af eldi Guðs.

Alongside Garðarsson stands the drummer of Beneath (and later Ophidian I), Ragnar Sverrisson, the guitarist of Nyrst, and Samúel Ásgeirsson (Volcarona) on additional guitars / vocals, forming a massive line-up well-versed in the sacred melodies of the Northern fire. Familiar patterns emerge everywhere in the album, the characteristic touch of both Svartidauði, and more clearly Sinmara, is everywhere, yet Vafurlogi acts with its own malice.  

Gneisti af eldi Guðs includes seven tracks and a total of almost 49 minutes of dynamic, compositionally intelligent black metal, which has spread its wings further than its predecessors. Melody and aggression are employed in equal measure, while overwhelming the tracks with either is avoided. The crystalline production enhances the album's depth and effectiveness, as the music is truly conveyed in a substantial, terrifying manner. 

There's no lack of interesting shifts all throughout, and potent melodic passages are often rightfully put on the pedestal, essentially outlining how a striking Icelandic black metal album feels like. Gneisti af eldi Guðs opens with a sustained assault across "Af heilagri heift", "Þegar rykið sest", and the self-titled track, which all had me celebrating that the most dominant black metal sound in recent years is back. The guitar work continues on grinding out chromatic descents in "Að handan" and "Vitjun", where Vafurlogi reveal more of their textural range and nicely incorporate epic dual shouting / low-shrieking vocals at a couple of moments. 

Longer pieces are featured towards the end of the album, first carrying a slight change in tempo during the malevolent clean guitar melodies of "Úr himinsölum", and secondly on the record's clear highlight, the 10-minute finisher "Earthy Vestiges". The only English-versed track on the album, it showcases the band at its widest form, takes its time to quiet down in mostly mid-paced rhythm. Especially notable is the piano section at the end of the piece, nocturnal and melancholic remidnign me of the haunting aura of another track, "Audhumla" by Den Saakaldte, even though way more cleanly pronounced here. 

Ecclesiastical transgression with climactic intensity, a wealthy melodic ecosystem and a vivid call to spiritual rebellion, as Vafurlogi appear fully locked in with Gneisti af eldi Guðs. I've kept the Icelandic scene under close inspection during the '10s, and have missed a little bit of more activity after that, yet sparse remarkable releases every now and then make me think, the beast is there, but in hibernation. Maybe not anymore. A big win here.

Release: June 26th, 2026 | NoEvDia / Oration
Website: Facebook
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Saidan - Fangdriller: Scars Beneath Memory's Wrist (2026) Review

This act has caused significant turbulence within the scene since its formation only a few years ago, yet in that short span it has already assembled a quite formidable catalogue of full-length albums. Saidan's frenetic brand of black metal, amplified by overwhelming melodicism and blended with the dismal aura of Japanese horror, has grown a large audience through the effectiveness of its riffing and mercurial style of songwriting. Evolution has been evident throughout their entire discography, with each release surpassing the last.

While I have not discussed the project on this blog that much before, I have been consistently impressed by their sound and quickly started treating it as essential listening in the current scene. Saidan's greatest strength lies in the ability to construct melodic yet relentless black metal, in which the guitars are the clear centerpiece. Anyone familiar with previous works recognizes how easily they establish memorable motifs that quickly hook the listener into the band's world.

On Fangdriller, an even stronger inclination towards uplifting strains of melodic black metal can be noticed. The guitars soar continuously alongside rapid-fire drumming and piercing screams, all framed by a relatively clean production. I say relatively, because there's always a slight added noise in the background, yet the compositions themselves often tend to power metal territory, abandoning much of black metal's inherent darkness. Hard-hitting, fast-paced passages here are closely linked to heavily symphonic, power or melodic death, keeping tension as Saidan always does.

I've come across numerous bands with a black metal cloak, that actually experiment with a wider variety of emotional registers, and this record comfortably orbits that same sphere, while remaining vastly rich in guitar action from beginning to end. Signs of broader experimentation emerge in the brief drum and bass patters of "Rapture (I'll Wait for You)" and "Womb of Hatred", or the cleaner instrumentation on "Kara No Bara", showing how the band has grown noticeably restless since 2024 and Visual Kill.

I did not identify many truly ominous moments, save for the magnificent symphonic black metal track "Stained Glass Sin // Fang Driller", particularly its slower middle section, or parts of "Beat to Death". The latter features a surprisingly jam-driven passage, where Saidan once again test fully new patterns to their music. You'll enjoy the celebration of exuberant melodies on tracks such as “Razorblade Temptation”, “Immersed By Eternity's Blade”, and “Ethereal Blood”, carrying the band further out of black metal. Even then, nothing will prepare you for the washed-out, acoustic, clean-vocal grunge outro "Mortuary".

