#melodic-death-metal — Public Fediverse posts

For @DXMacGuffin's #ProgTuesday:

#Iapetus: The Mother Void

https://album.link/t/568428295

#BeardMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal

FFO #AnAbstractIllusion #NeObliviscaris #Parius

JUMPSCARE (Itàlia) presenta nou single: "Call of the Wild" #Jumpscare #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #Itàlia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

AGE OF ALTERATION (Alemanya) presenta nou single: "General Coward" #AgeOfAlteration #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #Alemanya #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Nach wie vor mit eine der besten Melodic Death Metal Bands. ❤

INSOMNIUM – The Hour Grows Late feat. Tomi Joutsen, Tomi Koivusaari, Santeri Kallio (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xl8XZzwdL0

#MelodicDeathMetal #DeathMetal #Metal #Music

SPARTAN (Països Baixos) presenta nou single: "Alcibiades" #Spartan #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #PaïsosBaixos #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

SHAPELESS (Finlàndia) presenta nou single: "House Made of Embers" #Shapeless #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #Octubre2026 #Finlàndia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

VANIR (Dinamarca) presenta nou single: "Marskens dom" #Vanir #Viking #FolkMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #Dinamarca #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

#NowPlaying the recent album "Netherworlds" by the band #Insomnium from #Finland

#MelodicDeathMetal #Epic #AlbumsOf2026

Personal Rating: 9 / 10
🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢⚪

Recommended Tracks: "The Banished", "Pathways of the Night", "Shadowlife", "Ethereal Sleep", "Remembrance", "Gleam in the Black", "Arch of the Sky", "The Hour grows late", "Journeys End"

https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/netherworlds-24-bit-hd-audio

NOCTHRA (Espanya) presenta nou EP: "From Death to War" #Nocthra #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #Espanya #NouEp #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

🎧️ Time for the new Insomnium album! 🎶

#metal #melodeath #melodicDeathmetal

MORBID INTENT (Finlàndia) presenta nou EP: "Marionettes" #MorbidIntent #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #Finlàndia #NouEp #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

En 2023 fue "Godforsaken". En 2026 ha sido "Remembrance". Yo no sé cómo se lo montan en #Insomnium, pero siempre consiguen sacarme una lagrimilla.

https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/netherworlds-24-bit-hd-audio?t=3

O eso, o que me hago mayor...

#netherworlds #melodicdeathmetal

Worth the wait 🤘🖤 Cat is, of course, not impressed

#Insomnium #FinnishMetal #melodicdeathmetal #newmusic #nowplaying #musiccollection #CatsOfMastodon #doommetalcat

Iapetus - The Mother Void

https://iapetus1.bandcamp.com/album/the-mother-void

#atmosphericMetal #blackMetal #doomMetal #melodicDeathMetal #metal #progressiveMetal #unitedStates

https://www.europesays.com/nl/332733/ Carnation – Symphony Of Flesh #2026 #albumreview #Amusement #BelgianDeathMetal #carnation #DeathMetal #Dutch #Entertainment #MelodicDeathMetal #Music #Muziek #Nederland #Nederlanden #Nederlands #Netherlands #NL #SymphonyInFlesh #ZwareMetalen

https://www.europesays.com/be-nl/160033/ Carnation – Symphony Of Flesh #2026 #albumreview #Amusement #BE #BelgianDeathMetal #België #Belgium #carnation #DeathMetal #Entertainment #MelodicDeathMetal #Music #Muziek #SymphonyInFlesh #ZwareMetalen

Morning mix of #MelodicDeathMetal, #GrooveMetal, #BlackenedThrash, #DeathNRoll, #OldSchoolThrashMetal, #Mathcore, and #Metalcore.

Including the likes of Voivod, Stampin' Ground, Arch Enemy, Converge, Dark Tranquility, Sodom, Carcass, Forbidden, Trivium, Suicidal Tendencies, Demolition Hammer, Dillinger Escape Plan, Entombed AD, The Agonist and much more.

