THE HEAVY METAL CITADEL

Join us as we stumble through beers, blistering riffs, merch tables, Irish acid chats, and a cosmic conversion at Cosmic Void 2025.

Brotthogg are from Norway and they know how to capture bleakness. This album is pure cold atmospheres and fury and it was one that surprised me with the quality.

This album succeeds because Castle Rat isn’t trying to fit into a genre checklist. They take doom, stoner rock, and heavy metal and infuse it with a story. Every track is a chapter, every riff fits right, and the narrative sneaks in without ever feeling forced.

Five years after Obsidian, Paradise Lost rise again with Ascension, their 17th studio album and a masterclass in gothic doom metal. This is Paradise Lost refusing nostalgia and proving why they still reign in 2025.

Queens/Long Island thrash trio Electrocutioner return with Harbinger, a vicious follow-up to False Idols. Fueled by breakneck riffs, war-cry vocals, and apocalyptic lyrics, the band sharpen their old-school influences into a weapon of mass destruction.

1914’s new single ‘1916 (The Südtirol Offensive)’ is a crushing, historically immersive track that captures the horror of WWI through blackened death/doom. Ahead of their upcoming album Viribus Unitis,.

Panzerchrist return with Maleficium Part 2, a sharpened blast of Danish blackened death metal. Our review dives into the witch-trial concept, Tue Madsen’s Antfarm production, and standout cuts Witchfinder General and Hex Maleficium Pex.

Parisian trio Hexekration Rites debut with an album that prizes authority over chaos. Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance fuses ritual menace with disciplined songwriting, blasts, hulking mid-tempos and incantatory vocals across nine tracks.

Kanonenfieber unleashes "Z-Vor!", a blast of blackened death metal fury inspired by the Battle of Jutland. It’s the first strike from their new concept compilation "Soldatenschicksale", arriving January 2026.

Swedish death metal legends Unleashed return with Fire Upon Your Lands, a fifteenth album of searing riffs, mythic storytelling, and battle-ready ferocity. From the first note to the final roar, it’s a masterclass in veteran metalcraft.

Philadelphia’s epic doom torchbearers Crypt Sermon are back with Saturnian Appendices, a masterfully heavy, atmospheric EP weaving myth, melancholy, and colossal riffs into an unforgettable journey.

Since first emerging in 2022, Blackbraid has become a defining force in American indigenous black metal. Blackbraid III marks the project’s most ambitious and technically accomplished work yet.

Ancient Torment unleash one of 2025’s strongest USBM records with Follow the Echo of Curses—a raw, ritualistic debut soaked in sorrow, filth, and conviction. From haunting riffs to liturgical pacing, this is black metal with purpose.

Cleveland’s blackened speed metal legends Midnight annihilated the New Cross Inn in London on August 1st 2025. From fan-favourite classics like Satanic Royalty to brutal new cuts off Steel, Rust and Disgust, this was a sweat-soaked warzone of riffs, pits, and filth.

Nihilvm’s Ancient Cosmic Emanation explodes into the Polish black metal scene. Blending razor-sharp riffwork, precision drumming, and cosmic-scale atmosphere, this debut is equal parts violent, methodical, and downright massive.

Alice Cooper and Judas Priest tore the roof off London’s O2 with fiery riffs, guillotines, and Halford’s iconic chopper. Chaos, £9.50 pints, and pure metal magic.

Bruce Dickinson’s More Balls to the Wall reworks his 1994 solo album with heavier riffs, modern production, and the same commanding voice that defined an era.

Alice Cooper’s The Revenge of Alice Cooper is a riotous blend of old-school shock-rock swagger, bluesy grit, and macabre humor that proves the king of theatrical rock still reigns.

Submersus by Hell is a slow-motion descent into sonic despair. With glacial riffs, cavernous production, and gut-wrenching emotion, it’s funeral doom perfected.

Oskoreien’s Hollow Fangs is a masterclass in atmospheric black metal—blending beauty, trauma, and fury into a cinematic, fanged ritual.

Skyforger Ignites Riga: Pagan Fury and Folk Fire at “Teikas”

Unto Others played London’s O2 Kentish Town in 2025, bringing their unique brand of heavy metal goth to an adoring crowd.

Kanonenfieber stormed The Dome with crushing riffs, gripping storytelling, and theatrical flair. War-themed metal at its most intense!

Uada delivered a dark, atmospheric show at London’s Underworld, blending furious riffs and intense energy for a night black metal fans won’t forget!​

Experience Spectral Wound’s unrelenting black metal storm from their recent live show at The Dome on Oct. 24th 2024 in London. A must-read for fans of visceral, frostbitten black metal.

Read our latest interview with Crypta as they discuss their explosive London gig, new album ‘Shades of Sorrow,’ and what’s next for the death metal giants.

Check out Chort’s wacky night in Oslo, Norway as he reviews Zustand Null, Sworn, Andakt live at Revolver.

Midnight brought their mayhem to London, leaving The New Cross Inn in ruins, or at least significantly stinkier, battered, and littered with metal pins on the floor than it was when they arrived.

The Infernal Sea unleashes their new album live at the Underworld in London. Chort and Chern were there to witness it.