Rosa Faenskap - Ingenting forblir (2026) Review

When did contemporary Norwegian black metal shift from corpse-painted despotism to more reflexive frameworks? Rosa Faenskap's sophomore album Ingenting forblir (= nothing endures) challenges the country's sonic tradition while not completely abandoning it, in what is a continuum of dark hardcore / post-black metal with a distinct Nordic genealogy. Having been oblivious of the trio's debut Jeg blir til deg (2023), I grappled with the record without knowing what to expect, which certainly wasn't this hybridization of tremolo worship, clean guitar diffusion and temporal undulation that consistently draws from multiple stylistic reservoirs (doom, prog, post-rock, punk) even with pure black metal as the anchor of its formalism.

Opening piece "Den svake mannen" is the instructive example of the band's methodology, tinkering shoegaze-like guitar lines on a path that gradually moves in heavier doom / black metal aggression. Some of the most characteristic Norwegian outcries can be found on the first notes of "Faenskap for alltid" (and later, also on "Bygg til himmelen", but of course not exclusively), but they never overstay their welcome. Punk-inflected vocals and abrupt tempo shifts, frequently switching with more layered post-rock breaks, felt to me like Rosa Faenskap consciously attempts to re-situate black metal within the family tree of radical underground music, and maybe wash some of the stain away.

The album's concept truly is the hottest punchline here. Where's the misanthropy, where's the pagan romanticism or the glorification of death? The band's intensity of expression has political concerns, with lyrics about social injustice and rising hatred, environmental worry and queer liberation. This alone will stir the pot enough for Ingenting forblir to be discussed, but it's engaging enough from a musicological perspective to grant at least the basic level of acknowledgement. Momentum of hardcore-boosted black metal across instances of ambient, almost cosmic interludes on "La barna leve" and "Klarhet i kaos" keeps the attention and never lets the dance between genres to quiet down.

One of my favorite moments on the album is the gloomy acoustic guitar introduction of "Famler i hatet", as well as the continuation in tormenting, mostly middle-paced speed and howling vocals, which randomly reminded me of another track by the Danish dark hardcore band Église, named "Have I Become Hell". Possibly not related anywhere else except my brain, but they do fit in the same playlist. Ingenting forblir covers an emotional range from despair to optimism, most notably in the almost ten-minute closing track "Jeg våkner snart", where the band accumulates all the rhythm and distortion it can to finish things off in a form of cleansing. It's one of the most demanding pieces but flows nicely, as does the whole of the record.

Apart from the elephant in the room, which will not be commented further, this is how experimentation and unrest can result in an album's benefit. Rosa Faenskap's musical multiplicity lifts them above the average blackgaze atmospheric wash. It gets its hands dirty when it needs to despite the apparent eclecticism meant to scare off black metal's bad boys. Some changes did feel a bit sudden, and some softer instances stretched, but the excitement doesn't reduce when listening to it. I could say, as exciting as hearing what people would have to say about it. 

Release: March 6th, 2026 | Fysisk Format
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

  

Protrusion - The Last Suppuration (2026) Review

Protrusion's self-titled promo in 2023 fell on my lap around release date and I remember enjoying the worship of all things old school, yet I lost touch of the band and forgot since then. By the time the first new single Boiled At Birth dropped earlier this year, I hoped it would be the precursor of a full-length release in the same reverse progression, and that’s exactly what debut The Last Suppuration is. Even the title of the specific track immediately gives vibes of the old rotten years somewhere between the release of Butchered at Birth and the Boiling Humans EP, which is where this album ultimately belongs.

Below the ground, suffocating brutal death metal thrives on the decay of a forgotten atmosphere that was somehow captured by the noisy recordings of the earliest bands, yet it hasn’t been easily replicated since. Protrusion embrace tradition with gleeful morbidity and deliver a record dredged in the damp crypts of the early ‘90s, picking up influences from various giants like Suffocation or Mortal Decay, yet The Last Suppuration still feels refreshing to listen to, even as a new release in 2026. It looks back with romanticism but doesn’t mimic, explicitly mentioning the Morrisound-era death metal as a main influence and aiming to shape an equally ferocious album, reasonably succeeding with The Last Suppuration.