INSOMNIUM (Finlàndia) presenta nou àlbum: "Netherworlds" #Insomnium #MelodicDeathMetal #Octubre2026 #Finlàndia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Maybe it’s me, but it seems like way longer than three years since Insomnium dropped Anno 1696 on us. With the odd feeling I’ve gone without new material from these lords of Finnish sadboi doom for so long, and with the impending descent into winter just around the corner, Netherworlds is landing at the perfect time. For their 10th album, Insomnium promised an expanded sonic palette. I’ve heard that many a time from established bands only to end up being served the same soup and nuts as always. So what does Netherworlds actually offer on the morose menu? Well, the classic Insomnium sound and style is intact, but the band pushes their established sound into a few new spaces as promised, and brings along a few dear friends to help them pull it all off. Are you intrigued yet? If not, look at that awesome cover art!

After a dramatic and table-setting intro, the classic Insomnium arrives with “Shadowlife,” and all the things you love about the band are brightly displayed. It’s that dead puppy under the Christmas tree mood you expect from Finnish melodoom, with plenty of weepy harmonies and twinkling keyboards. Niilo Sevänen’s hoarse death croaks are as solid as ever, and he’s supported by effective clean vocals that play well against his rasping during the big, emotive chorus. There’s even a trace of Omnium Gatherum in the guitar work to add color. That Omnium Gatherum influence bleeds into follow-up “Remembrance,” and it actually adds to the flavor. This one strikes the ideal balance between aggression and dour mood, almost approaching hard rock at points without losing the frowning funerariums. The big stuff arrives with album centerpiece “The Hour Grows Late,” where Insomnium go all in on embellishing their sound in interesting ways. It starts soft and moody as most Insomsongs do, but it ramps up into an aggressive piece that keeps shifting and evolving from hard to soft, folky and back. Blackened trems rise and fall along the way, and then there’s this big melodic swell as powerful clean vocals erupt that sound just like Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis. That’s because it fucking is Tomi! Soon you’re treated to extra raw death vocals that feel way outside Niilo’s comfort zone. These are delivered by fellow AmorphisER Tomi Koivusaari himself, giving the song a Tales of the Thousand Lakes vibe. From there, things go wonky as keyboards erupt with crazy 70s prog insanity with sound effects from 70s Sci-Fi cinema. That’s because Tomi also brought along Santeri Kallio to man the keys. It’s a brilliant mess and essentially a new Finnish national anthem.

After the wild ride Insomnium take you through with their Amorpfriends, they opt to recalibrate your brain with urgent, no-BS burner “Arch in the Sky,” which I loved at first exposure. This may be the only Insomnium tune to ever grace my lifting and cardio playlists because it’s hot fire, and when Niilo roars “I will never die alone,” you feel it deep in your girded loins. The album runs from strength to strength, with every track hitting home and delivering a high-quality dose of Findoom. Closer “Journey’s End” is an ultra-moody cut that toys with a kind of light funeral doom, and there are fleeting moments here that feel like they belong on Warning’s immortal Watching from a Distance. That’s something you didn’t see coming, right? At just under 54 minutes, there’s no song here I can really take issue with, and there’s a shocking absence of bloat as well. The runtime glides by and the material keeps you invested throughout.

Insomnium have been a known quantity for some time, and the members all know how to mine the melodoom genre for all it’s worth. While Niilo will never be my favorite death vocalist, he suits the material and is as solid as ever. The three-pronged guitar attack by Ville-Petri Friman, Markus Vanhala, and new slinger Tomy Laisto do their job well and litter the album with haunting harmonies and downtrodden trills, but they never forget to smash bones with aggressive riffs when the time comes. Swallow the Sun’s Aleksi Munter is on board to provide keyboard expertise, making this even more of a finished product of Finland. Talent resides in every corner, but it’s the extra impactful songcraft that takes Netherworlds to a level above Anno 1696, which I also loved plenty.

Netherworlds is the best Insomnium album since Winter’s Gate, and it even rivals that great work. I expected something good here, since this band is reliable as 10-year-old hobo wine, but I wasn’t expecting it to hit this hard and this consistently. Insomnium defy time, tides, and trends once more, and this time they dropped a potential Album o’ the Year. Visit Netherworlds and bring a friend (or fiend).

