Author: Crix

Prog rock edge and dreamy atmosphere – Luminous Mind released their The Reverie’s Lament EP

Luminous Mind is a quintet that conjures up atmospheric progressive rock. The band released a brand new EP, The Reverie’s Lament. The EP is a four-song story that explores the nuanced emotions and experiences of falling asleep and dreaming. The Reverie’s Lament presents the first songs featuring the band’s new soloist Topi Aalto. Finding a new singer took some time, but now the band’s lineup is in place, and Luminous Mind is ready to kick things into gear.

“This ensemble takes the listener on a journey where dreams and reality mix, and waking up is not a given. The songs combine elements of progressive rock and metal, creating a soundscape that reflects the chaos and beauty of being on the border between sleep and wakefulness,” the band says.

The EP was previewed with the ten-minute prog epic Waking Dreams and Borderline, which showcases Luminous Mind’s rockier edge. As the last track, the band presents the song Restless Serenity.

“Restless Serenity is a relatively more straightforward song than you usually hear from our band, and it represents more fast-paced rock. Despite this, it still strongly reflects our band’s style and essence. The song is, as the name suggests, energetic and hectic in its atmosphere, but at the end the song opens up and calms down into an atmospheric outro,” says singer Topi Aalto, who wrote the song’s lyrics.

Luminous Mind is:
Topi Aalto – vocals
Antti Soini – guitar
Aleksi Korkee – keyboards
Sami Kepsu – bass
Touko Lehto – drums & backing vocals

LUMINOUS MIND | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY

SHORES OF NULL First Leg of 2025 EU Tour Dates – Live Album “Beauty Over Europe” Out May 2025

Italian melancholic dark metal SHORES OF NULL announce their first leg of of 2025 tour dates across Europe that will feature a combination of festival appearances and indoor shows between Italy and Germany.

Shores of Null 2025 Tour Dates:​
01.03 • Journey Fest VI @ Spazio Webo – Pesaro
w/ Deadly Carnage, Ghostheart Nebula, Built-in Obsolescence Band, Lilinanna
14.03 • Alchemica Music Club – Bologna
w/ Deadly Carnage, Built-in Obsolescence Band, Eva Can’t
30.04 • Klubhaus – Saalfeld w/ Décembre Noir, Praise The Plague
01.05 • TBA
02.05 • Walpurgisnacht Vol. IV – Berlin w/ And Oceans, Heretoir, Décembre Noir
11.05 • Isola Rock – Verona w/ Dark Lunacy
15.06 • Arena Alpe Adria – Lignano Sabbiadoro w/ In Flames, Lacuna Coil

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In additional news, Shores of Null will be unraveling a live album for May 2025. Entitled “Beauty Over Europe”, the live record features 10 tracks that were recorded during their monumental 2023 European tour with Swallow The Sun, Draconian, and Avatarium. Throughout that tour, Shores of Null performed 35 shows across 18 countries, including Norway, Denmark, Germany, the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Hungary, bringing their critically acclaimed album “The Loss Of Beauty” to the stage.

The live recordings, captured in the cities of Leipzig, Munich, Aschaffenburg, Budapest, and Belfast, preserve the raw and emotive energy of their performances. Each track reflects the band’s ability to blend melancholic melodies with crushing heaviness, offering fans a visceral live experience.

“Beauty Over Europe” is both a celebration of the tour and a gift to all fans of the band. Exactly two years after that unforgettable journey, this live album offers a chance to relive the emotional intensity and true essence of Shores Of Null’s live performances.

Guitarist Gabriele Giaccari comments:

“This tour was an incredible journey, the longest in our career, and a true milestone for Shores Of Null. As the promotional tour for The Loss Of Beauty, our latest and most acclaimed album to date, it was an honor to bring these songs to life across 35 shows in 18 countries. Sharing the stage with monumental bands like Swallow The Sun and Draconian—huge inspirations for our music—was unforgettable. Despite the melancholy of their sound, they’re some of the most fun and genuine people we’ve met, and by the end of this epic journey, we were proud to call them friends.

We owe special thanks to our incredible crew—Petri, Matti, Mikko, and Tero—who ensured everything ran seamlessly and made this experience unforgettable. To pay homage to this extraordinary chapter, we decided to produce a live album. Recorded during key moments of the tour, it captures the essence of these unforgettable performances and is dedicated to all the people who supported us live and shared these magical moments with us.”

