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resurgam
Sunday 23 November 2025 - 14:25:58
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NEORHYTHM — 2025 - "Безумия"


Groove Death Metal, Progressive Metal

Three Groove Death Metal ball lightning strikes are launched by NEORHYTHM in their 2025 EP titled “Madness”. The Neorhythm of Madness. Three occult elixirs infused with the meanings of ancient Hellenic magic, Middle Eastern sorcery, and beyond...

By the way, NEORHYTHM has long warned that their “art is based on the legacy of such genres as Groove, Death, Thrash, and Progressive Metal.” This is a more expanded definition, and therefore reveals the band’s musical message more precisely.

“Dionysianism.”
The mini-album kicks off very intensely, powerfully, and with unstoppable groove, forming a thick, tightly-packed sound with not a single cubic millimeter of empty, unused space. It grabs you, yes. A hard-hitting rhythm acts as the skeleton, upon which, with the finesse of a plastic surgeon, the muscular tissues of guitar solos and, moreover, vocal acrobatics are layered. The vocals here are clean yet screaming, declaring: “Yes, I am insane…”—swinging a pendulum between harsh passages and even deeper extreme tones close to growling. Meanwhile, the guitar depicts a ringing green flame of an alchemical burner. NEORHYTHM’s experiments have begun.

“Rapture.”
It is noticed again: each NEORHYTHM track is like a sealed and welded Groove Death Metal capsule, and the guitar solos are the steel can-opener breaking through these zones. The capsules are also split by the vocal parts, seemingly smoking from tension. Suddenly, a bold and truly clean rock vocal appears. In the darkness and vortex we once again witness tight drum fills and shimmering guitar leads. Let’s put it this way: all of this cannot avoid being Progressive Metal.

“Foresight.”
Opening with an old-school metal riff, at first this track is a bit more traditional in structure: unlike the previous whirlpool-like compositional solutions, here “top and bottom” are clearly marked, and foggy walls outlined. But not for long — the tense, high-voltage guitar lines strike back along with peculiar, eccentric vocal installations mixed with ritual chanting...

This is the kind of mini-album that has enough musical content to fill an entire full-length release for other bands. Which, by the way, can be perceived differently depending on what you’re after:
“Simplicity and punch? Complexity and drive?”
Or everything at once — as with NEORHYTHM. On this EP, each track is like a hypercube — a tesseract — with an exit into the fourth magical dimension.

https://vk.com/neorhythm

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resurgam
Thursday 27 November 2025 - 17:26:05
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Blackthorn — 2025 — Hexsecratus - SoundAge prod.- (Album)
Symphonic/Blackened Gothic Metal, Symphonic Extreme Metal


An interesting phenomenon on the Russian metal scene.
An all-female band that has been playing heavy music since 2004 has now released its fourth full-length album (as well as plenty of singles and EPs).

The “Symphonic” tag is of real importance for this band and is taken very seriously: on the album in question, in addition to the band’s staff violinist, the recording also featured the Mysterio choir and a string quartet. The band creates true Symphonic Metal and will be of interest not only to Gothic Metal fans, but also to listeners who appreciate serious neoclassical metal music

As expected in Gothic Metal, BLACKTHORN employ the classic “beauty and the beast” vocal formula — soprano versus growl. However, in a more sophisticated and intricate form: Aina delivers soprano as well as scream parts, while guitarist Elvira performs the growling vocals.
After the neoclassical and unsettling intro “The Tenement,” the band unfolds a grand, large-scale musical canvas with a truly luxurious sound.

What impressed me personally is that the sound production was handled by guitarist Elvira — and honestly, the result scores very high marks. She explains:
“The need to create our own sound was primarily driven by the uniqueness of the musical material and the non-trivial tasks involved: presenting a rich musical heritage (choir, orchestrations, Gothic Metal melodic traditions of the 1990s) in a more modern interpretation — low tuning of 7-string guitars and a powerful rhythm section. To achieve the desired result, I spent more than 10 years gaining experience in sound production.”
It is worth emphasizing that it is precisely BLACKTHORN’s sound and arrangements that allow the band to spread its black wings over an entire range of metal subgenres — Symphonic Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, Symphonic Death Metal, and Operatic Metal.

