Season of Mist

Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Innern [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By Thus Spoke on December 1, 2025 in Things You Might Have Missed 2025, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Post-Metal, 51 comments

“My experience with Der Weg Einer Freiheit differs quite substantially from our resident Eldritch reviewer. Perhaps because my first taste was 2017’s Finisterre, I never saw it, nor later Noktvrn (2021) as disappointing steps down from previous Stellar heights. In my eyes, the path that Der Weg Einer Freiheit followed in the last decade is not only a natural extension of their introspective, emotionally-charged black metal, but it has also enabled them to expand and enhance this consistently potent core to new levels.” Freiheit 451.

Danheim – Heimferd Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard on November 7, 2025 in Reviews, Neofolk, 14 comments

“Ah, the Viking Age. One of the most mythologized eras in history, and a bottomless well of inspiration for cool things like video games, shows, books, tattoos, and bad things like obsession over ancestral purity, shockingly racist ideologies, and lutefisk. But the best thing of all, and most importantly, music! Which leads us to Danheim.” The poor Norsemen.

Hooded Menace – Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration Review

By Steel Druhm on October 2, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 42 comments

“I’ve been hot and cold on Finnish doom-death act Hooded Menace over the years. I enjoyed the heavy, ugly sound of their early albums, but as they slowly progressed into more melodic realms, I felt they lost a bit of their primal sting. I enjoyed albums like Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed and 2021s The Tritonus Bell and respected their reset into more jaunty, trad metal melodic doom soundscapes, but it just felt like something was missing. That brings us to their latest release, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration.” All good in the Hood?

Sowulo – Niht Review

By Twelve on September 13, 2025 in Reviews, Neofolk, 10 comments

“It’s been a minute since I’ve got a chance to review some folk music around here. It’s not super common that we get these promos, but when a sample of dark folk, spiritually, resembles our heavy metal world, we occasionally find some sent our way. Today’s sample is Niht, the sixth full-length release from Dutch Sowulo (“sun” in proto-Germanic), which takes a philosophical approach to the histories of northern Europe. It’s got everything you could ask for in dark folk on paper: lyrics written in a language no one (to the best of my knowledge) speaks anymore, a small army of instruments that I can’t picture by name alone, and an inscrutable cover with a vague runic shape on it.” Things that go folk in the niht.

Green Carnation – A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on September 4, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 41 comments

“Many fans considered Green Carnation’s 2020 release a return to form for the band, and A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia continues where its predecessor left off. But it also incorporates everything we’ve ever known of the band’s catalog. Returning to the days of Light of Day, Day of Darkness, the band sets out to tell us a new story. Instead of accomplishing it in a single, one-hour song, The Shores of Melancholia marks Part I of a three-part series. This is one hell of an undertaking, but I’m here for it.” Your guide to morbid gardening.

Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence Review

By Alekhines Gun on June 19, 2025 in Reviews, 88 comments

“We all know the score for Cryptopsy by now. It’s been thirteen long years since their apology letter/fan service/throne rebuilding mission statement attempted to right the wrongs in the brutal death stalwart’s camp. But the wounds were too deep, the fanbase’s rage too visceral, and in the end, an otherwise excellent album passed by without much of the fanfare it deserved. In subsequent years, two slabs of incredible EP’s and one monster full-length have worked to regain the graces of death aficionados the world over.” The long road back from sellout.

Gaahls WYRD – Braiding the Stories Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on June 11, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, 33 comments

“For those unaccustomed to this iteration of Gaahl, Gaahls WYRD is far removed from the black metal directions of Gorgoroth and Trelldom. While there are moments of classic, second-wave assaults, Gaahls WYRD employs folky avant-garde atmospheres to envelop the listener in an immersive album experience. Though it can be hard to tell on GastiR – Ghosts Invited. Thankfully, Braiding the Stories pushes the envelope even further than the debut album.” WYRD play.

…and Oceans – The Regeneration Itinerary

By Owlswald on May 20, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 42 comments

“My history with Finland’s …and Oceans runs as deep as the Mariana Trench. As a burgeoning metalhead, the eclectic symphonic black metal of 1998’s The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts immediately sank its hooks into me. Its successor, The Symmetry of I – The Circle of O, solidified their place with its atmospherically intense and innovative brutality. The two albums remain all-time favorites of mine to this day. Conversely, the group’s industrial era of A.M.G.O.D.(2001) and Cypher (2002)—preceding the group’s hiatus—split my interest until 2020’s Cosmic World Mother and the subsequent As in Gardens, So in Tombs marked …and Oceans’ triumphant return to form.” Return of the …

Changeling – Changeling Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on April 25, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 94 comments

“Creation, evaluation, iteration—art lives and transforms an untold number of times before its flesh lays bare for a dissecting audience. Thus, the album runs on a path of turns sharp, around, back again—whatever it takes—before the artist declares it enough. Tom Geldschläger has worn many musical lives, both under his given moniker and “Fountainhead” with acclaimed acts like Obscura and Ingurgitating Oblivion, and as a performer/engineer. And now, with Changeling, Geldschläger seeks to express a culmination of his works, partnerships, and curiosities in a grand exploration of his unique fretless guitar stylings amongst progressive, orchestral, and deathly conjurings.” Grow, evolve, MUTATE!

Retromorphosis – Psalmus Mortis Review

By Saunders on February 20, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 73 comments

When new tech-death act Retromorphosis is birthed from the sacred DNA of genre legend Spawn of Possession, we have to give their Psalmus Mortis debut not one, but TWO excited reviews. MOAR is moar.