CD

One of the most electric newcomers WEREWOLF has heard in years, VULKAN GRIT delivered the Demonstorms demo in 2023. Brimming with that electricity, it only hinted at the full mastery yet to be unveiled. 

At last here, VULKAN GRIT's debut album bears an appropriate title: Godslaying Arcane Panoply. Despite hailing from Finland, the young quartet eschew much of their scene's reigning paradigms of the last 25 years - be them freezing fire, strength & honor, or resurgent bestiality - for something squarely, authentically mid '90s. To invoke such names as early Nifelheim, Enthroned, Nåstrond, Marduk, and Germany's Desaster  is not meant to suggest lazy plagiarism or rote replication; rather, this is the noble framework from which VULKAN GRIT explode with their own epics of arcane black metal magick. Adding to that lineage, Godslaying Arcane Panoply ripples forth with a berserker intensity wound up with a razor-wire melodicism - indeed, riffing that continues to attack, attack, ATTACK and with memorability to boot. That these Finns feel like they're caught in the throes of possession underlines the archaic splendor at the heart of this particular subgenre: certainly simple to attempt, but exceedingly difficult to master. What's more, the subtle hints of death metal, doom, and even classic heavy metal don't detract from their vintage black metal core and color their songwriting with even deeper shades of obsidian. And the album's echoing-across-a-cathedral production only heightens this strident songwriting, a wise choice of form meeting content.

Music from the elders, delivered by the youth of today: this is VULKAN GRIT's Godslaying Arcane Panoply!

GOREWINTER—Vernichtung 1995–1999 CD Compilation 

This is an extensively comprehensive compilation encompassing demos Winterholocaust (1995), Battleblack (1997), and Buried by Night (1999). This remastered anthology captures Gorewinter’s raw Finnish black metal legacy from the late '90s.

Formed in the crucible of 2023, Finland's RITUALHAMMER emerge as a formidable force, drawing members from the legacies of Riivaus, Sacrificium Carmen, Mörbid Vomit, Licht Des Urteils, Coraxul, and Wömit Angel among others. While the majority of these members' background centers around black metal, their sound here in RITUALHAMMER is squarely within the most barbaric, violent expressions of death metal. In fact, their self-applied handle is APOCALYPTIC EVIL METAL.

And such is exactly what you'll be confronted with on RITUALHAMMER's debut album, Grand Pestilential Flame, now finding physical release courtesy of WEREWOLF. Reminding of many and no one, this nine-song / 28-minute statement of ripping, south-of-Heaven death metal begins its assault with no warning nor with no quarter given. Both frantic and finessed, RITUALHAMMER here tempt the corners of chaos with their churning angularity, but their just-tight-enough execution exudes all-too-tangible physicality that's a fist in the face of over-processed / punched-in "death metal." Likewise, their songwriting retains just enough linearity to latch onto and then many a diabolical construct is rubbed raw and rudely spat out, altogether making Grand Pestilential Flame a throwback to the ancient underground. As such, this band and record are highly recommended for maniacs of Order From Chaos, VOMITOR, Peru's Mortem, Germany's Desaster, and even earliest Deicide.

After more than 20 years, Werewolf Records is proud to unearth a long-buried treasure from its vault: the previously unreleased and once-harshly rejected original recording of GOATMOON’s debut album.

This version, abandoned at the time, now finally sees the light of day on jewelcase CD with a black tray and rare, unseen photos from the era. Pure Finnish Black Metal in its rawest and most uncompromising form.

The material, preserved on the original master cassette, has aged like the finest of wines, the original versions of the songs ripened during the decades. What was once shelved is now damned for release.

During this early period, GOATMOON wielded a savage, punk-driven strain of Finnish black metal, already laced with flashes of triumph and tragedy that would later define the band in more refined forms.

This recording captures a moment when Finnish black metal was rising to dominate the underground, a time of raw violence, reckless spirit, and uncompromising vision. Hear where the infamy truly began, or turn away in fear.

This new edition of ‘Gothic’, marking the album’s 35th anniversary, is presented on double CD, with remastered audio courtesy of Jaime Gomez Arellano at Orgone Studios. The bonus disc features the band Live in Ludwigsburg, 1991, performing tracks from Gothic and their debut album. The release also includes a four page booklet containing recollections from the band on the period and the shaping of the album,  as originally featured in 2021’s ‘The Lost and the Painless’.

