TRELLDOM/...by the word...

TRELLDOM

...by the word...

Country: Norway
Genre: Avant-Garde Metal / Black Metal
Album Title: ...by the word...
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Label: Prophecy Productions
Distribution: SPKR

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Manifesto Sentence:
A ritualistic and dissonant state of being rather than a mere album, ...by the word... fractures perception and demands immersion instead of comfort.

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Context Note:
Continuing the unpredictable artistic trajectory of Kristian “Gaahl” Espedal, Trelldom once again dismantles stylistic expectations. ...by the word... expands upon avant-garde dissonance, jagged rhythmic structures, and radical compositional turns, positioning itself not as a flowing melodic journey but as a space of entrapment and confrontation. The record feels less like music to drift through and more like a condition to endure.

Throughout the album, ritualistic vocal structures unfold against layered dissonant arrangements, creating a fragmented listening experience. At moments where the saxophone emerges—most notably through the presence of Kjetil Møster—the sonic landscape shifts into something both magnificent and unsettling, freezing time rather than propelling it forward. Industrial desolation permeates the guitar tones, while rhythmic instability intensifies the sense of unease, rendering the album strikingly contemporary in its darkness.

For long-time listeners, there is a familiar abyss here. Wherever Gaahl’s artistic hand is involved, one encounters a dark oyster resting in the deepest layers of black metal. Detached from roots yet deeply embedded in its essence, a restless and heart-wrenching musical experiment waits inside like a black pearl. With ...by the word..., that pearl bursts forth—arguably one of the most mature statements in the project’s history.

The current line-up plays a decisive role in this renewed exploration of extremes. Guitarist Stian “Sir” Kårstad (formerly of Djerv) ensures continuity, having contributed to the band’s earlier albums. Renowned percussionist Kenneth Kapstad (Motorpsycho, Spidergawd, Møster!, Thorns) brings rhythmic complexity, while bassist Eirik Øien adds further depth to the evolving sonic architecture.

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Artwork & Conceptual Frame:
Artwork by Alex Rose Art, curated by Kristian Espedal
Layout by Øivind Myksvoll

The cover depicts a being fractured beneath the weight of language, memory, and an invisible verdict—an image that mirrors the album’s conceptual core. In a Deleuzean sense, it evokes the notion of the “body without organs,” constructing the body not as a coherent whole but as a fragmented surface traversed by word, shadow, and traumatic intensity. Much like the music itself, where instruments generate a splintered perceptual field, the artwork manipulates sensory space and identity through rupture rather than cohesion.

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Thematic Axis:
Linguistic fracture, ritualistic disintegration, industrial desolation, avant-garde transcendence beyond black metal orthodoxy.

More Info:

Shop
https://spkr.store/collections/trelldom

Link
www.trelldom.no

FROSTMOON ECLIPSE

As Time Retreats

Band: Frostmoon Eclipse
Country: Italy
Genre: Black Metal / Black Rock
Album Title: As Time Retreats
Release Year: 2025
Label: Immortal Frost Productions

Manifesto Sentence:
A mature and expansive return that reframes black metal’s raw spirit through classic rock sensibility and subtle death/doom shadows.

Context Note:
Marking the band’s 30th anniversary and their eighth full-length release, As Time Retreats sees Frostmoon Eclipse revisiting their signature black metal foundation while broadening its harmonic vocabulary. The record integrates classic rock melodic phrasing, restrained post-metal textures, and occasional death/doom tonal weight reminiscent of bands such as Katatonia and My Dying Bride. The production remains raw yet articulate, allowing the bass to step forward as a structural force rather than a background element. Familiar tremolo-driven passages are enriched with melancholic melodic layering, suggesting a band less concerned with orthodoxy and more focused on longevity and evolution.

Thematic Axis:
Temporal decay, retrospective identity, melancholic resilience, evolution within tradition.

