Heavy Metal Talks music blog

Artist: Via Doloris Origin: Oslo, Norway Label: Season of Mist Released: March 20, 2026 Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal Rating: 8/10 Listen/Buy: Bandcamp Via Doloris is the solo project of Gildas Le Pape , the known guitarist who spent years with Satyricon. Guerre et Paix is his debut, and it hits differently than expected. Dark, atmospheric black metal with a folk edge. Seven tracks, none of them short. The songs take their time, and that is both the strength and the weakness here. There are moments where it feels alittle boring and drags out and a few passages could have been cut. But that slow, heavy crawl is also what gives this album its identity. The drumming is the first thing you notice. Frost of 1349 and Satyricon behind the kit ,and it shows. Blast beats, power, brutality. Fantastic throughout. He drives the whole thing forward without stepping on the melodies,it is marvellous. And the vocal is also very good , it fit this album so much , the bass is in a lea...

  Artist: Desolus Origin: Washington D.C., USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Released: May 15, 2026 Genre: Black/Thrash Metal Rating: 8/10 Listen/Buy: Bandcamp Desolus play old school, tight and claustrophobic form of thrash metal, with clear elements of both death and black metal. This sounds real, raw and filthy from start to finish. The whole album gives me an old school, demonic feeling ,almost like being hunted through the dark forest. The riffs and drums deliver the classic thrash feeling, with clear associations to both Slayer and Sodom. Fast, aggressive and full of the primitive energy that makes this kind of metal so effective when it hits right. The production is a big part of the experience. It gives me the feeling of being locked inside a damp bunker with bad air, rusty walls and no way out. Tight, dark and filthy , and here that is a strength. This album was never meant to sound pretty. It was meant to sound dangerous. The tracks that stand out mos...

  Artist: Moshquito Origin: Germany Label: German Democratic Recordings Released: May 15, 2026 Genre: Death/Thrash Metal Rating: 7/10 Listen/Buy: Metal Archives This is a difficult album to review for me, simply because Dies Irae is my first encounter with Moshquito. After some reading up on the band, I found a fair amount of negative opinions around this record , most of the criticism pointing to a lack of development and a missing progressive edge the band apparently had before. For me, that might actually be a good thing. I came into this without any old favourites in the back of my head. I'm not listening for what Moshquito once was. I'm hearing this as a death/thrash album,and for that Dies Irae works pretty well. There's a lot that hits right. The album has a dirty, brutal and direct feel to it, though I miss more energy in some places. There are sections that feels a bit flat, and a few more tracks that really kick harder would have lifted the whole...

  Artist: Se, Josta Ei Puhuta Origin: Iisalmi, Finland Label: Inverse Records Released: May 29, 2026 Genre: Black Metal / Death Metal Rating: 7/10 Listen/Buy: Bandcamp Cold, dark and angry. That's what hits first. Se, Josta Ei Puhuta play black metal-infected death metal with roots in punk and thrash , and you feel it. At times really fast, at others deeply melodic. The contrast is real and it is so good when it works. The vocals sit between death and black metal, and I prefer them when they go full black metal. Either way they fit , they complete the music rather than fight it. Got this one as a promo ahead of release ,  thanks to Inverse Records for the trust. Syvyyden portit on saatava auki is the track that got me. A good dose of everything I like , the darkness, the melody, the intensity all hitting at once. I don't understand a word of Finnish but the music told me its own story. That's not nothing. Other tracks that stands out is : Varis and pimeys ...

  Artist: Devenial Verdict Origin: Helsinki, Finland Label: Transcending Obscurity Released: May 1, 2026 Genre: Atmospheric Death Metal Rating: 8/10 Listen/Buy: Bandcamp Devenial Verdict hit hard from the very first note. Death metal straight in the face! A vocalist who sounds like he means every single word. Heavy, intense and direct, and from there it just keeps getting better. Elysium is the stand out track for me, rhythmic, groovy and brutal all at once ,the drummer really gets to show what he's capable of here. Everything works together. Riffs, drive, vocals and drums all pulling in the same direction. Death metal at its best. Thrones is the other standout. Chaos. But controlled chaos. And that's exactly what I like. The fact that these are older tracks given new life works surprisingly well. The production is solid throughout , every instrument gets a breathing space and a time to shine. The vocals deserve special mention it is brutal and almost beautiful...

  Artist: Inthraced Origin: Finland Label: Inverse Records Released: May 15, 2026 Genre: Symphonic Melodic Death Metal Rating: 8.5/10 Listen/Buy: Bandcamp Inthraced pull you in from the start. The universe is set immediately, the symphonic death metal scene done right, and I'm a sucker for it. Track two builds further, more synths, the tension rising. Then the clean vocals arrive and the whole thing flips on me. It doesn't sit well. When everything else is working this good, the clean vocals feel like the wrong call. They break the momentum and undo some of what the album had already built. It happens twice ,once early, once on the closing track and for me that costs the album something. Everything else though? Excellent. The vocals are aggressive and hold a high melodic death metal standard throughout. The drums deserve special mention ,production has treated them perfectly here, every hit landing exactly where it should. The guitars delivers riff after riff...