RIVERS OF NIHIL
"RIVERS OF NIHIL"
Black/ Doom Metal
Release date: 30.05.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

Sixteen years and five albums into the Pennsylvania band’s career, RIVERS OF NIHIL is upping the ante with Rivers Of Nihil. Traditionally, a self-titled record can signal a return to basics and/or a fresh beginning, and in ten powerful songs, it’s clear that both those factors are in play. Founding bassist Adam Biggs became the band’s new lead vocalist/bassist in 2023; the same year marked the appearance of additional guitarist Andy Thomas (ex-Black Crown Initiate), whose vocals also play prominently on Rivers Of Nihil. Producers Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio captured the new dynamics across more than fifty minutes of music.

CD/ LP:

1. The Sub-Orbital Blues
2. Dustman
3. Criminals
4. Despair Church
5. ...

HATE
"BELLUM REGIIS"
Blackened Death Metal
Release date: 02.05.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

With a dozen ferocious and lauded albums since 1996’s Daemon Qui Fecit Terra, HATE’s lucky thirteenth album, Bellum Regiis, sees the unrelenting Polish quartet forging a bolder and more aggressive style than ever. Bellum Regiis’ nine songs see vocalist/guitarist ATF Sinner, guitarist Domin, drummer Nar-Sil, and bassist Tiermes honing a modern sound rife with eerie atmosphere and depth. Produced by David Castillo (Candlemass, Carcass, Dark Tranquillity, Katatonia) at Stockholm's Grondahl Studio, Bellum Regiis is lyrically a more “humanity focused and personal” album than 2021’s Rugia while its songs are timely aural and visual exploration of, according to the vocalist, “a struggle for power and everything that comes with it.”

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KARDASHEV
"ALUNEA"
Deathgaze/ Progressive Dark Metal
Release date: 25.04.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

The eight sonically and lyrically immersive songs on Alunea have set yet another high-water mark for the dynamic lineup. Known as the progenitors of the “deathgaze” genre, that descriptor is evolving as KARDASHEV continually explores and pushes boundaries. “Words you could use to describe our music are ‘atmospheric, progressive, emotional, dynamic, and contrast,” explains drummer Sean Lang. “Our music attempts to sonically portray the emotions of anger and sorrow which creates a palpable but natural dynamic contrast.” Music has always been a universal language, but KARDASHEV creates their own lyrical language, adding depth and meaning.

Alunea is a direct sequel to the events of The Almanac and picks up right where the song "Beyond Sun An...

LIK
"NECRO"
Death Metal/ Thrash
Release date: 11.04.2025
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)

Standing loud and proud over so many imitators, Necro is the musical equivalent of a classic shock-horror movie that’s drenched in blood and gore and packed with over-the-top extremities. Delve beyond the zombified cover art created by Stockholm-based tattooist and artist Jens Olsson (Ink Fanatics), Necro serves as a reminder of just how special and exciting the genre is: packed with blood-curdling fantasy stories about war, death, zombies, world apocalypse, and murder all stacked with disgustingly-good rotten riffs. After recording and releasing their critically acclaimed third full-length, 2020’s Misanthropic Breed, during the pandemic, this time around getting back into the studio properly was paramount.

And while Misanthropic Breed was recorded at the quartet&rs...