What might be interpreted as ambition is what feels to me another step closer to a sound more aligned with Saidan now, who have decided to embrace all their influences rather than remain constrained to a specific genre's framework. Inevitably, this will invite criticism, but to me, Fangdriller represents how this band truly wants to sound like. Congratulations for never spending a minute to sit down.

Release: June 19th, 2026 | Avantgarde Music
Rating: 4 out of 5
Website: Facebook

Devourment - Pious Impiety (EP, 2026) Review

After a seven-year void, Texas pioneers of brutal death metal, Devourment, have returned with a surprise new 12-minute EP that emphatically proves they haven't diminished an ounce of their purpose: absolute heaviness. The '10s saw the band releasing two albums with fairly different responses from the audience, yet I fully enjoyed both Conceived In Sewage (2013) and Obscene Majesty (2019), the latter being of course better.

 As with everyone else, I didn't see Pious Impiety coming, a three-track 7" of the band's relentless, trademark slabs of slam death, heavy in a way that suggests the band can take any kind of hiatus they want and still remain on point afterwards. 

The EP is direct and destructive, a blasphemous incantation of inverted divinity in the form of staggering grooves, deep cave growling and a suffocating sound production. Opening with the self-titled track and a quote which, I think, is from The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), "we are the ones who dwell within - and I am Lucifer, devil in the flesh", Devourment's strictly pressed palette instantly explodes with the familiar devastating riffs and repetitive, machine-gun drums. 

Tempo changes from fast to middle-paced across the whole track, as "Mortiferous Dependency" continues the assault with a little bit of space for more compositional nuance, but always within the context of brutal death metal's logic. "Advanced Stage Decomposition" closes the EP with some of its heaviest moments, even offering seconds for brief oxygenation towards the end. 

For sure, this release is also partially meant to promote the band's upcoming Summer Slaughter tour this summer, but what you're left wondering after it's done is, where's the rest? Three amazing tracks from one of the definitive inventors of this kind of brutal death metal, running close to the longest time period between full length albums they've ever spent, makes you eager for full-length new material. 

Better than nothing, it reminded me of why Devourment is at the top of the food chain, with confidence in heavy fundamentals and a perfected vision.

Release: June 11th, 2026 | Relapse Records
Rating: 4 out of 5
Website: Facebook

Goetia - Mortuary Cult (2026) Review

 

I've known Washington D.C.'s Goetia for a while now and have enjoyed their series of highly regarded EPs from 2023 to 2025, bursting into the underground scene with a sort of boosted ferocity considering a band that barely existed a few years prior. 

 

Debut full-length album Mortuary Cult takes advantage of the momentum and embraces a straightforward yet highly volatile take on death metal, influenced by the classic era of the genre's birth and the style of heavy thrash's bands from the late '80s and start of the '90s.

 

In this concoction of fast-paced riffs, frenetic solos and pummeling drums, you'll hear everything from early Kreator to Morbid Angel, and even the thrashy tendencies of Absu at times, capturing the unique savagery of the '80s extreme metal scene. 

 

On top of that, the titles and cover art glorify the rites of the occult, bringing a record so well-oiled that it's simply difficult to not enjoy if you're and old-school metal fan. Goetia appear entirely uninterested in ingratiating themselves to external conception, and instead are focused on delivering pure frenzy.

 

Mortuary Cult's strongpoint is the consistency at which it delivers. It's not a museum piece despite the purposeful traditional framework, and the tracks almost never fail to bring down the hammer across a totality of 32 minutes. 

 

A short introduction "At Eternity's Gate" brings forth fast-paced demolition a la Exhumed with "Lanterns of the Dead" and "Posthumous Execution", then Goetia slows down to expose their affinity for deathgrind grooves in the middle part of the record (self-titled track, "Earth Inferno" and more notably on the half of "Corpse Candle", the other half is crazy).

 

My favorite section off the record is in final tracks, and specifically the destructive yet remarkably focused sequence of "Bestial Tomb", "Excarnation" (the highlight track) and its transition to "Tortures in Time". The last piece "Eternal Samhain" is the longest on Mortuary Cult and burns out repetitively, ending a record that shows a deep understanding of the old-school fundamentals. 

 

I particularly enjoyed the drum work (done by Nadia Tydings-Lynch of Blood Monolith, among others), and the horror-esque but not flashy aesthetics of the cover art. This debut album is meant for guiltless enjoyment, repetitive listens and appreciation of this sound's fountainheads. Hail Goetia.

 

Release: June 12th, 2026 | Carbonized Records

Rating: 4 out of 5

Website: Instagram

Haemoth - Black Dust (2026) Review

If you had dealings Haemoth's second full-length album, Of Vice, Suffering and Destruction in 2004, you're certainly one of the bookworms of this scene. The band's run of demos and few records since the late '90s is of a semi-legendary status, yet I've always felt they never got the recognition they deserved due to numerous French black metal bands operating at the time. 