In the track “The Nethersource,” for example, the Mysterio choir opens the piece, the soprano takes over, the string quartet supports it, a melodic theme emerges — and then a harsh growl bursts in, as if drawing a heavy line underneath it all. The screams appear locally, like petty demons, scratching mystical signs across glass with steel nails. The vocal parts are not set against each other; instead, they complement one another dramatically, in line with the composition’s overall concept. At times, the result is on the level of Sweden’s Therion during their second, post-death period.
BLACKTHORN invite listeners not only to headbang and mosh, but also to approach the music seriously, delving into the intricacies — or rather, the complex architecture — of the vocal arrangements and melodic lines of the string instruments: not only guitars and violin, but also cellos. In other words, the band presumes a listener who is familiar not only with Black Sabbath, but also with Mozart and Prokofiev. Then again, one can also simply enjoy inspired, spectacular, and powerful music…

While listening, you don’t always pay attention to track titles. I was especially struck by a brilliant use of growling and screaming embedded into choral passages and thought: what a great audio depiction of a vampire feast. Then I checked the title — of course: “Feast Upon Lifeblood.”

BLACKTHORN did not skimp on duration — 52 minutes is a worthy figure for a symphonic metal celebration. The album is remarkably consistent at a high level, and many bands still have a long way to go to reach that bar. But you’ll hear for yourself.

Of course, I also want to mention the track that had the strongest impact on me personally. In my opinion, it is “Nexus Polaris” — oh, sorry, “Nexus Sevenfold” (not by chance!!! I was reminded of the Norwegian band Covenant). “Nexus Sevenfold” launches headlong into a neoclassical vein, and it made me think the guitar solo should have been given a more highlighted role — by the way, right next to the violin at 1:06. On this track, the extreme vocal parts are given more freedom: they soar effortlessly alongside soprano Valkyries and choral thunderclouds. Here, as it seems to me, the band achieves peak interaction among all vocal performers.
BLACKTHORN’s album “Hexsecratus” is set to claim a high place among the best russian albums of 2025.

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resurgam
Wednesday 03 December 2025 - 13:48:33

 

Wings Of Existence — 2025 - Her House (EP)
Progressive Deathcore, Experimental Deathcore

The Novosibirsk-based project WINGS OF EXISTENCE continues to scan this world with its multi-frequency radiation called Progressive Deathcore. The parameters of this aggressive radiation make it possible to separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the very good, and even reptiloids from the rest of the planet’s population.

01 Thin Lines (feat. Slamama)

The EP opens as if a rogue bear has crawled out of its den and started smashing everything in sight — only at two to three times the speed. The structure of the rhythm section immediately strikes with its complete unpredictability. WINGS OF EXISTENCE launch mercilessly — and more than that, totally and massively crushing. The rhythm section reveals multiple layers, some of which feel as if they are distanced from the listener.

The guitars screech under strain, yet artistically and technically slicing reality into tiny puzzle pieces. The vocalist (growls plus energetic shrieks) matches this shining steel meat grinder, forcefully breaking through the musical chaos, tightly following the rhythm section and riff. A tense, high-energy track, like being plugged straight into a 10 kV power line.

02 Love Me a Bit Faster (feat. Sigil)

Here, thrashy, anarchic, emotional vocals are added to the growling, and this interaction injects Hardcore fury and desperate madness — though it’s hard to imagine how more could even be added.

Naturally, the rhythm section rages as if on anabolic steroids, and the low frequencies mow down everything above the floorboards. I’m listening to WINGS OF EXISTENCE in the best quality possible, so I can clearly hear that certain alternative synth elements are embedded into the track structure, escalating the situation, adding sparks and pouring in a hyper-dimensional volume.

03 Purple Glass (feat. The Solarburst, Ksenia Gerasimova)

A cool experimental track, especially thanks to Ksenia’s vocals. At the beginning, her voice is catchily pop-like and dollish (somewhere around the spirit of ’80s star Sandra), standing in infernal contrast to the men’s unbalanced extreme and even clean vocals. Later, Ksenia shifts into a more serious register, leaving a sense of emptiness and trance.