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Century Media
Websites: insomnium.net | facebook.com/insomniumofficial | instagram.com/insomniumofficial
Releases Worldwide: October 16th, 2026

New #Insomnium tomorrow…at last. https://open.qobuz.com/album/btgw77vsgh88f

#music #melodicdeathmetal

As the year begins to transition into the sort of gloomy weather that proves a perfect companion to doom metal, this fall season isn’t quite cooperating. Rather than the gloom pervading the cover art’s beautiful painting by Larisa Brechun, the light is still keeping us. Only a few days before Mother of Graves’s latest take on ’90s-style death/doom, the temps around my parts hit 80°F. Does the good cheer this warmth brings hamper any enjoyment for the music Mother of Graves plays? Hardly. This mid-October release date has become a tradition for the Indiana quintet. Grymm enjoyed their debut over a pumpkin spice latte when they released Where the Shadows Adorn on October 14, 2022. When Carcharodon admired their “sweet, sweet sadboi vibes” in his TYMHM 2024 post, they had released The Periapt of Absence on October 18. Now releasing The Light That Keeps Us on October 16, the promo promises us that, yes, this is still your grandfather’s Mommy Graves.

Mother of Graves continues to hone what made many listeners fall in love with them on their last two records. They hop from an aggressive Paradise Lost-style of death/doom to a slower and thicker shade of My Dying Bride funeral doom with some Swallow the Sun and early Katatonia mixed in. Their transitions between these elements feel effortless thanks to impeccable mixing from Dan Swanö. Mother of Graves shines in their ability to craft evocative melodic doom. The eight-minute opener, “Wingless Soul,” contains a melody so catchy that it’ll stick like a well-loved lollipop that slipped from your hands and tangled itself in your beard hair. And speaking of Swanö, he has a brief part singing cleans on the opener, albeit a little awkwardly.1 “Wingless Soul” displays a little bit of everything the band has to offer, from gentle piano to cleans to heavy doom to up-tempo death. While it’s a strong start, it’s not even the best thing on the album.

Nowhere does Mother of Graves better demonstrate the power of their songwriting prowess than on the final three songs of The Light That Keeps Us. “A Moonlit Tryst” begins like a piece from a Dolven record, complete with nighttime campfire sounds and acoustic guitars. The brutal, slow-moving doom that follows casts a mournful spell that’ll leave you feeling crushed in the most gentle way possible. When “The Beggar’s Allegory” begins with its beautiful gothic piano tune, it feels almost like more of the same thing. Yet the track dives into a speedier death/doom anchored by a killer melody, and there are moments on it where you can hear whispers of early Opeth. “The Endless Climb,” however, comes pretty close to SOTY material, with a terrific melodic lead, some violins, and a gentle classical piano bit, all coalescing into a conclusion that just may be the year’s most powerful.

Yet, The Light That Keeps Us falls just short of the greatness of The Periapt of Absence. It doesn’t as consistently weave its spell, as a few songs in the front half lack the impact of the rest. Mother of Graves also employs some spoken/whispered word bits throughout the record that pull listeners out of their doom-y trance. They rear their ugly head in the already lengthy “Wingless Soul” and also conclude “Through the Pale Shade” with a whimper. The worst section comes from “Eventide Angel,” though that tune at least ends in terrific, aggressive fashion. In a way, these are nitpicks, but they go to show that this album just isn’t as consistently great as its predecessor. With a more pared-back tempo, it’s also not as immediate, though it offers plenty of rewards on repeat spins.

