Archive for June 20, 2026

KATATONIA Announce Special Tenth Anniversary Limited Double Vinyl Pressing Of THE FALL OF HEARTS ~ Releasing August 7th On Peaceville

Posted in doom metal, doom metal bands, Metal, metal bands, metal music, Music, music news, news with tags , , , , , on June 20, 2026 by Metal Odyssey

Photo by Ester Segarra

THE 2016 HIT ALBUM FROM THE SWEDISH LEGENDS –
PRESENTED ON 2LP PEARL DAWN VINYL

“The Fall of Hearts is an absolute jewel from start to finish” 
Decibel Magazine (USA)

Katatonia released their seismic opus, The Fall of Hearts, in 2016 to chart and media success. Reaching  #1 in the USA Heatseekers and #5 in the USA Hard Rock charts, #2 in Sweden’s Hard Rock chart, #3 in Canada’s Hard Rock chart, #4 in the UK’s Rock and Metal chart, #6 in Finland, #11 in Germany and saw success in Australia with their first ever chart entry.

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THE FALL OF HEARTS 10THANNIVERSARY EDITION

Katatonia had worked tirelessly touring the world since 2012’s Dead End Kings, as well as expanding their fanbase through two albums on Kscope, Peaceville’s sister label. 2013 saw the release of Dethroned and Uncrowned, which exploded the core of the songs on Dead End Kings creating new moods and textures. Both releases illustrated the band’s journey toward The Fall of Hearts, which featured a more progressive sound, a sound which provoked The Guardian to refer to the band as “bridging of the gap between metal and modern prog.”

PRE-ORDER 10THANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE FALL OF HEARTS

DISC 1
A.1 – Takeover [07:09]
A.2 – Serein [04:46]
A.3 – Old Heart Falls – [04:22]
B.1 – Decima [04:46]
B.2 – Sanction [05:07]
B.3 – Residual [06:54]

DISC 2
C.1 – Serac [07:25]
C.2 – Last Song Before The Fade [05:01]
C.3 – Shifts [04:54]
D.1 – The Night Subscriber [06:10]
D.2 – Pale Flag [04:23]
D.3 – Passer [06:25]

Bonus Tracks
D.4 – Sistere [04:11]

The Fall of Hearts was the first record to feature new drummer Daniel ’Mojjo’ Moilanen with the addition of their then-recently recruited guitarist Roger Öjersson (Blindead 23, ex-Tiamat), who sprinkled some blistering solos on the album. With this release, Katatonia continued to push their musical boundaries beyond the metal scene whilst drawing in new fans from across the musical spectrum, putting them on par with peers such as Opeth and Anathema, cementing their place as one of the most revered and cherished bands in modern heavy music.

The dramatic yet desolate artwork was created by longtime designer and illustrator Travis Smith. 

This special and limited tenth anniversary pressing of The Fall of Hearts is presented on double pearl dawn vinyl and includes a gatefold sleeve.

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TSAR STANGRA Announces New Album Химните на разрушените светове (Hymns of the Broken Worlds) Out July 1, 2026, via GLOBMETAL PROMOTIONS

Posted in Black Metal, black metal bands, Metal, metal bands, metal music, Music, music news, news with tags , , , , , , , on June 20, 2026 by Metal Odyssey

Québec City-based Bulgarian folk and black metal band TSAR STANGRA will release their new full-length album, Химните на разрушените светове (Hymns of the Broken Worlds), on July 1, 2026 via GLOBMETAL PROMOTIONS.

Created over the course of nearly a decade, Химните на разрушените светове is the band’s most ambitious work to date. The album explores Bulgarian history, folklore, pagan ritual, exile, language, and cultural memory through a collision of black metal aggression, Balkan melody, ceremonial atmosphere, tambura, orchestration, and lyrics written in Bulgarian.

Founded by vocalist Stanislav Stefanovski, TSAR STANGRA was built around the mission of preserving Bulgarian heritage through extreme metal. On Химните на разрушените светове, that mission expands into a larger meditation on identity, displacement, and the meeting of worlds.

Written largely in Québec by musicians from different cultural and musical backgrounds, the record carries a natural tension between Bulgarian folk tradition and Western black metal, between pagan symbolism and literary sources shaped by Christian Bulgarian poets, between ancestral memory and life far from the homeland.

The album opens with “Тракийци – Черни химни за изгубените” (“Thracians – Black Hymns for the Lost Ones”), an epic invocation of Thracian memory and Bulgarian ancestry. “Хан Аспарух” (“Khan Asparuh”) follows with a martial black metal tribute to the founder of the First Bulgarian Empire, while “Черна песен” (“Black Song”) turns inward through the poetry of Dimcho Debelyanov.

The record later moves through the exile and longing of “Тъга за Юг” (“Longing for the South”), the Kukeri ritual force of “Земни стражи” (“Guardians of the Earth”), and the uncompromising pagan invocation of “Завръщането на родния бог” (“The Return of the Native God”), before closing with “Българският език” (“Bulgarian Language”), a tribute to the survival of Bulgarian language and identity.

The artwork, created by Paolo Girardi, reflects the album’s central theme of cultural collision. Kukeri, ancient masked figures from Bulgarian pagan tradition, stand before the burning Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, one of Québec’s most recognizable Christian landmarks. The image captures the album’s vision of old ritual, new geography, ancestral memory and transformation.