Watch a live video clip from their tour stop in Aschaffenburg, Germany performing “The Last Flower” – https://youtu.be/w-Hq69KG2RM​

Spotify – https://spoti.fi/3BU584W​

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Setlist:​
1. Transitory (Live intro)
2. Destination Woe (Live in Leipzig)
3. Nothing Left To Burn (Live in Leipzig)
4. Quiescent (Live in Munich)
5. The Last Flower (Live in Aschaffenburg)
6. Black Drapes For Tomorrow (Live in Budapest)
7. A Nature in Disguise (Live in Munich)
8. Darkness Won’t Take Me (Live in Belfast)
9. My Darkest Years (Live in Aschaffenburg)
10. Blazing Sunlight (Live Outro)
​
Live Recording: Matti Kynsijärvi
Mixing and Mastering: Marco Mastrobuono at Bloom Recording Studios
​
​Band:​
Davide Straccione – Vocals
Gabriele Giaccari – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Raffaele Colace – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Lorenzo Carlini – Live Bass
Matteo Capozucca – Bass
Emiliano Cantiano – Drums

“The Loss of Beauty” is Shores Of Null’s fourth album and follows the acclaimed “Beyond The Shores (On Death And Dying)”, unanimously considered by fans and critics as one of the Doom Metal gems of recent years. The lyrics celebrate beauty in imperfection and transience and are meant to be an invitation to seek beauty in little things, especially those unexpected and ephemeral.

Stylistically, “The Loss of Beauty” continues along the sulcus set forth by “Quiescence” and “Black Drapes For Tomorrow”, its melancholic dark metal with a wide range of influences, from gothic metal to doom metal and melodic black/death metal, with frequent use of vocal harmonies and deep growls.

The album consists of 13 songs, while the LP version only contains 11, the two extra tracks are bonus tracks that can be found on the CD version as well as on the streaming platforms. Dark and heavy, tinged with feelings of despair and melancholy, “The Loss Of Beauty” was released on March 24th, 2023, and is recommended for fans of Swallow The Sun, Borknagar, and Paradise Lost.

Album Stream:

YouTube – https://youtu.be/vWOcwJYjhq8​

Spotify – https://spoti.fi/3ZckbMW​

Album order (Digital, CD, Vinyl) – https://linktr.ee/thelossofbeauty​

For more info: Spikerot.com | Shoresofnull.com

About:

Shores of Null stand out from their contemporaries with their ability to blend seemingly disparate elements into their sound, overwhelmingly heavy and soothing at the same time: blackened aggression stands alongside gothic-doom sections without either sounding out of place. Their music can be both melancholic yet majestic, made of chorale-like guitar textures across the instrument’s entire range, sustained by a powerful rhythmic section and punctuated by a refined mixture of clean and growled vocals, along with extensive use of pleasing vocal harmonies which have become the band’s trademark through the years.

The Rome-based metal band has been an unwavering presence within the metal underground since their musical outset in 2013, churning out a series of impressive records: the melodic and somber “Quiescence” (Candlelight, 2014), the darker and more complex “Black Drapes For Tomorrow” (Candlelight/Spinefarm, 2017), and the ambitious “Beyond The Shores (On Death And Dying)” (Spikerot Records, 2020), a 38-minute long doom manifesto that sees guest appearances of the doom-titans Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow The Sun) and Thomas A.G. Jensen (Saturnus), along with the angelic voice of Elisabetta Marchetti (Inno).

Shores Of Null’s fourth album, “The Loss Of Beauty”, released in March 2023, was hailed as one of the best albums of the year within the genre. The band supported the release with an extensive EU/UK tour alongside Swallow The Sun, Draconian, and Avatarium, followed by standout performances at major festivals like Hellfest, Rock Imperium, and 70000 Tons Of Metal among others, further solidifying their status as one of the rising forces in the metal scene.

Shiraz Lane’s upcoming album’s catchy Dangerous single released today – The band heads to the Caribbean next week, Finland’s only spring gig in April at Olympia, UK tour announced for June

Shiraz Lane, who announced their international deal with Frontiers Music Srl earlier this month, releases the first single from her upcoming studio album, Dangerous, today.

‘‘Explosive and seductive, Dangerous is the first single release from our upcoming album in its own right. The song is like a compass towards a renewed soundscape and at the same time a perfect example of what Shiraz Lane means in 2025″ the band describes.