In this track, the composer of WINGS OF EXISTENCE balances between atmospheric calm locations and dramatically charged, literally blazing emotions.

All three compositions feature good sound — a case where sound engineering creates an additional, tangible layer of perfection for the tracks.

WINGS OF EXISTENCE as a project aims not only to expand the boundaries of the style, but also to deliver a musical message that will not be understood by everyone — which is a good thing. Perhaps it is a message to the future, not so distant after all. But you can start experiencing it right now.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1wvXLGsJkX8i5ZtFK8KRCh

плейлист в вк
https://vk.com/music/album/-2000836112_25836112_0318fb552ed5014624

 

 

 



resurgam
Wednesday 17 December 2025 - 18:48:23

 

Kaaper – 2025 – Amenhotep - (Single)

 

The Cypriots KAAPER continue to develop their Egyptian theme, and it seems this is a long-term direction. Today, Amenhotep himself has come under their spotlight. It would, of course, be worth specifying which Amenhotep is meant, since there were four pharaohs with that name alone.

The main focus, without a doubt, is the musical action. KAAPER opens atmospherically, literally sprinkling the listener with sand and a symphony of merged choral, vibrating voices for just a few seconds, before launching into their powerful MDM themes. What matters is that the band creates a voluminous, dynamic guitar canvas, inside which a tense solo melodic line nervously pulses. Supporting this is a highly versatile vocalist (harsh and growl), who performs in this setting like a battle trumpet of the Eighth Dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs.

KAAPER are masters of composing complex music with tempo changes; whenever possible, the band instantly shifts the direction of the auditory assault. The rhythm section is in perfect order—more than that, it feels as if everyone is now closely watching the drummer and bassist, trying to catch the next shift in rhythmic mood.

The sound quality, as always with KAAPER, is top-notch, allowing them to construct the most intricate and sophisticated sonic arrangements, collide different instruments, and ultimately achieve a result close to excellent.

By the middle of the track, the keyboard part manages to “surface,” revealing itself more clearly and vividly, while its sound gives the impression of “divine predestination,” a kind of “imposed seal.”

After the compositional midpoint, the guitar’s melodic idea partially unfolds, supported by choral extreme vocal performance.

In the end, this composition is rich in mature pathos—as well as energy and mysticism (courtesy of the keyboards).

This single was released in anticipation of the band’s new album titled “When Gods Walked the Earth.”

https://kaaperofficial.com/

 



resurgam
Saturday 20 December 2025 - 18:25:02

 