Химните на разрушените светове follows TSAR STANGRA’s debut full-length Небесният ковач(Celestial Forger), the 2023 single “Черна песен” (“Black Song”), and the 2024 live album Битката за Фиорда – На живо в Сагене (The Battle of the Fjord – Live in Saguenay).

Track-list:

  1. “Тракийци – Черни химни за изгубените” (“Thracians – Black Hymns for the Lost Ones”) – 6:45
  2. “Хан Аспарух” (“Khan Asparuh”) – 6:35
  3. “Черна песен” (“Black Song”) – 4:41
  4. “Последният поход” (“The Final March”) – 3:03
  5. “Тъга за Юг” (“Longing for the South”) – 4:49
  6. “Земни стражи” (“Guardians of the Earth”) – 6:42
  7. “Завръщането на родния бог” (“The Return of the Native God”) – 3:11
  8. “Българският език” (“Bulgarian Language”) – 5:43

For fans of ROTTING CHRIST, NEGURA BUNGET, DRUDKH, MELECHESH, BATHORY, and IMMORTAL, the new album offers a deeply cultural and ritualistic take on pagan black metal.

TSAR STANGRA:

  • Stanislav Stefanovski: vocals, tambura
  • Olivier Vaillancourt-Girard: guitars
  • Samuel Paré: guitars
  • Wayne Barr: bass
  • Cindy Tecca: keyboards
  • Simon Vaillancourt-Girard: drums

Connect with TSAR STANGRA:

Source: C Squared Music

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SARCATOR Sign Worldwide Record Deal With Reigning Phoenix Music

Posted in Metal, metal bands, metal music, Music, music news, news with tags , , , , , on June 20, 2026 by Metal Odyssey

Swedish metal force SARCATOR has officially signed a worldwide record deal with Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The partnership marks a significant new chapter for one of Scandinavia’s most exciting rising metal acts as it continues its relentless ascent on the international stage.

Having built a reputation through three acclaimed studio albums, explosive live performances, and a fearless approach to songwriting, SARCATOR is now preparing the next phase of its evolution together with Reigning Phoenix Music. Further details regarding the band’s upcoming fourth studio album will be revealed soon.

The band comments:

“Promising news, friends! We have officially partnered up with the German-American powerhouse Reigning Phoenix Music. As you may know, this fresh new label has already come to be the home for acts such as Opeth, Deicide & Meshuggah to name a few. So apart from being in good company, we believe this partnership will support the band as we break new ground, forward! Onwards! Stay tuned for what’s next.”

Emerging from Sweden’s thriving extreme metal underground, SARCATOR has quickly become one of the most compelling new forces in metal. Blending blackened aggression, death metal intensity, thrash energy and a strong sense of melody, the band has developed a sound they describe as “death’s rock”; a bold and dynamic expression that reflects both their roots and their continuous evolution.

Welcoming SARCATOR to the RPM roster, Reigning Phoenix Music co-founder Gerardo Martinez states:

“Every few years you run into a band that truly shakes your foundation and makes you realize that Heavy Metal will be here for eternity. That band is SARCATOR. Truly, one of the bands that will take Metal into the future and one band to pay attention to in present day. What a pleasure to have them on RPM!”

Lambros Kokkinos, who will be working closely with the band on behalf of the label throughout this next chapter, adds:

“The exciting thing about SARCATOR is that it still feels like a secret. The kind of band you discover before everybody else does. And I have a feeling that 10 years from now, we’ll look back at this moment and be very happy we were there early.”

Between the ages of just 14 and 20, the members of SARCATOR released their first demo tape, Visions of Purgatory, through Redefining Darkness Records in 2019. Only two years later, the band received a nomination for Best Rock/Metal Album at Sweden’s prestigious P3 Guld Awards for its self-titled debut album, released in 2020.

Following the release of the second album Alkahest via Black Lion Records in 2022, SARCATOR expanded its live activities, quickly establishing a reputation for fierce, blackened performances that continue to captivate audiences across Europe and beyond.

The third studio album Swarming Angels & Flies, released in early 2025 via Century Media Records, represented a major artistic and career milestone, further expanding the band’s reach and recognition through touring with the likes of Hellripper, 1349, Midnight, and others, as well as earning a nomination for “Best Hard Rock/Metal Album” at Sweden’s Grammis Awards (other nominees were Sabaton, The Haunted, The Hellacopters and winners Ghost).

Now entering a new era with Reigning Phoenix Music, SARCATOR is preparing to unveil its fourth studio album in 2026, reinforcing their position among the leading names of a new wave of Scandinavian extreme metal!

SARCATOR:
Mateo Tervonen – Guitar / Vocals
Leo Buchalle – Guitar
Jesper Rosén – Drums

SARCATOR Live Dates:
17.07.2026 Ponteareas (Spain) – Arcanxo Festival
28.07.2026 Munich (Germany) – Backstage / Free & Easy with Sacred Reich
30.07.2026 Hamburg (Germany) – MS Stubnitz with Sacred Reich
31.07.2026 Berlin (Germany) – Lido with Sacred Reich
06.08.2026 Schlotheim (Germany) – Party.San Festival
26.09.2026 Emden (Germany) – Coast Rock Festival

And more shows to follow soon…

More on SARCATOR:
www.sarcator.com
https://www.facebook.com/sarcatorband | https://www.instagram.com/sarcator/
https://www.tiktok.com/@sarcator

More on RPM:

reigningphoenixmusic.com | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube

Source: C Squared Music

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