Both Dangerous and the entire upcoming album were made in collaboration with producer Per Aldeheim, the same man who also conjured up the sounds of the band’s most successful releases to date, Carnival Days and Vibration I.

The release is accompanied by a music video filmed and edited by Juho Virinkoski (Rytmivisuals), which captures the atmosphere of the song in a minimalist way.

“The inspiration for the video came from a scene in the movie Joker: Folie á Deux, and we think this landscape fits the elegance of the song perfectly.”

Shiraz Lane will travel to the United States next week and from there to the Caribbean to perform on Monsters Of Rock cruise, and the band  also  announces a tour in the United Kingdom next June. Two festival shows have been supplemented with club dates around the island nation.

Currently announced shows are:

10.-15.3. Monsters of Rock Cruise – US & Bahama
18.4. Olympia – Tampere (support: Block Of Flats)
24.5. Wildfest – Belgium

Shiraz Lane UK tour:
* Support XIII DOORS
19.6. Loverocks Festival
20.6. The Northern Club – Pontefract
21.6. Rock Vibes – Nottingham
22.6. Cart And Horses – London
23.6. The Giffard Arms – Wolverhampton
26.6. Waterloo Music Bar – Blackpool
27.6. Wildfire Festival – Wanlockhead

8.11. Lion Rock Festival – Spain

Black Ancestry releases Possessed In Chains album via Blasphemous Art Records

Black Ancestry rises from the depths of darkness, to revive lost sounds that have made history. They are devoted fans of the bands that have influenced much of extreme metal music such as SODOM, HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST, BATHORY, VENOM, SARCOFAGO, MORBID, NIFELHEIM, focusing on staying true to the attitude of those years and trying to revive that style and involve people, to revive an old-school metal scene. Instigating the new generations to pick up the battle axe again and push themselves further, to listen more and more to these styles of music, without needing too much modernity and bullshit!!!

This album is nothing but all of that!

The CD is available at Detroit Rock City Music Store & Alternative Bar Cafè in Gallipoli or by ordering it at blasphemousart@libero.it with worldwide shipping via Express Courier (Tracking Service).

Possessed In Chains (2025)

Tracklist:

1. Intro (Army of Darkness Prologue)
2. Black Angels
3. Satanic Nightmare
4. Evil… In March with Satan
5. Possessed In Chains
6. Black Ancestry
7. Rise Again
8. Master of the Earth

 

Wretched Path releases epic new single with a music video – New album out next month

Finnish death metal band Wretched Path releases their second album “Sea of Death” on March 26th 2025. First single “Release of Violence” introduced the straight-forward and raw side of the upcoming album. Now released title track of the album dives into the versatile depths with epic touch. The band also releases a music video of the single.

“The lyrics were inspired by the sound of a submarine sonar heard in the original intro, which took the lyricist’s thoughts to the Baltic Sea in 1945, where several ships were sunk during the final days of the war. These events constitute the greatest loss of life ever recorded at sea. This track is the perfect conclusion to the album.” tells the Singer Esa Salminen.

Listen to the single on music services (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer etc): https://push.fm/fl/wretchedpath-sods

Check the music video on YouTube.

Formed in 2020 by seasoned musicians from renowned bands like Pestigore, Born of Thorns, Tukkanuotta, and Warmen, Wretched Path was born out of a desire to return to their Death Metal roots. Their debut album received rave reviews from various magazines and websites, and they played several gigs around Finland including the legendary Nummirock festival 2023.
https://www.wretchedpath.com/

https://www.facebook.com/wretchedpath

https://www.instagram.com/wretchedpath/

https://wretchedpath.bandcamp.com/

Returning metal regiment Freedomination releases their album Until The Lights Go Out

Freedomination, which draws inspiration from the depths of thrash, prog and heavy metal of the old Finnish League, is today on the verge of its new full-length studio album. The release of the new album will be celebrated at Myyrmäki Skenesal on March 7. More information and tickets can be found here.

The band, founded in Vantaa in 2008, was on hiatus from 2017 until the band returned to the stage with a new lineup in 2022. Unusually, Until The Lights Go Out is also the debut album of a long-standing band!
Now, however, Freedomination has been honed to a new level, and their sights have been set on the top of the metal world.

