CD

Haimad was formed in Sundsvall, Sweden in 1994 and released two tapes and a MCD between 1995 and 1999 before they went on a long hiatus.
Many years went by without a sign of life before Azradan, the only remaining founding member, set out to resurrect the band and recruited a new line-up in order to create Symphonic Black Metal in the best tradition of the Scandinavian mid-90s.
And who else but musicians who were part of that same scene back then would be able to create something that reminds so powerfully of the good old days?
25 years after their founding, Haimad release an EP that is a dream come true for any fan of albums like "The Sad Realm of the Stars", "Seen Through the Veils of Darkness", "Provenance of Cruelty", "In the Nightside Eclipse", "Stormblåst", "In Times Before the Light", "Moon in the Scorpio" or "Tusen År Har Gått".
If one has grown up with these milestones, listening to Haimad's "The Return" is like coming home after a long time away because the material on this EP is absolutely on par with the classics, and it sounds like it was composed over 20 years ago.

In the same vein as Haimad’s spectacular 2019 EP "The Return", their long overdue debut album finally arises like a beacon in the northern night, more than 30 years after the band’s founding, and continues the tradition of mid-90s style, melodic, symphonic Scandinavian Black Metal albums that saw a sort of renaissance in the recent past, most noteworthy with some bands from the Finnish scene. Haimad show that Sweden, too, can still produce albums of the caliber of the 90s classics, and unleashes a majestic coalescence of classic symphony and Black Metal inferno steeped in Tolkien-lore.

From the mountains of Madrid comes Antinoë, the haunting one-woman project of pianist and vocalist Teresa Marraco. With her ethereal voice and stark, piano-driven arrangements, Antinoë shapes soundscapes where neoclassical elegance collides with the atmospheric weight of metal, weaving music that is at once fragile, immersive, and profoundly melancholic. Fans of artists like Agnes Obel or Enya will find resonance here, yet Antinoë’s world is darker, steeped in reflection, loss, and yearning.

Since its inception in 2021, Antinoë has embraced a uniquely personal approach to darkness, building her songs around intimate piano compositions intertwined with her rich, resonant voice. Marraco’s background in extreme music further anchors her vision: she has collaborated with acts such as Coldborn, Elffor, Balmog, and Empty, and recorded the piano/keyboard parts for Dimmu Borgir’s live performance of Det Nye Riket at Beyond the Gates Festival. Her 2023 debut, “Whispers from the Dark Past”, an acoustic reinterpretation of 90s Norwegian black metal classics, garnered critical attention and cemented her distinctive identity on the border between metal and neoclassical expression.

Two years since the release of Saturnian Bloodstorm, Lamp of Murmuur has once again raised the chalice of victory for the masses with a new beckoning of devotion and elegance, titled “The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy”. Gradually ascended these past years as one of the furthermost esteemed and sought luminaries within the new wave of black metal, Lamp of Murmuur is still a force to be reckoned with.

Where “Saturnian Bloodstorm” raged with untameable fire and “Submission and Slavery” plunged into catharsis and purgatory, this new opus stands as the synergy of both sides of a bloodstained coin.
Triumph and grief, transcendence and torment. Beneath the soundscapes of blackened vigour and madness lies a narrative that reaches beyond dreams, exploring instead the unyielding pursuit of absolute spiritual liberation through sacrifice, manifesting the will of the Seven Spears with a delicate, yet more menacing gesture than in previous efforts, birthing the project’s most adventurous and daring offering yet.

Akolyth is a fractured shard of the primeval source that lies beyond the stygian desert.

Reissue of this Dungeon Synth cult classic from 1998. Comes as Collector's Edition in 4-panel Digipack with improved layout, limited to 500 copies.

Forged in the twilight of grand manor halls and secret gardens, this album unfolded like a whispered legend between 2021 and 2024 — where shadows dance with light and time drifts softly through castle ruins.

Adorn is more than just a musical endeavour; it is an act of devotion—to the transcendence of art once liberated from the sterile confines of modernity, to the melancholy of deserted halls, and to the fading glimmer of courtly love. By fusing romanticism with atmospheric blackened metal into compositions that veer between solemnity and splendour, the trio creates sonic worlds that shimmer with longing and luminosity.

At the helm is Coeur Loyale (vocals, guitar, bass), whose soul-shaped songs seek to revive a dreamed, not simply lost, world. He is joined by Valliant Desire (violin, piano, choral arrangements), whose melodies sound like ghosted letters from ancient hands, and Bon Valour (drums), whose rhythms echo through cathedral ruins like hooves.

Together, they form Adorn, a sacred community of song and sorrow that resurrects the grandeur of the past by utilising the emotional majesty of the present. They take listeners to a world of twilight where the stars are low, the roses never die, and the heart endures, ever ablaze with noble intent. Their music does more than just play; it hurts, mourns, and exalts.

Adorn is a gift for those who dream in sepia and find the modern world too pale for their desires. A cry into the night. A garland laid upon the altar of lost time. Romantic music for dreamers.

Adorn is more than just a musical endeavour; it is an act of devotion—to the transcendence of art once liberated from the sterile confines of modernity, to the melancholy of deserted halls, and to the fading glimmer of courtly love. By fusing romanticism with atmospheric blackened metal into compositions that veer between solemnity and splendour, the trio creates sonic worlds that shimmer with longing and luminosity.

At the helm is Coeur Loyale (vocals, guitar, bass), whose soul-shaped songs seek to revive a dreamed, not simply lost, world. He is joined by Valliant Desire (violin, piano, choral arrangements), whose melodies sound like ghosted letters from ancient hands, and Bon Valour (drums), whose rhythms echo through cathedral ruins like hooves.

Together, they form Adorn, a sacred community of song and sorrow that resurrects the grandeur of the past by utilising the emotional majesty of the present. They take listeners to a world of twilight where the stars are low, the roses never die, and the heart endures, ever ablaze with noble intent. Their music does more than just play; it hurts, mourns, and exalts.

Adorn is a gift for those who dream in sepia and find the modern world too pale for their desires. A cry into the night. A garland laid upon the altar of lost time. Romantic music for dreamers.

After two demo tapes, the essence of Serpent Dweller has been steeped into a deeper meditation of death worship. The first full length offering follows the experience of one unknowingly entering the afterlife; bewildering sights of what lies beyond the veil, dissolution of the ego, and the inescapable surrender at the end of mortality. Exploring themes of pain, loss, and the soul's journey through uncharted planes of existence, the omnipresent shadow of death is venerated at every turn.