October 31, 2025 will see French melodic death metal frontrunners, AEPHANEMER, release their much-awaited, new studio offering Utopie through Napalm Records.

Blending ferocious melodic death metal with cinematic grandeur, Utopie sees the band unleash an ambitious, razor-sharp assault of epic melodies, relentless speed, and philosophical depth, pushing their sound into bold new territory. Led by the commanding presence of Marion Bascoul, AEPHANEMER delivers a fiercely technical and emotionally immersive record — lyrically exploring the uniquely mythic urgency of modern times.

In support of Utopie, the band will embark on a European tour in early November, with special guests VALHALORE, DARK OATH and WALDGEFLÜSTER. Find all upcoming live dates listed below!

Following the previously released, blistering album opening track “La Règle du Jeu”, today, the trio has unveiled a music video for their latest single “Le Cimetière Marin”

 “Le Cimetière Marin” offers an intricate guitar tapestry beneath a scathing vocal assault, crafting a track that‘s both graceful and menacing. It powerfully blends progressive metal complexity and emotional intensity, showcasing AEPHANEMER’s ability to balance technical proficiency with deeply resonant atmospheres.

The accompanying music video takes viewers into the band‘s rehearsal space, offering a thrilling performance of the track with eye-catching visual cues that amplify it‘s intensity. Watch the video now premiering here:

The band comments:
“Le Cimetière Marin is one of the most distinctive tracks on the album. We aimed to create a truly heroic piece – not in a modern way, but inspired by the way heroism was expressed in classical music centuries ago. Fueled by bold elements from both classical traditions and melodic death metal, it carries a strong, almost epic energy. We‘re really eager to bring it to the stage!”

Following the roaring success of their latest album A Dream Of Wilderness (2021), the Toulouse-based melodic death metal powerhouse strikes again with their fourth studio offering. With Utopie, AEPHANEMER recalibrates their formula, surging with heavier classical influences, blistering riffage, majestic orchestrations, and Slavic folk undertones — etching a sound equally ancient and futuristic.

“With Utopie, we set out to create a sound that brings together the elements we‘ve always loved — the intensity of melodic death metal and the depth of classical music,” AEPHANEMER recently said. “We spent a lot of time shaping melodies, drawing inspiration from polyphonic writing, and building orchestral arrangements that feel both powerful and natural to us. It was a challenging but fulfilling process, and we sincerely hope listeners will connect with what we‘ve crafted.”

Lyrically, the record engages with the concept of utopia not as escape, but as confrontation — dissecting philosophical ideals with their refined sonic scalpel, and pushing for a world of harmony between living beings.

Actively bucking genre conventions, AEPHANEMER continues to reinvent their path in the melodic death metal landscape. Utopie is more than just an album — it‘s a storm of sound, an ideological reckoning, and a powerful new chapter from one of Europe‘s most vital and visionary metal bands.

German heavy power metal force SKULL & CROSSBONES are set to return this autumn with their new studio album “Time”, to be released on November 14, 2025 via Massacre Records. The follow-up to their debut marks a strong step forward in both songwriting and production, delivering powerful, melodic, and timeless heavy metal that blends energy with emotion.

After the soaring first single “Echoes Of Eternity”, the band now unleash their brand-new single and video “Labyrinth Of Time”. Musically dark and dramatic, the track is accompanied by a poignant statement from the band, describing it as a reflection on “human decay due to dementia”. Heavy riffs and haunting melodies create a song that is both tragic and cathartic, capturing the inevitability of decline through a deeply emotional lens.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

“Time” was produced by SKULL & CROSSBONES together with Marc Ayerle, who also handled mixing and mastering at KlangMAnufaktur. Cover artwork was created by Michael Vetter, while additional keyboard arrangements on “Thunderstorm” and “The Ocean’s Call” were provided by vocalist Tobias Hübner.

The record is a journey through powerful riffs, anthemic choruses, and lyrical depth – ranging from the mystical (“Eye Of Wisdom”) and the dramatic (“The Price”) to the thunderous and uplifting (“Thunderstorm”) and even playful, with the pirate-inspired closer (“The Ocean’s Call”).