“Finishing Freedomination’s debut album was not an easy process. The first version of it was already created in 2011, the next in 2014. In 2017, I already decided that this band had come to the end of its journey – but here we are again. Now with a new line-up, the album is finally finished! As a whole band, we can proudly say that the album came out very hard. Less has never been an option. Until The Lights Go Out is full of stuff for all lovers of quality, melodic and guitar-driven heavy metal. Check it out for yourself!” says the band’s singer-guitarist Timo Ahlström.

The band released the album’s lead single, Second Chance.

“Sometimes in life there are moments when you have to turn the page, even if you don’t want to. Second Chance is about the weight of these moments and how important it is to look forward. We wrote a real hit song for this song! At the same time, the song represents the rockier side of the album,” Ahlström comments.

Until The Lights Go Out (2025)

1. Sin Road
2. Heaven Sent
3. The Raven
4. Second Chance
5. Tear Down The Wall
6. Smoking Gun
7. Unleash Hell
8. Down With The Rain
9. Until The Lights Go Out

Freedomination founding member singer-guitarist Timo Ahlström’s musical resume includes live touring in the band Barren Earth and performing with Canadian Annihilator in 2013. In addition to Timo Ahlström, the band’s lineup includes Jörgen Reinholm (guitar), Tommi Otsavaara (bass & backing vocals) and Jukka Ahlström (drums).

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY

Demon Spawn single by Miss Vain out now – Sempiternal Drive EP to be released in April

Finnish metal band that rocks, Miss Vain, is set to release their second EP ‘Sempiternal Drive’ on April 11th 2025 via Inverse Records. The third single ‘Demon Spawn’ is released today and it’s available on streaming services: https://push.fm/fl/miss-vain-demon

Guitarist Anssi Liikanen comments:
“This song has absorbed influences heavily from those bands that were on the disc player back in the day when still learning to drink lager. Pretty straightforward playing where finding any deeper meaning falls on the shoulders of the listener.” 
The music video of first single ‘Remedy’ can be seen here: https://youtu.be/2iwgPOKHE_k

BIOGRAPHY:
Miss Vain is a five-piece rock band from Tampere, Finland, that drifts in the maelstrom of metal. Their music is a horn-driven energy and catchy melodies with a feathery delicacy.

Miss Vain was formed in 2019 as a two-man studio project. After two lighter pop /rock – songs,  we lowered our tune and in the summer of 2021 Miss Vain grew into a real band… Finally.

Miss Vain’s debut – EP Crocus Biflorus, which was fairly noticed, was released in fall 2023 on Inverse Records.

Our mission is to deliver joyful moments with new awesome songs and live shows to all who are willing to be entertained by Miss Vain’s rumbling tunes.

Miss Vain – Demon Spawn (Single 2025)

Composed & lyrics by Miss Vain
ISRC: FI3FC2588104
Single cover: Minttu Haveri

Miss Vain – Sempiternal Drive (EP 2025)


Track list:
01. Now or Neverland
02. The Alchemist
03. Remedy
04. Demon Spawn
05. Sempiternal Drive

Composed & lyrics by Miss Vain
EP cover: Minttu Haveri

Line-up:
Mikko Vilkman – Vocals
Eetu Halttunen – Bass
Kasperi Kinnunen – Guitar
Anssi Liikanen – Guitar
Sasu Haveri – Drums

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/MissVainBand
https://www.instagram.com/missvain_official
https://missvain.bandcamp.com

AITTALA Announces Highly Anticipated New Album “Machines” Out April 2025

Eclectic doom metal powerhouse Aittala is set to release its latest full-length album, “Machines,” on April 17, 2025, via Exitus Stratagem Records. Known for their unique fusion of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash, and hard rock, Aittala delivers a sound that fans of Metallica, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, and old-school metal will appreciate.

The songs on “Machines” were originally written and demoed between 1990 and 1997 on an analog 4-track cassette recorder. Now, Aittala has revived these tracks, preserving their raw essence while enhancing them with modern production techniques. The album offers a nostalgic yet powerful experience, blending early progressive metal influences with storytelling-driven lyrics. While showcasing a distinct style from their recent works, “Machines” stays true to Aittala’s signature heavy, immersive sound.