First things first, you’re welcomed with the grim artwork by none other than John Zig, who has done covers for countless bands, notably for Deeds of Flesh, Pathology, Defeated Sanity, Disavowed etc… Not only the band line-up includes members involved in the past in projects like Human Filleted, Found Hanging and Gorgasm, they’ve also recruited Tony Tipton from the legendary Regurgitation for the studio magic - seriously, how much death metal stench can one endure? Album opener “Confined to Anguish” presents twisted riff structures, suffocating mid-tempo grooves and vocals from the deepest depths, touching the unadulterated brutality of a combination of Chris Barnes on the first Cannibal Corpse records, and Demilich’s Antti Boman.

I quickly flipped over the striking guitar tone on the album, offering thick and murky distortion with enough precision to digest every scourging riff section. Half-buried and unwilling to stay dead, The Last Suppuration’s sound was forged to press on the listener and to feed from the genre’s roots, but above all it’s the tracks themselves that are exceptional, and their quality stands out to me the most here. The sombre piano opening, alongside the synth use and slower-paced middle part of “Morbid Mortality” almost gives it an early Greek black metal feeling, as the band keeps the tempo down to the gutter with the ominous “Exhumer’s Romance” and “Accursed Skin” (not a Teitanblood cover!). Apart from the filthy guitar layers, periodic soloing enhances the compositions and shows how well-versed Protrusion is in peak death metal.

For me, the array of “Boiled at Birth” right before “Slugs of Decadence” remains a standout even after listening to the whole album, as it strongly felt like listening to proto-brutal / technical death metal from a time these subgenres were not yet established. The underlying bass work on these tracks is impressive and the vocals introduce higher pitched variation and, also found later on “Scorned Vengeance” and the self-titled track, with the latter seriously approaching instances of clearer, uninterrupted groove. The Last Suppuration closes with the longest piece, “Anthropophilic Anomaly,” a fitting finale that gathers the record’s strongest elements. Dominating middle-paced riffs, a glorious church bell ringing at the track’s every turn and nudging at traditional doom metal, and an absolutely synth-driven, epic ending. Clearly the most ambitious track on the album, concluding Protrusion’s convincing first effort.

The territory is dark, the fidelity to the genre’s vows admirable. Rusted blades grinding against bone with a conviction to feel vital without engaging in radical experimentation, Protrusion’s debut feels like it holds the scepters of vile death metal that’s controlled and bestial at the same time. The Last Suppuration belongs to an ever-growing, ever-festering catalogue of underground records that rip to shreds and take no prisoners. Recommended for fans of the cave.

Release: March 13th, 2026
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

 

Acranius - Whiteout (2026) Review

It's always nice to come across albums with confidence, unapologetic about their identity. Having a taste for non-conventional music always comes with the silent danger of a false sense of raised intellect when one reaches its more hard-to-reach branches, especially in extreme metal. Since forming in Rostock, Germany in 2009, Acranius have happily stayed on the far side of that highway, steadily merging death metal, slam grooves and breakdown-heavy aggression with crystal clear sound on top a gorilla attitude in person and material. I've partied enough with their first three albums, but Mercy Denied (2022) turned out to be even more punishing than normal, and the band keeps on that trajectory with latest release, Whiteout.

There are nine tracks and a total of 23 minutes duration, so there's no time to waste getting to the point. Whiteout's blueprint of stomping blast beats, mixture of gutturals and monster growls, crushing tempos hitting like slabs of concrete immediately explode on the two-minute opener "Prove Them Wrong". Cutting but pristine and loud production, allowing for the guitars to punch and the bass to rumble ominously underneath, as Acranius torture the guitars not for riff ingenuity, but for rhythmically addictive brutality. Unnecessary buildup is avoided like the plague. The more the album rages, the more your biceps grow. "Synchronized" and "Sworn to Repay" continue the assault in line with the band's formula of fast blast sections that suddenly collapse into slow, smothering slams, while properly juggling with the momentum. 

The album's middle section features Acranius at their most blunt, riding a relentless measured beating with the pounding, repetitive riff on "Dogma". A locked-in-one track that produces some of Whiteout's heaviest moments, as follower "Forced Dread" pushes the tempo further and strongly emphasizes how all these tracks are tailor-made for concert chaos. "A Vow Unspoken" and "Counterlife" are two of the fuller tracks of the record, occasionally tickling the otherwise standard tempo and pull back the intensity a couple of times, just so the next groove slaps harder. Towards Whiteout's end is where the band leans even more into their deathcore self (hey, roll back and feel the breakdown on "Dogma" again though) with "Waste of Life" and "Convoi", these guys really are engineers of festival devastation.

