Artist: Løra Title: Chamber Of Obsidian Dreams Type: Album Label: Digital / Sokol Keep Ok, now this…. this is getting ridiculous. I have no idea how this is even possible for a debut. To me a…

Artist: Buzzard Title: Hush Now Type: Album Label: Digital / Self Release Ever since Good Boy PR (thank you!) sent me notice of this I’ve been sitting on it. I had to wait until it was close …

A brace of debuts today. First up the simply incredible debut of goth, doom, metal influenced Reliquia – In Theory And Practice and then a strange wanderer alongside the realms of dungeon synth and…

Artist: Trasgo Title: Tales From Viriandor Type: Album Label: Digital So our favourite cheese stealing goblin and user of hidden blades Trasgo returns bringing more tales of dark doings and grim ga…

Artist: Stonelore Title: We Were Kings Type: Album Label: Digital I wouldn’t normally review a second album by an artist as close together as this is with Castlesmash, but with Stonelore, mus…

Today we pair the dungeon synth and its big black metal cousin (mostly due to illness making me miss the Friday review). So for the late New Music Friday I look at the superb, snarling new entry fr…

Artist: Shattered Sword Title: A Warriors Lament Type: EP Label: Digital The ever creative mind behind Skyhammer once more turns to their Shattered Sword alter ego (though a new Skyhammer has also …

With and EP and a demo, today we are firmly in the darkness and the rank places. Firstly the utterly outstanding debut EP of the full lineup of the UK’s Evil Dungeon Crawler – The Unending Vo…

Artist: Defenestración Title: Dungeon Hymns For Those Who Refuse To Kneel Type: Album Label: Digital / Sokol Keep (Please note this is the A Side only – Side B, rarities and b-sides, is on the phys…

AArtist: Interitio Title: The Earth Reclaims Us Type: EP Label: Digital / Fiadh Productions At about twenty minutes by my 28:55 rule (c’mon, you know the album) it’s just shy of an albu…

ArArtist: Granite Skull Title: Secrets Of The Stones Type: EP Label: Digital / Self Released / Echoic Murk Records (Sold out) I do often have to check myself with projects. With all the glorious mu…

Today two EPs about as far apart sonically as can be. First up the nightmare howls of brutality by violent sludge madmen Phlefonyaar – Encyclopedia Sociopathia and then the…er…. possibl…

Apologies for the break – it was unavoidable due to world stuff. But here we are, back and with two recommendations from the tombs. First up with have the grim, old ways of the superb Misery …

Artist: Sellsword Title: …With Might And Vengeance Type: Album Label: Digital / Self Released Sellsword. A ‘little power metal band from York’ as they have, self-deprecating, desc…

Artist: Fernmage Title: Where The Golden Grass Grew Silent Type: EP Label: Digital / Sokol Keep So many albums of dungeon synth and adjacent I have to get through, so many pressures of the world ou…

Artist: Arrogant Destruktor Title: The Old Spirit Remains Type: Album Label: Digital / Vicious Witch The time I became aware of Arrogant Destruktor was around the time I stumbled upon Aggressive Pe…

Artist: Skeleton Mage Title: Ruinscapes II Type: EP Label: Digital / Fiadh Productions I do things backwards a lot I think sometimes. This is a fine example: I’ve been meaning to check out Sk…

Artist: Aggressive Perfector Title: Come Creeping Fiends Type: Album Label: Digital / Dying Victims Released March this year. Yeah I’m a little late to the party with this one, but reasons. A…

ArtiArtist: Blades Of Folmar Title: Dungeon Cynth: Solo Dark Fantasy TTRPG Powered By Dungeon Synth Type: Album. Label: Digital / Sokol Keep / Privy Press This is a little longer in the writing tha…

Artist: Imladris Title: Kings Of Forgotten Lore Type: Album Label: Digital Imaldris is a new project from the ever restless Abghul of Ghül and once more is entrenched deep in the lore of Tolkien. I…

Artist: Mountainfog Title: Flood Of Dreams Type: Album Label: Digital / Blaggard Records Blindly casting my spare coinage upon the sea of chance with only the knowledge of the label and a cool choi…

Artist: Wyrdstæf Title: Primordial Blood Type: Album Label: Digital / Apocalyptic Witchcraft Well this debut from UK Paleolithic time travellers Wyrdstaef has been a long time coming. Maybe not qui…