With “Time”, SKULL & CROSSBONES deliver their most mature and focused work to date. Lyrically, the album reflects on the fleeting nature of existence – from stolen hours (“Time Thief”) and human decay (“Labyrinth Of Time”) to rebirth and transcendence (“Eye Of Wisdom”). Musically, the band balance classic heavy/power metal with a modern edge, crafting songs which are as anthemic as they are thought-provoking.

This is not just an album – it’s a journey through past, present, and future, bound together by the unrelenting power of heavy metal.

From The Blade of Seattle, Hyperstrike erupts with today’s release of debut album, High Risk!

A high-octane collision of anthemic clean vocals, bone-crushing riffs, punk-fueled drum fire, and the razor edge of melodic death metal, Hyperstrike deliver danger with every track. This is metal built like an action movie soundtrack: explosive, relentless, and larger than life.

“I am genuinely blown away at how good this album is.”

– Smorg Magazine

“Their combination of uptempo, good-time rhythms and catchy melodies is something great to hear!”

– Metal Bulletin

“There are a bunch of passages where I feel I could have written,

which is cool!”

– Dan Swanö

Listen here:

Born in the Blade, forged in chaos—Hyperstrike is Seattle’s action metal war machine. Founded in 2024 by bass-slapping juggernaut Ben “Chop Daddy” Bennett, this band doesn’t play music; they drop sonic bombs. With a shadowy past tearing through thrash titans Warbringer and Bonded by Blood, and reigning as the “Lord of the Low End” in sci-fi shredders Xoth, Bennett knew exactly what kind of beast he was building. First, he wrangled in Ilya, the shredder known as “The Claw,” an assassin with riffs sharper than steel. Then came Adon, the “Brain Lord”—a maniacal force spitting venomous truths, carrying the fire from his days in Ghost Ship Octavius and the twisted depths of Spiritual Suicide. Together, they built a soundtrack for the end of the world: songs about nuclear meltdowns, cage fighters, and kings of the slain.

The final weapon in their arsenal? Josh, a drum-detonating powerhouse known as “Goblin Hammer,” whose percussive assault forged their chaos into a relentless onslaught. Hyperstrike is a raw, unfiltered force with hearts of steel and a taste for mania. No apologies. No survivors. Just unrelenting aggression. Brace for impact—because once the trigger drops, nothing will ever be the same.

Chicago (IL) – Long-running Blackened Melodic Death Metal quartet, Withering Soul, are set to release their fifth album, Passage of the Arcane, November 14 on Liminal Dread Productions!

Passage of the Arcane is a convergence of blackened atmospheres and sweeping song structures. A mystifying journey that exceeds boundaries while remaining fun and exciting. The overall theme of the album involves human experiences traversing into cursed oblivion. Each song explores its own story, ranging from unexplained disappearances to the supernatural. While variation is abundant within the soundscapes, it is with a cohesive direction. Each chapter takes on its own “passage” through channels of cursed lore and harrowing experiences of the past. A seamless balance of crushingly heavy riffs and chilling melodies.

FFO: Dark Fortress, Windir, Hypocrisy, Dissection, God Dethroned.

The album’s first single, “Attrition Horizon,” is available at:

A manifestation in the form of chilling soundscapes, foreboding atmospheres, contagious melodies and tortured chants echoing above an onslaught of calculated percussion. Withering Soul creates a musical elegy that is both majestic and haunting.

Conjured into existence by founding members Christopher (guitars and vocals) and Mykil (former lead vocalist) with the release of their debut album Apparitions of the Surreal in 2004, the band was later featured on “ReUnation – A Tribute to Running Wild” with a cover of “Firebreather” via Germany’s Remedy Records earning “Best Song on the Album” by WeRock (SWE). A few years later saw the release of their follow-up album, No Closure via Mortal Music (MVD Distribution). The album promptly landed a spot on Apoch’s Metal Review: “Top 50 Albums of 2011.”

The band eventually recruited Rick Hernandez on drums and Joel Miller on bass guitar. Following an array of live shows brought the release of their third full length album Adverse Portrait (2015). It was later labeled “Album of the Month” by Metalreviews.com. The band made a few festival appearances such as Full Terror Assault III and Artifact Metal Fest in 2018.