Editor’s Note:
A particularly compelling release for listeners who remain devoted to the icy austerity of old-school black metal infused with dense, lingering melancholy. I have followed Frostmoon Eclipse since the Gathering the Dark era, and certain compositions continue to resonate years later. “Song to Darkness,” featuring guest vocals by J.J. (Harakiri for the Sky, Karg), remains one of those haunting standouts.

More Info:

https://www.instagram.com/frostmoon_eclipse

https://shop.seancerecords.com/products/frostmoon-eclipse

The Choir of Agony – Forsaken Lament

Wine in the Glass, Doom in the Air: Flogero & The Choir of Agony

Amid the ocean’s aggressive waves, a current emerges and brings a crystalline touch to the atmosphere. Melancholy rising from the water dissolves into the veins, for it advances with silent steps through the most destructive depths, carrying you toward a song. Its name: Forsaken Lament by The Choir of Agony.

     Forsaken Lament Lyric Video

I first discovered İzmir-based The Choir of Agony at one of my favorite rock bars, Tato, where they performed Draconian covers. The covers were executed flawlessly, but it was the smoothness of the brutal vocals that especially stood out. What’s more, these powerful, dark growls came from a woman—delivered with a talent so sharp it could make even male vocalists envious. Breaking the cycle of the doom-gothic style with this vocal approach and bringing something new to the genre is worth underlining.

In September 2025, The Choir of Agony released their debut single, Forsaken Lament. With steady yet relentless steps, they struck their first blow with a piece that slowly but surely seizes your heart with its blackened hands. The elements of gothic doom are meticulously placed, the melodies left to drift in their most natural flow across a darkened sky. Guitars prepare the way for the shift from brutal to clean, the production is polished, the bass resonates with depth, and the drums slow the pulse into rhythms that pierce the heart of melancholy. 

Especially striking are the climactic moments where the clean and brutal vocals overlap, close in on each other, and then part ways—the most dramatic peaks of the song. This dual-layered vocal design drags the listener deep into darkness while simultaneously opening a door toward the light. The band is ready to construct their pitch-black musical fortress.

As a bonus, the track features Aeonian Sorrow’s Gogo Melone with her enchanting clean vocals (her experimental black metal work with Elysia is also worth exploring).

Here is a band arriving with the inspiration to resurrect doom-gothic from its grave. Even more intriguing are the surprising collaborations they have planned. Metal needs to breathe with ideas like these, reaching out to the souls who have devoted themselves to this culture. Among the projects I most eagerly anticipate is their cover of The Forever People with Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride and Eduardo Habinger of Doom. And I am already eagerly awaiting their upcoming EP, where all this darkness will converge.

So then—dim the lights, and start sipping from Forsaken Lament while you have a glass of Flogero 2022 made of Merlot by Greek wine producer Katogi Averoff.

BLUT AUS Nord/Ethereal Horizon

Blut Aus Nord

Ethereal Horizons

A luminous and expansive reconfiguration of avant-garde black metal that replaces claustrophobic dread with cosmic elevation and melodic transcendence.

Country: France
Genre: Avant-garde Black Metal / Atmospheric Black Metal
Album Title: Ethereal Horizons
Release Year: 2025
Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Context Note:

As the project’s sixteenth full-length under Vindsval’s direction, Ethereal Horizons consolidates more than three decades of experimentation into a more open and emotionally resonant form. Departing from the oppressive, Lovecraftian density of recent works, the album gravitates toward the melodic and psychedelic sensibilities of Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry and Hallucinogen, incorporating progressive structures, kosmische synth textures, and choir-inflected vocal arrangements. While traces of the band’s earlier dissonant and industrial tendencies remain, they are recontextualized within a warmer and more grounded sonic architecture.

Thematic Axis:
Cosmic transcendence, metaphysical expansion, post-Lovecraftian luminosity, spiritual elevation through abstraction.

Blut aus Nord-Shadows Breathe First

More Info