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Artist: The Divine Accolade Title: The Battles We Fought And The Love We Lost Type: Album Label: Digital / Sokol Keep I shall begin this review with an unusual admission for me; I had difficulty he…

Artist: Auspicium Title: We Will Raze The Firmament And All The Stars Therein Type: Album Label: Digital / Fiadh Productions (vinyl coming) Despite being formed in 2004 releasing their debut in 200…

Artist: Isbre Title: Through Silent Woods Type: Album Label: Digital It’s been blasphemously hot in the UK of late, bad enough for me to feel unwell and for the world to grind to a halt in a …

Artist: Verzauber Title: Dire Garden Of Ages Type: Album Label: Digital / Naturmacht Verzauber is a one man project from Cork in Ireland and this is their second full length. Not a name I knew and …

Title: Bowling With Corpses (& Other Strange Tales From Lands Unkown) Type: Graphic Anthology Authors: Mike Mignola (Art and Story), Dave Stewart (Colours) Publisher: Dark Horse Books I’v…

Artist: Flickers From The Fen Title: Coda For Gielinor Type: EP Label: Digital / Cassette After having been properly introduced to the curious and joyful adventure that is Flickers From The Fen&#82…

Artist: Heritage Title: A Tale For The Lost Type: Album Label: Digital Rafael M. Guerra, the mastermind behind this delight, was not a name I knew really but they cropped up on my feed with codes, …

Artist: Cairiss Title: Wilderness Type: Album Label: Digital / Self Released The world of a tiny blogger (yep both the size of the blog and the size of the blogger…) can be odd and full of st…

Fortress Festival Scarborough, North Yorkshire Spa Pavilion 30th May – 31st May 2026 All live pictures (except for the one noted ) courtesy of Andy Pountney (@shot_in_the_dark_photography2) F…

Artist: Secluded Tower Title: Adventurer’s Map Type: Album Label: Digital / Sokol Keep A debut no less, always an exciting time but sometimes when that first opening theme makes you feel in t…

Artist: Portcullis Title: Raise The Portcullis Type: EP Label: Digital I don’t often delve into releases more than 8 months old here; I have at my age come to accept that I cannot hear everyt…

Artist: Rosacroce Title: Acqua Tofana Type: EP Label: Digital / Matriarch Records One of the things I admire about Matriarch Records, besides their ethos, is their willingness to look a little fart…

Artist: Mortiis Title: Ghosts Of Europa Type: Album Label: Prophecy Productions Havard Ellefsen. Mortiis. From black metal through being one of, and probably the most famous, founding fathers of du…

Artist: Skyhammer Title: Medieval Tales Type: Album Label: Digital From the lowlands of Scotland come Skyhammer, with many an exemplary release upon their coat of arms and today they bring us some …

Artist: Venificus Sarcina Title: A Flight Through Obscurity Type: Album Label: Digital Venificus Sarcina, the one man project out of Ohio, have been in the blog before but with their curious and sh…

AArtist: Ghül Title: Shadow Of Grief Type: Album Label: Digital No stranger to Walking The Liminal Space, this new album by the always intriguing Ghül is a second album in a close space of time tha…

Today it really is way back. To pre-2013, or to the 2013 re-release of Steve Von Till – As The Crow Flies (Neurot, 2013)

Artist: Arthuros & Budrum Title: Where Night Ascends The Iced Throne Of Wizardry Type: Album Label: Digital / Dale Of Shadows There are so many dungeon synth and releases that it is of course i…

Artist: Corrughadh Title: Demo Type: Album Label: Digital / Northern Hell Kult Second demo for this week, this time the somewhat mysterious Corrughadh (the project of He Who Wields The Blade) and i…

Artist: Atlach-Nacha Title: Manifestations Type: Album Label: Digital This little demo from new Finnish project from the mysterious S seems to have garnered a little attention, from myself included…

Oplus_16908320 Artist: Blades of Folmär / The Haligtree Title: Split MMXXVI Type: Album Label: Digital / Blaggard Records One of those releases where everything intrigued me. We have the still rath…

Artist: Torver Title: Witching Hour Type: Album Label: Digital / Wulfhere Productions Well this has been a bit of time coming I suppose – I became aware of Torver (apparently a hamlet in Cumbria) i…

Artist: Ysbrydnos Title: Welsh Mythical Darkness Type: Album Label: Digital / Nocturnal Curse It’s been just over a year since Ysbryd’s previous Ysbrydno EP Siant Derwyddol graced these…