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Oblivion Machine — 2025 - Око дня - (Album)
Hard n Heavy, Modern Metal, Atmospheric Rock
I constantly talk about new bands of the New Wave of Russian Metal — formations that emerged and have been active since the 2000s. Still, it is also worth mentioning the musicians who actually started this wave. One of them is OBLIVION MACHINE, a band that was originally based in Saratov and later moved to Moscow… and all of that was 20 years ago.
Over the past two decades, the band has released albums periodically, gone through a significant creative journey from Industrial Groove/Death Metal to Industrial/Electronic Rock/Metal, and from time to time reminded listeners of its existence. Most importantly, right in the middle of 2025 they released a new album titled “The Eye of the Day.”
Let’s listen.
OBLIVION MACHINE opens with a cool, atmospheric, modern sound. In general, the sound of the album is very impressive, done at a high professional level. Many albums of the New Wave of Russian Metal are produced according to global standards. You need at least mid-range audio equipment to fully experience the sound of “The Eye of the Day.” Right away, on “Aurora” — the opening track — we hear solidly crafted vocal parts: male vocals, female vocals (Kristina Kochmarik), and (attention!) a children’s choir. This already forms an entire vocal ARCHITECTURE of the track. It’s a mid-tempo Hard ’n’ Heavy piece, executed by modern sound standards. A strong opener for the album.
It should also be noted that two guest vocalists appear on the album: Evgeny Ardentis (track 4) and Nikolay Karpushin (track 8).
The next track is heavier and stylistically closer to metal, where the vocalist delivers more energetically charged parts, and the guitarists unleash powerful, heavy riff-driven — almost doom-like — themes. I don’t know whether the guitarists of OBLIVION MACHINE intentionally aimed to reference post-doom aesthetics or not, but in fact the guitar material across many sections of the album is tense, with a distinct link to 1970s music.
The composer’s maturity in OBLIVION MACHINE is also evident in how intelligently the tracks are arranged across the album: dynamics, moods, tempos, and vibrations shift naturally. For example, the track “Paths” featuring Evgeny Ardentis is melodramatic, minor-key, and lyrical. The vocalist not only demonstrated his skill but also blended perfectly into the album’s musical ideology. Once again, the multilayered vocals are mesmerizing.
Honestly, I was surprised by the track titled “Death.” Its content is Death Metal (no) — instead, it’s an atmospheric, Pink Floyd–esque musical collage with trembling guitars, a careful rhythm section, a thoughtful soft-jazz saxophone, and a bright overall mood. An unquestionable success for the band. Serious music, pure pleasure.
The heaviest hitter on the album is the driving track “The Call,” featuring Nikolay Karpushin. Tense, heavy, sharply accented. Nikolay sounds as if he had been brutally singing in OBLIVION MACHINE his entire life, rather than in his own band Rosa Infra.
It’s impossible not to mention the track “Nostalgia,” where two vocalists worked extremely well together: the main vocalist (Alexey) and the guest vocalist (Kristina Kochmarik).
1. Excellent, expressive interaction — a clear and effective collaboration.
2. Each singer handled their parts variably, with shifts even in emotional moods.
A deeply stirring track.
It must be said that there are no filler songs on this album — nothing recorded just to fill space. This is largely because the band did not limit their studio time, working instead to achieve the necessary RESULT.
In the end, this is a great OBLIVION MACHINE album that deserves a place in the playlists of music lovers.

NEWS


resurgam
Tuesday 23 December 2025 - 13:28:56

 

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Konung — 2025 - Dope Druid — (EP)

Barbarian Stoner Doom Metal
Fans of slow, viscous, and gloomy sound should take note: the newly formed Moscow-based band KONUNG has recently released its debut EP. Don’t think for a second that they are complete newcomers—far from it. The musicians (all two of them) have played in numerous different bands before, and after joining forces they initially adopted the temporary name VARVARS. Eventually, deciding to “cleanse their karma,” the formation took on the name KONUNG. As a result of long ritualistic rehearsal incantations, a fairly substantial EP of three tracks was born—tracks we are about to listen to.
1. Dope Druid.
As expected, the track begins atmospherically (and generally serves to set the mood for the entire release)—it feels as if a grinning druid is beginning a ritual against the backdrop of distant howling wolves. The guitar slowly sketches the boundaries of the ceremony, while a skilled, charismatic rhythm section drives in the stakes for the magical twine with bells. A gritty, effect-laden vocal enters at just the right moment, heavy, as if breaking through from a ghostly realm. But it has a message that must be delivered…
The tracks on KONUNG’s EP, as befits Stoner Doom Metal, are anything but short—and the declared esoteric process clearly requires time. The musical minimalism is hypnotic, and the brew consumed by the druid begins to take effect… Small entities start seeping into our world, marked by special effects.
2. Wolf Shepherd.
“Wolf Shepherd” is even more mystical than the first track. Oppressive, pitch-black, unrelenting, unbuckling your seatbelt, ritually summoning powerful spirits of nature. The vocalist is not yet in full despair, but close to a nervous breakdown; his chant-like narration radiates radioactive pessimism. In the final third, a lead guitar slowly steps onto the stage—at first calmly aligning itself with the riff, then gradually freezing over, turning icy before your eyes.
3. Tsar of Blood.
Here the musicians seem to have decided to add a dose of pathos—or rather, a slow, merciless triumph. The rhythm section showers the listener with snow, steel shavings, and blows of fate. The effect-laden vocalist is engaged in the same task and, from his own bell tower, proclaims the tale of the vampire king Dracula, who “deadly reign,
 harvesting souls boundless disdain .”
Overall, I think fans of Stoner Doom Metal can safely check the box and add these tracks to their playlists.
Undoubtedly, this is an interesting EP that can be seen as a statement of intent for something bigger. And the future of the KONUNG project, as the druids report, seems destined to be embodied in new tracks—no less dark and potent.
Needless to say, the music from Dope Druid is best listened to on proper speakers—and, of course, at a decent volume.