Formed in 1991 in Holland, Aittala quickly gained recognition in the Dutch metal scene, opening for bands like THE GATHERING and SADIST. After a hiatus, frontman Eric Aittala resurrected the band in 2008, leading to six full-length albums: Bed of Thorns (2009), Haunt Your Flesh (2011), Effigy (2014), American Nightmare (2016), False Pretenses (2019), Live to Regret (2022).

Each release has marked an evolution in songwriting and lyrical depth, while “Machines” serves as a tribute to Aittala’s origins.

The current lineup includes:

Eric Aittala – Guitars/Vocals

Gary ‘Zeus’ Smith (THE FIFTH, ex-MR BLACKWELL) – Drums

The duo continues to write, record, and tour, bringing their distinct brand of metal to audiences worldwide.

Album pre-save (due out April 17, 2025) – https://hypeddit.com/aittala/machines​

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Track Listing:​
1. Machines – 7:31
2. Myself Deceived – 6:24
3. Misery – 6:53
4. To Know the Man – 4:51
5. Machines (Prologue) – 2:32
6. Machines (Epilogue) – 5:03
Album Length: 33;15

For more info: Exsrmusic.com | Aittala.com | Facebook.com/aittalamusic | Instagram.com/aittalamusic | Spotify​

SHE WANTS REVENGE frontman Justin Warfield lets fly new singer “Jet Plane”

With their poptastic debut single “All The Fun (Kiss Kiss Kiss)” still reaping acclaim, WARFIELD – the exciting new project led by She Wants revenge lyricist and frontman Justin Warfield – release their follow-up today.
Taken again from the forthcoming Deathrock Devotionals Vol I EP, “Jet Plane” marries an irresistibly propulsive groove to the descriptive storytelling for which Warfield has forever been renowned.   And it’s aptly-titled, too. As Justin puts it, “Jet Plane” “sounds like just one; full speed, propulsion, engine on red, and all go-go-go.” 
“Jet Plane” calls to mind the B-52’s and The Pretenders, but it broods with Justin’s own signature tone, imagery, and rapid-fire flow. With a beat you can’t help but move to, and an earworm chorus you will be singing before you’ve even finished listening to it, “Jet Plane” is youthful, undeniable, and will transport you to an underground all-ages party in an East LA warehouse where Manchester is the mindset.
Add the very ghostly reference  of the refrain of “Sympathy to the Devil”  to the brew (you’ll know it when you hear it), and anticipation for the EP is only going to grow stronger in its aftermath.
Justin describes WARFIELD as his first “proper” solo release since he co-founded She Wants Revenge in 2004, and whose self-titled release singlehandedly realigned the future of the Dark Alternative scene – “it’s the only recording and touring project I’ve helmed outside of SWR.”  The band itself, however, is by no means out of circulation – in the months to come, She Wants Revenge will be appearing at both Los Angeles’ famed Cruel World Festival and Forever Now, the sister festival in Milton Keynes, England.
But WARFIELD, too, will be on the road, playing their first ever live show at an EP release party in Echo Park, Los Angeles on March 29th, before launching a full European/UK tour in June, and North American tours in the Summer and Fall.
In the meantime, the “Jet Plane” video is here to at least help slake the appetite.

Available Bingo Bingo Santiago The second single/video from Porco Mondo, the new album by Mustang N° 5

The long wave of success of Porco Mondo, the new album by Mustang N° 5, shows no signs of stopping. Following the successful release of the video for Tira Fuori i Sogni, it is now Bingo Bingo Santiago‘s turn to give the public a different look at the work of these guys. A song that shows us a more internal, but no less intriguing, side of the music of the Sicilian band.

After the decisive rock of the first single, the second one transports us into a more reflective dimension on the notes of a languid ballad with intimate lyrics, once again sung in Italian. The great tradition of local rock, based on a strong focus on melody and storytelling, lives on in the music of Mustang N° 5.

Line up:

Puccio Basile (Voice)
Marco Occhipinti (Guitar)
Danilo De Matteo (Guitar)
Giuseppe Arena (Bass)
Dario Celona (Drums)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mustangn.5/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MustN.5
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzSKElPqPHvX9rl-0FfNNQA
https://open.spotify.com/intl-it/artist/2ZLyeBWOTuNSamOuLDhoW7
https://wall.cdclick-europe.com/projects/mustang-n5-porco-mondo
https://music.apple.com/it/album/tira-fuori-i-sogni/1754808591?i=1754808592