Three records in, Mother of Graves continue to impress with their emotive compositions and incredible performances. Brandon Howe growls with strength and depth, evoking the image of a gentle giant—powerful yet sensitive. Coupled with Ben Sandman and Chris Morrison’s calculated riffs, which effortlessly carry the music from dense heaviness to melodic beauty to tenderness, Mother of Graves writes music that’s comforting in its familiarity yet rewarding in its depth. It wouldn’t surprise me if this ends up on many year-end lists, and maybe with repeat spins it could elevate itself onto mine. Whatever the case, I look forward to their next album to land October 13, 2028.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Profound Lore Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: October 16th, 2026

There’s an art to writing long-form metal albums. Determining how much to write while keeping listeners engaged as their attention inevitably wanes is no easy task. But how long is too long? We will use that question as the launchpad for our journey into the cosmos with death metal duo Iapetus. Multi-instrumentalists Jordan Navarro and Matthew Cerami have been testing the limits of attention spans since 2010, releasing two albums built around epic compositions designed to function as complete works. Thus far, it has worked splendidly. Their 2019 self-released effort, The Body Cosmic, impressed the Eldritch one enough to earn a spot in his Things You Might Have Missed feature, and it appears Iapetus made an equally strong impression on the team at Willowtip Records, which has chosen to release the duo’s new record, The Mother Void. This third effort concludes a trilogy started by 2017 debut, The Long Road Home.

Telling a story about humanity, the cosmos, and the tension between a mortal existence and the vastness of immortal space, The Mother Void largely follows the formula Iapetus established on previous releases while refining it into a compelling odyssey among the stars. Four tracks serve as the record’s focal point across its 69 minutes, with shorter interludes providing the connective tissue between each showstopper. The compositions are seamless and as grandiose as before, seesawing between tremolo-heavy, volatile surges and soft, shimmering moments. Fabienne Erni (Eluveitie) lends her talents to wistful verses (“The Mother Void”), entrancing bridges (“Aniara,” “Parturition”) and bombastic choruses (“Red Giant”), leaving absolutely nothing on the table as she tears through the fabric of space and time.1 Cerami’s coarse growls occupy the death end of the spectrum and provide a powerful counterpoint to Erni’s soothing, soaring melodies, creating a dynamic interplay that helps give The Mother Void its robust character.

From the title track through “Red Giant,” Iapetus forms The Mother Void’s celestial nexus, swelling and expanding like the universe in the wake of the Big Bang. The title track immediately launches the listener into overdrive with a blaze of tremolo picking and relentless blast beats, evoking the melodic black of Wintersun as Erni’s ethereal vocal lines guide the song into a sea of tranquility. “Aniara” is reminiscent of Ne Obliviscaris at their best. Beginning with a crestfallen tone before returning to Iapetus’ trem-picked tendencies, the cut’s knotty yet catchy riffing shines at the bridge, striking an impressive balance between technicality and melodicism. The same can be said of the guitar solo that anchors the track’s closing minutes. Everything reaches its zenith with “Red Giant,” which melds the influences of the prior tracks while injecting Mors Principium Est’s sharp melodeath into the mix. In short, it’s an epic song that never overstays its welcome, despite stretching to nearly twelve minutes. The same can be largely said of The Mother Void’s first half, where the group’s ambitions are matched by a keen sense of pacing.

It’s at this point—as the interlude “Énouement” gives way to “TON”—our initial question comes back into focus. While The Mother Void largely avoids the pitfalls of bloat, “TON,” and, to a lesser extent the dreamlike heart of “Aniara,” find Iapetus exceeding the bounds of The Mother Void’s scale and flow. At nearly nineteen minutes, “TON” initially succeeds, pairing forceful melodeath with Frank Harper’s strong guest vocals while showcasing Iapetus’ knack for complex songwriting. By this stage, their formula has grown somewhat predictable, but that alone is not an issue. The main issue lies in the song’s second half. The track lingers far too long, settling into a tropey Gojira-esque riff that feels out of place amid the song’s otherwise more distinctive traits. The outro only compounds things, sounding as though it’s winding down before pressing on for several more minutes. Similarly, the inclusion of “The World Be Undone” feels unnecessary, as Iapetus could have ended on a stronger note without it.