The band has kept refining its sound to a razor edge, being on their best behavior while inside their comfort zone. Sometimes, what use is to experiment when the machine operates so well within the boundaries, so if you're looking for unpredictable high jinks, this tractor is not for you. Overly aggressive, massive in production and with vehement mentality, Acranius' energy radiates. Whiteout delivers, as long as you know what to expect from it

Release: March 6th, 2026 | Blood Blast Distribution
Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Olhava - Memorial (2026) Review

I never quite ventured into Olhava's earlier works, and my introduction to the Russian atmospheric black metal duo came through the arresting artwork of 2022's Reborn, which was the reason that led me to discover their horizon-reaching interpretation of the genre. By 2024, the band had signed with Avantgarde Music and released the conceptual album Sacrifice, an album whose thematic touch appears to be further elaborated on their latest record, Memorial. 

Tracing back to Ladoga (2020), the "Ageless River" series of interlude tracks have functioned as connective tissue across the three albums, incrementally numbered throughout with Memorial advancing from X to XIII. In between these pieces, are four monumental compositions of elevated atmospheric black metal, injected with generous quantities of post-black and blackgaze sensibility, as well as ambient passages that appear frequently on the surface. The prevailing intensity of the record is of a kind more attuned to post-rock or post-metal fans, rather than to the freaks that dwell in the dungeons of black metal. Main tracks span from seven to above 20 minutes in duration, a structural approach entirely aligned with Olhava's established modus operandi, and in many aspects, cleanly mirroring Sacrifice in its presence.

"After I'm Gone" emerges perfectly from the introductory "Ageless River X" unfurling atop a bedrock of ambient and post-rock texture that demonstrates the band's contemplative nature, and the album's incandescent energy. The track gets dreamier and dreamier as it progresses through fast-paced, cyclical motifs emblematic of Olhava's identity. The 20-minute colossus "When the Ashes Grow Old" sustains the post-black metal radiance before submerging into purer heavenly ambiance in its middle part. Memorial's riverine flow of sound exhibits fluctuation only when the "Ageless River" interludes appear - the same signature sound of blackgaze psyche is strongly maintained all across the album.

At nearly 80 minutes, Memorial's length fits both the genre's and the band's scale. Compared to Sacrifice, I noticed a tiny improvement on the more balanced sound of the drums, but other than that, the album delivers a form of post-black metal strikingly similar to its predecessor, perhaps a bit too much. For adherents of Olhava's state of expression, however, there is little to resist here.

Release: February 27th, 2026 | Avantgarde Music
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Belzebong - The End Is High (2026) Review

A long time ago, I shared how back in 2009 my accidental initiation into the smoke-drenched corridors of stoner metal came courtesy of Belzebong’s first demo, soon followed by the debut full-length Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves (2011). That record, alongside the equally effective follow-up, Greenferno (2015), remains one of my favorite releases of the genre, even while only instrumental. For me, the absence of vocals amplified the narcotic density of the riffs, allowing groove and atmosphere to rule over everything else.

I somehow lost interest in subsequent releases by the band, never delved into Light the Dankness (2018) or the tongue-in-cheek live recording in Norway, De Mysteriis Dope Sathanas - Live in Oslo (2021), it was enough to laugh a bit though. Early material has retained a certain replay value for me, even though the overall aesthetic doesn’t stick today. With The End Is High, reconnecting with Belzebong feels seamless, not a single day has passed, and all the hallmarks are intact: vivid weedy artwork, track title wordplays a la Cannabis Corpse (and others), a wordless approach, but above all, pudgy groove-laden stoner doom.

The characteristic slow-burn build unfurls with opening track “Bong & Chain”, while “420 Horsemen” is faster in tempo and introduces buzz and abstraction into the haze. “Hempnotized” remains obsessed with hulking, middle-paced riffs, but for me the closer “Reefer Mortis” is what truly lingers, and especially the mid-section guitar lines that evoke the morbid swagger of Church of Misery, just without the serial killers. At the end of the track, you get to hear again an epic voice sample quoting the cult classic horror comedy The 'Burbs from 1989. If you know the movie, you know what scene they’ve mashed up.

Production remains polished as always, at least in the same way as it has been since Greenferno and onward. While surpassing the highs (pun intended) of their debut proves to be a tall order, The End Is High finds Belzebong committing no missteps. An enjoyable return to the studio, but leaves me wanting… Well, to listen to the first one again.

These are eyes of young girl, barely out of high school. Her name is Alice Trenton and she's been on a long, long trip……

Release: February 20th, 2026 | Heavy Psych Sounds Records
Rating: 3.5 out of 5