 


resurgam
Saturday 27 December 2025 - 19:15:17

 

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Mastemath – 2025 - Icons Of Atra Mors - SoundAge Prod. - (Album)
Death Metal

One of the promising bands of the New Wave of Russian Death Metal, the Moscow-based brigade MASTEMATH, released a CD and vinyl this year (black and yellow marbled records, limited editions of 150 copies per color). This is already the band’s second full-length album. The group is notable for its unhurried approach to creativity and for bringing the final material to perfection — and that applies to many aspects. They could easily be playing Doom Metal, but no — it’s Death Metal.
A cool intro, surprising for a Death Metal band. Prolonged, with atmospheric keyboards and soft, growling narration.
Then follows forceful Dark Metal musicianship that gradually transforms into a full-on Death Metal onslaught with powerful riffs and calm growling. Already here you can see MASTEMATH’s desire to play something more complex than just old-school death (which they used to do before), with tempo changes and emotional shifts. There’s a whiff of old-school Hypocrisy with its mesmerizing melodicism — and that’s only one detail in an infernally complex musical mechanism.
“Under the Cover of Mastemath” is a re-recorded track that was previously released as a single in 2020. Here the Death Metal is clearer and more explicit — disturbing, agitating, and truly old-school. The rhythm section deploys MASTEMATH’s steel machine into combat mode, while the guitars at one point create a genuinely cool flourish — a short passage, unfortunately. And once again, the development of the guitar theme steers into a more complex structure. And that’s when I remembered that the album features none other than Russia’s drummer extraordinaire, Andrey Ishchenko…
The jet-powered action piece “Rise of the Sacrificial Blade” is tuned to rapid-fire drumming, with the strings harnessed into this wonderful chaos; and in the final third of the track, MASTEMATH unveils a pathos-filled and vicious Doom Death Metal section.
Throughout the album, the band is in constant search of new forms, moods, and ultimately tempos, which of course has a positive effect on the album’s listenability. More than once I caught myself thinking that a new avatar of the cult Morbid Angel is being created on this record — and of course the filigree guitarists and skillful drummer have put in no small amount of effort toward that (consciously or not).
It’s worth noting that MASTEMATH’s guitarists play in a unique way: when unfolding a solo canvas, they don’t fall into the “now I’ll show you!!!” mode. That’s why you’d like the passages to be longer — because they’re genuinely blissful. But brevity, as we know, is the sister of…
Among the standout tracks is the crushing title composition “Icons of Atra Mors,” with its unsettling tempo changes and infernal guitar expositions. Here the phenomenon of the MASTEMATH vocalist is clearly expressed: his extreme vocals do not break out of the band’s overall metallurgical furnace, but instead surge powerfully within the molten, gleaming steel, acting as a systemic and at the same time leading element of every track.
The band handled the album’s sound and production themselves; mixing and mastering were done by Dmitry Kostyuchik. The sound is simply gorgeous.
And the CD and vinyl artwork deserves special mention. The cover was painted by a real artist, participant in many exhibitions, Nestor Povarnin. Even before knowing about the vinyl release, I immediately thought this artwork was made for a large format. And so it turned out. A truly awesome cover with the magic of handcrafted artistry — the final step in creating a musical artifact.
A high-scoring album, and one of the best Death Metal releases in Russia in 2025.



 


resurgam
Friday 02 January 2026 - 13:32:12
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Virgin’s Blood Of Čachtice — 2025 — Черный человек - (Single)