Like the universe it contemplates, The Mother Void burns brightest when it keeps its ambitions in balance. Though a few songs drift beyond their natural limits, the addition of Erni elevates the duo’s sound, while the songwriting remains ambitious, emotive, and richly textured. Iapetus has delivered an odyssey that serves as a worthy conclusion to the trilogy they began years ago, standing as another impressive achievement from one of progressive death metal’s most promising acts. For death fans of all stripes, The Mother Void is well worth the journey.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: iapetus1.bandcamp.com/music | iapetusband.com | facebook.com/Iapetus.Metal
Releases Worldwide: October 16th, 2026

As it's October another favourite album from this year

Fires in the Distance - Circadian Promise
Bandcamp link
https://firesinthedistance.bandcamp.com/album/circadian-promise

#MittwochMetalMix #DeathMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #KittysJukebox

How HateSphere has continued to find success after over twenty-five years playing their tried, true, and dated brand of Scandathrash is beyond me. With a catalog as inconsistent in quality as an Arizona highway, these Danes continue pounding out records like Mormon men with fourteen-person families. After two decades of personnel changes, the best thing going for the band is the surprise behind the mic. But since 2023’s Hatred Reborn, there haven’t been any real surprises behind the scenes. Minus a new drummer, founder Peter Lyse Karmark continues to lead the charge, even bringing back Mathia Uldall for vocal duties. With a touch more melody than the previous record, this year’s Guillotine delivers ten new tracks to either push the envelope or just… be.

Against better judgment, this will be the fourth time I review a HateSphere release. But I initially requested this prison sentence because I enjoyed records like Bloodred Hatred and The Great Bludgeoning. Not to mention, I’ve been a genre lover from the early days of At the Gates, The Haunted, and Witchery. But man, it’s been a rough few records of mediocrity and staleness. Because the entire structure hasn’t changed in the last three years, maybe Guillotine will start a focused era of output. Wait, why the fuck am I being positive?

This twelfth album opens with the aptly titled instrumental “Chapter XII.” After the soft, reverberating guitars, the distortion kicks in, and we are provided with one of the best riffs on the album.1 The opener sets the tone nicely, slingshotting us into the purely predictable but solid “Dogma.” Wrapped up tightly in every element that defines the band, “Dogma” aggressively barks and growls; guitars hammer and swirl; and alternates between groove and melody. But in the end, it’s nothing special; it’s the standard we expect from HateSphere.

Thankfully, there are a few exciting numbers, like the back-to-back “Cleansing” and “Snake Charmer.” The first opens with a standard melodic introduction before firing off into a fun main riff. When the vocals arrive, the guitars come and go, letting the bass rise to the surface. After clawing through massive overlaid barks and growls, it ends with a headbangable chug of pure bliss. “Snake Charmer” is an extra minute-plus, delivering sinister vibes and a razor-sharp riff straight from Witchery’s Don’t Fear the Reaper. Toss in some melodicness and a good balance of back-and-forth antics, and it’s a pleasing piece. For something a bit more Soilwork-meets-Dark Tranquillity, ensure you check out the catchy and punchy “Human Scum.”

But as is the case with most recent HateSphere records, filler pieces or duds distract or poison the flow. Unfortunately, it really hurts when it’s the first single and the title track. The main riff of “Guillotine” is the laziest attempt at Pantera’s “5 Minutes Alone.” I mean, I like the tone and direction, but then it drops into that slow, dissonant, overused guitar sound that bores the hell out of it. The best part is the riff transition at the end, but, ya know, it’s a bit late. “Bottom Feeder” is another slogger with a decent vocal approach, but it tries so hard to be old-school death that it never develops further than the character. The closer is the longest on the album and one of the biggest letdowns. “Heresy” feels like the expected album epic, and the band thought so too, but like “Guillotine,” it goes on and on, moving up and down for no reason, and consists of bruiser riffs and bully vocals that won’t end.

With a typical Tue Madsen master and early 2000s compression, Guillotine is just another in a long string of mixed HateSphere records. It has some kickass tunes, some predictable ones, and others that try so hard they become forgettable.2 That said, denying their drive and prolificity would make me a poser because I still come back to see if the next record breaks the mold. Guillotine has some interesting tweaks that freshen the palette for us old-time fans, but nothing cracks the surface that hasn’t been done numerous times over. But I didn’t hate everything, and what I did like will be added to my HateSphere playlist.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kb/s mp3
Label: Scarlet Records | Bandcamp
Websites: hatesphere.com | facebook.com/hatesphereofficial
Releases Worldwide: October 9th, 2026