Over the course of the 2020 world shutdown the band resolved to continue forward with Christopher on vocals and released its fourth full length effort Last Contact. The album reached an unprecedented level of acclaim not limited to earning the 3rd spot in World of Metal’s top albums of 2021. The band immediately followed up with a busy live schedule both locally and out-of-state including a performance at Legion ov the Order festival in Tacoma, WA, Merciless Metalfest in Nova Scotia, Canada and Desecration Rituals VI and VII in Fort Wayne, IN.

Withering Soul has just recently finished its 5th album to be released at the end of 2025 and plans to continue transcending the boundaries of metal‘s darker genres while maintaining its own distinctive sound and leave its audiences spellbound for more.

Watch the video:

Shortly after the release of their most recent studio album Knightclub, FEUERSCHWANZ are back with another highlight! Today, the band unleashes the powerful Epic rendition of “Valhalla” – reimagining this infectious anthem, featuring metal queen Doro, through a majestic new orchestral lens, elevating the song’s theatrical drama and empowering message to a whole new, opulent level.

“Valhalla (Epic Edition)” is cut from the limited editions of the new album Knightclub (#2 on the Official German Album Charts), which was released on August 22 via Napalm Records. Having undergone an impressive transformation in recent years, FEUERSCHWANZ are more successful and in demand than ever after 20 years as a band and multiple #1 albums. Their participation in the German pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 brought them to the attention of millions and gained massive media recognition far beyond genre boundaries, and now with the release of Knightclub, the medieval heroes continue to prove their versatility.

Fans can experience the new songs live this October, when FEUERSCHWANZ hits the road with LORD OF THE LOST on their huge LORDS OF FYRE co-headline tour (dates below)!

With Knightclub, FEUERSCHWANZ released their first studio album with an English title – and for the first time, several tracks feature English lyrics. Knightclub is characterized by catchy hits, absolute party mood, great anthems and hard metal riffs. Once again, the band manages to incorporate their unmistakable humor into songs bursting with energy.
 
Produced by Simon Michael (Subway to Sally) and mastered by Jacob Hansen (Evergrey, Arch Enemy, Volbeat), Knightclub features artwork by Peter Sallai (Powerwolf, Sabaton, Saxon, Hammerfall).
 
FEUERSCHWANZ about the album:
“Knightclub – for us, it’s a consistent continuation of our previous albums, taken to the next level both thematically and musically! Expect something truly epic, wild, and downright crazy! This album has something for everyone: fans of grand fantasy, heroic tales, and all-out partying, as well as lovers of massive guitar riffs and lively folk instruments. Become part of the Knightclub and join us on this next step of our unparalleled journey!”

Time To Kill Records wishes to clarify that, regarding the album “Unholy” by PYREXIA, it holds the exclusive license for Europe, granted by Gravitas Entertainment, the band’s official label. Time To Kill Records values transparency and wishes to emphasize the respect and friendship that connect the two labels.

Time To Kill Records is then proud to announce the release of “Unholy”, the brand new full-length from New York death metal legends PYREXIA, now available in all European territories.

Originally unleashed in demo form through Unique Leader Records (titled “Unholy Requiem”), “Unholy” has now been completely re-recorded, re-mixed, and re-imagined. The result is an unrelenting, monstrously heavy assault that reaffirms PYREXIA’s status as one of the most enduring and uncompromising forces in the global death metal underground. Crushing riffs, punishing grooves and a brutal yet clear production combine to make “Unholy” a definitive statement in the band’s career.

Adding further depth to the album are guest appearances from some of extreme metal’s most respected names. Ron Kachnic of Malignancy lends his touch to the opening track “Unholy Requiem”, while Devin Swank of Sanguisugabogg and Bludgeoned By Deformity brings his unmistakable presence to “Wrath”. The legendary Doug Cerrito, known for his work with Suffocation and Hate Eternal, appears on “The Anointed”, solidifying “Unholy” as an album steeped in the spirit of death metal’s most uncompromising traditions.

Guitarist Chris Basile comments:

“This is probably the most accomplished PYREXIA album I’ve ever worked on. It finally has the production it deserves. It’s a journey into the seven chambers of hell.”

The official lyric video of “The Anointed” is streaming HERE.

Tracklist:

1. Unholy Requiem
2. Angels of Gomorrah
3. Wrath
4. The Anointed
5. Path of Disdain
6. The Fall of Eden
7. Blood to Ash
8. A Moment of Violence