MOONSPELL return via Napalm Records with Far From God, a record born out of five years of creative searching, doubt and ultimate rediscovery. Far from playing it safe, the Portuguese pioneers deliver a work that feels like a rebirth: darker, sharper and emotionally unfiltered. Rather than bending to modern trends, MOONSPELL double down on identity and substance. Far From God is a bold and beautiful statement of Gothic Metal in its purest form: dark, romantic, dramatic and unapologetically heavy.
The first single and album title track, “Far From God”, sets the album’s tone with burning intensity. A hymn to tragic vampiric love, the song revives the mystique and romantic darkness that once defined the genre, while layered keyboards subtly expand the atmosphere without softening its heaviness. Dense guitars, deep resonant vocals and dramatic dynamic shifts evoke a timeless gothic aesthetic, restoring danger and elegance to the narrative of the vampire.
Songs such as “Cross Your Heart” reveal a more affirmative side of the album, built on brooding melodic motifs and grounded, deliberate riff work that balances restraint and impact. Echoing the spirit of the band’s past while embracing a modern, shadowed edge, the song reflects on roadside shrines and lives lost too soon; the steady forward drive of the rhythm section mirrors the endless motion of the road itself. Fernando Ribeiro’s unmistakable and singular vocal presence, moving between low gravitas and restrained intensity, reinforces the song’s emotional weight without excess.
With “The Great Wolf in the Sky” feat. Alicia Nuhro (strings), MOONSPELL deliver one of the album’s most epic moments, structured around expansive keyboard themes, harmonized guitar lines and a chorus built for collective resonance. Melancholic yet powerful, the track stands as a tribute to wolves who once walked alongside the band and to a fan and friend who passed before hearing the album, bridging MOONSPELL’s past, present and future in one sweeping, dignified anthem.
Thematically, Far From God moves through Baudelairian love, existential guilt and redemption, Christlike resurrections and the quiet nobility of creatures of the night. Vampires, werewolves and sacred symbolism are not escapism here, but vehicles for genuine dark emotion: solemn, romantic and unfiltered. The album rejects artificial gloss in favour of fantasy grounded in sincerity, rediscovering the heart of Gothic Metal in its most authentic form.
MOONSPELL’s forthcoming magnum opus – produced with Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Sólstafir, Ghost among many others) – shines like a black diamond, luminous yet shadowed in texture and colour, both musically and sonically. It reconnects with the darker spirit of MOONSPELL’s classic era while sounding powerful and contemporary. Far From God is not nostalgia; it is a statement. A Gothic Metal hallelujah. MOONSPELL’s Irreligious of the 21st century. It’s not only a powerful reminder that MOONSPELL remain a defining force in the genre they helped shape, but an album that will truly save Gothic Metal from boredom and predictability!

MOONSPELL return via Napalm Records with Far From God, a record born out of five years of creative searching, doubt and ultimate rediscovery. Far from playing it safe, the Portuguese pioneers deliver a work that feels like a rebirth: darker, sharper and emotionally unfiltered. Rather than bending to modern trends, MOONSPELL double down on identity and substance. Far From God is a bold and beautiful statement of Gothic Metal in its purest form: dark, romantic, dramatic and unapologetically heavy.
The first single and album title track, “Far From God”, sets the album’s tone with burning intensity. A hymn to tragic vampiric love, the song revives the mystique and romantic darkness that once defined the genre, while layered keyboards subtly expand the atmosphere without softening its heaviness. Dense guitars, deep resonant vocals and dramatic dynamic shifts evoke a timeless gothic aesthetic, restoring danger and elegance to the narrative of the vampire.
Songs such as “Cross Your Heart” reveal a more affirmative side of the album, built on brooding melodic motifs and grounded, deliberate riff work that balances restraint and impact. Echoing the spirit of the band’s past while embracing a modern, shadowed edge, the song reflects on roadside shrines and lives lost too soon; the steady forward drive of the rhythm section mirrors the endless motion of the road itself. Fernando Ribeiro’s unmistakable and singular vocal presence, moving between low gravitas and restrained intensity, reinforces the song’s emotional weight without excess.
With “The Great Wolf in the Sky” feat. Alicia Nuhro (strings), MOONSPELL deliver one of the album’s most epic moments, structured around expansive keyboard themes, harmonized guitar lines and a chorus built for collective resonance. Melancholic yet powerful, the track stands as a tribute to wolves who once walked alongside the band and to a fan and friend who passed before hearing the album, bridging MOONSPELL’s past, present and future in one sweeping, dignified anthem.
Thematically, Far From God moves through Baudelairian love, existential guilt and redemption, Christlike resurrections and the quiet nobility of creatures of the night. Vampires, werewolves and sacred symbolism are not escapism here, but vehicles for genuine dark emotion: solemn, romantic and unfiltered. The album rejects artificial gloss in favour of fantasy grounded in sincerity, rediscovering the heart of Gothic Metal in its most authentic form.
MOONSPELL’s forthcoming magnum opus – produced with Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Sólstafir, Ghost among many others) – shines like a black diamond, luminous yet shadowed in texture and colour, both musically and sonically. It reconnects with the darker spirit of MOONSPELL’s classic era while sounding powerful and contemporary. Far From God is not nostalgia; it is a statement. A Gothic Metal hallelujah. MOONSPELL’s Irreligious of the 21st century. It’s not only a powerful reminder that MOONSPELL remain a defining force in the genre they helped shape, but an album that will truly save Gothic Metal from boredom and predictability!

Italian Symphonic Black Metal Legends OPERA IX has been co-existing with us normal deadly people since 1988. Spreading their sounds, moods and chants across the globe in a soon 40-year career they are true phenomenon. Some might even say a force of nature or an element of their own. The myths are many, and the tales are long and plentiful.

The band elaborates further:

“Veneficium” is a pilgrimage through the labyrinth of the dark arts, a botanical dominion that only the wisdom of women dared to master. These are the echoes of a primal past that still thrum within our blood and resonate in our souls ensuring that such a legacy shall never be surrendered to oblivion.”

The stability of the band despite lineup changes stands as a proof of the dedication of the group and the individual sacrifices and dedication to the cause. An entity with its own occult spirit with core consisting of founder Ossian and vocalist Dispas who joined in 2018.