With a creative vision based on ancestral tales from the Raetic tribes of northern Italy, Rakinua isn’t your standard folk metal band. The brainchild of singers/lyricists Velis Calyra and Madame Noctinebra, this progressive Dark Folk collective differ from many other European and Nordic folk acts by adding Progressive Metal elements into their otherwise distinctly archaistic sound.
Harboured have shared “Halifax,” the first taste of their upcoming sophomore album, We’re Only The Love That We Lead (Lost Future Records), due in May 2026. Featuring members of Allegaeon, Emasculator, and Oak, Ash and Thorn, the band blends atmospheric black metal, post-metal, blackgaze, and ambient black metal, while also drawing on the emotional depth and texture of Nineties alternative rock.
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Austrian black metal wizards Ellende are back with Zerfall (AOP Records), this time even more atmospheric but with stunning guitar work and a haze of melancholy, embossing their waves of scathing picking. The wrathful vocals are more scornful this time around. Halfway through “Wahrheit,” a melodic swathe of clean guitar with Folk elements emerges. It works from the melodic themes established in the song. If you are already a fan, the first song makes it clear you are getting what you want from them.