Black Death Metal

I’ve long noticed a strange phenomenon: the very last release of the year often turns out to be something unusual and, for the most part, awesome. It’s happened more than once. And here we go again.
Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest holding tight to your stools. At the very end of 2025, the band VIRGIN’S BLOOD OF ČACHTICE released the single “The Black Man”, based on the words of the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.
If you read—or recall—his lyrics, you have to admit that Sergei Alexandrovich was an incredibly powerful rock and metal poet, despite the fact that neither rock nor metal even remotely existed during his lifetime.
VIRGIN’S BLOOD OF ČACHTICE have created an impressive musical art piece for this psycho-thriller. On second thought, they could easily have stretched this concept into a full album.
This is a massively voluminous musical concept: Atmospheric Black Death Metal, twisted into a dense, compressed coil. Multiple vocal lines rage within it (including a clean, “narrating” voice), while a bestial rhythm section smashes and tears everything apart, and grim doom-laden guitars solder thick leaden walls at high intensity—only at full speed.
The vocal architecture of VIRGIN’S BLOOD OF ČACHTICE is a “song of its own”: everything is extremely complex, like a smart, yet-to-be-written Death Metal opera. Keyboards appear dramatically throughout the track, as if someone decided to sew leathery wings onto the song in real time—wings that periodically lift the composition off the mortal ground.
All of this should be listened to in the best possible quality, because all the musical layers are compressed into the limited space of a single track. I personally listen in the highest quality, and in that form everything the musicians recorded and mixed is perceived properly. Yes, the mix is probably not perfect—but here that is NOT A PROBLEM, it is a SOLUTION, because the overall vision of paranoid Black Death Metal is conveyed with flying colors.

 


resurgam
Saturday 10 January 2026 - 14:32:42

 

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Reagent - 2025 — Iскариот – (Album)
Industrial Metal
An interesting twist of musical fate: musicians who once played in a Death Metal band decided to take up different music. In fact, this happens all the time for a wide variety of reasons. And sometimes death metallers don’t abandon their heavy craft at all and keep pounding away in a parallel project (for example, Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy with his band Pain).
Since 2020, REAGENT have released a couple of albums, several EPs, and a number of singles. The musicians have kept their finger steadily on the pulse and kept throwing firewood into their fans’ audiophile furnaces.
This current release is essentially an EP plus a bundle of remixes. In terms of total running time, though, it qualifies as a full-length album. And that’s just fine.
Ever heard of soulful industrial? Then give REAGENT a listen. It’s a strange combination: music that is maximally dehumanized is given a “human” touch — a certain sadness, thoughtfulness, and, in places, unmistakable Gothic Metal charm and melancholy (the track “After Dark”).
The album Iскариот opens with the track “Iскариот,” in which the musicians, gently yet firmly pushing themes of Neue Deutsche Härte, do NOT create a technological barrier but instead seek direct contact with the listener. Musically, it rests on synth and dark-synth foundations, a driving rhythm, and neat, rounded riffing. Lyrics? Yes, the lyrics are worth listening to…
The vocalist’s performance is also a topic in itself: where possible, he is emotional; at times he mystically slips into a whisper; where necessary, he is brutal, harsh, and commanding… and in some places, effects of a robotized vocal are simply applied.
REAGENT have clearly set their sights on creating intense, futuristic collages, almost cosmic in scale. It’s good that they don’t forget about the guitar: sometimes the instrument weeps — as in the minor-key track “Loneliness” — and sometimes it spins out quite complex melodic filigree.
The harshest and most dramatic track, “Protocol. Emptiness,” features a dark, dystopian lyric and carefully crafted synth and guitar parts that create precisely the dehumanized space we were waiting for. Perfect as a contrast.
Six tracks on the release are remixes. The first of them is a remix of a track already present on the album — “Iскариот.” It’s another avatar of the composition: drier, more “witchy,” and if you turn it up, spells, pain, and grief all begin to surface. The other remixes revisit older tracks by the band, and it’s worth noting the excellent, thick sound (which is consistent throughout the entire album) as well as the genuine quality of the compositional thinking of the groups who handled the remixes. Of course, special mention must be made of the insane Hardcore remix of “Monolith,” which seems to dream of becoming the soundtrack to an unnamed psycho-cyber thriller. The release is capped off by the mesmerizing, tragic yet luminous remix of “After Us,” built on a synth-pop theme stripped of cheerfulness and excess gloss.
A cyborg album — strange, with a soul and a mind (still human, for now), with steel limbs and radars on its dome… Perhaps even prophetic.



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minheeharry
Wednesday 14 January 2026 - 04:05:20

4S Street – Ilyen ez az élet


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