When they signed up with Debemur Morti Productions for the release of the excellent In Nomine Odium (2011), I thought things would then get rolling for them, but no — what followed was another 15 year-long silence. Today, we can finally witness the sun turn black with the project's fourth album, Black Dust, this time on Agonia Records and with a never-forgotten, unique trade of black metal malice.

The record evokes a constant oppressive aura, built upon foundations of razor-sharp riffing, relentless percussion and screeching vocals alongside frequent passages of drone / noise electronics manipulation. The terrain feels unstable, energy does not dissipate even when the music slows down, and sonic violence is present everywhere, but never feels out of control. 

A blighted ritual act of demolition, where atmosphere is hostile and comfort is eviscerated, Black Dust is a vortex of blackened entropy with harsh production that not only lives up to Haemoth's name, it also unsettled me in a way I haven't been with black metal lately, and in the same way I always wanted the genre to manage.

Flickering transmitted signals and mid-paced guitar lines set the tone on the opener "Ashen Remains", which introduces the obliterative first set of tracks, "Blood Atonement" and "When the Dust Finall Settles". Haemoth's corrosive sound quickly overwhelms the experience, as tightened riffs parade in a stomping manner with celebratory black metal radiance, followed by instrumental and heavily distorted dark ambient infrasounds on "D = IX" and "Human Defects". 

Noise detours are expertly used in the album, as in "Fragments Of The Sign" and "Void Theory", as well as the beginning and end of the final, haunting track "Stigmata". Highlight moments also include the clouds of ashen riffing of "Incense Of The Last Rite", and for me, the high-pitched short sound strokes on the majestic self-titled track.

Words like true or pure black metal get tossed around easily, but I doubt most people can pinpoint the bands that truly fall under such labels. Haemoth's practices of this long-held creed in the form of Black Dust, still feels like news spread through whispers even at the age of the internet. 

I'm glad for a little bit of more recognition from a new label, general presentation (like this totally necro cover art), and expanded musical horizons. If you've enjoyed Mysticum, Spektr or Drastus in the past, then this record is a kind of venom from the same serpent.

Release: May 22nd, 2026 | Agonia Records
Rating: 4 out of 5
Website: Bandcamp 

Grave Pilgrim - The Pungent Wine of Pride (2026) Review

Grave Pilgrim have been on the rise in the American black metal underground. After releasing a remarkable self-titled debut album in 2021, the band initiated a conceptual trilogy of follow-up releases starting with 2023's The Bigotry of Purpose — a record you must listen to immediately if you haven't already. The Oregon duo's sound is rooted in black metal, but also carries traces of Americana, folk, and a martial grandeur. Most importantly to me, it's always driven by ideas. The Pungent Wine of Pride is the second chapter of this planned trilogy connected to the Nietzschean concept of transformation, specifically revolving around the figure of the Lion. This represents the spirit that breaks free from obedience and asserts its rightful own will.

The band's titles are always so very revealing. The intoxicant of pride is examined, as the symbol of self-importance and unchecked ambition is smartly referred to as the pungent wine, a nice metaphor for the seductive nature of the hybris of arrogance. As with The Bigotry of Purpose, the record's cover art is again a portrait image, this time of Julius Caesar, who is mentioned twice in the track titles. Last piece "With This I Plough, With This I Reap" is one of the most interesting references I have seen lately, quoting a lyric from an ancient poem and specifically of Hybrias the Cretan, who lived in 600 B.C, and hardly anything is known about him apart from that weapon and power-loving poem. A piece of obscure knowledge even for Ancient Greek scholar standards, and perfectly suitable for this album.

After a short cello / acoustic guitar introduction, cutting edge blackened americana reshaped by the palette of black metal, grinding on the thrust of fairly catchy and easy-to-follow guitar riffs, a leaner flow and dry, almost coughy vocals parade on the first three tracks of the album. Conventional structure is then dismantled on the intriguing tune "The Master's Son", which has wonderful clean high-pitched female vocals at the beginning, then a non-canonical pace built on distressingly melodic guitar lines alongside barely any percussion. At the moment, as well as at the self-titled track that follows, Grave Pilgrim's tempo reminded me a lot of Peste Noire's L'ordure à l'état pur-era more accommodating sections between tracks.

Lastly, the song of Hybrias is as combative as mythos wants it to be, featuring a delightful clean string outro after some of the record's most memorable riff patterns, and particularly the solos. On The Pungent Wine of Pride, thoughts and sound reinforce each other. These songs must have been written somewhere between a battlefield, a barren field or a frontier church, being engaging and thought-provoking without overloading the listener with philosophical fanfare. I was on the look out for Grave Pilgrim since their early days, and they seem to build up the momentum with every release — excited for the final third piece of this puzzle, whenever it is complete.

Release: May 29th, 2026 | Death Prayer Records
Website: Bandcamp
Rating: 4 out of 5