16 eclectic Highlights in the second half of June!

Leading the small pack of highlights of the second half of June 2025 is “Celestial”, an ambitious four part album by Mantra, divided into seasons (or chapters), each around 15 minutes long. The French quartet from Brittany weaves epic cinematic atmospheres as well as layered Post Metal tapestries into their dark, groovy Prog Metal, thus similarities to German Post Metal torchbearers of The Ocean or equally concept-driven Swiss collective NevBorn are quite evident. But Mantra forge their very own artistic path and may have well given birth to their masterpiece with “Celestial” and without a doubt the best Progressive Metal album of the rear end of June. Dario

Going down a decidedly more chaotic and Avantgarde Prog Metal path is Belgian quintet Winterblind with their third album, “Ego”. This one was put on my radar thanks to the involvement of Omnerod’s Romain Jeuniaux who contributed a guest guitar solo on ‘Cult Broker’. And I am very very happy with this discovery as it tickles my dissonant avantgarde itchings perfectly. Jazz breaks, odd riffs and a vocal performance that covers everything from cleans and growls to rhythmically whispered passages: that’s the stuff I yearn for if presented competently, and that is absolutely the case here. Dario

Just like Romain’s guest appearance made me aware of Winterblind, I have Ihlo bassist Max Brayson to thank for making me aware of the new Invalid Yellow album “Old Shuck”, as he’s responsible for the harsh vocal bits on here. (Funny side fact: Romain guested with growls on the new Ihlo album, but that is another story.) As this is all about British folklore, the music conceived and performed by main man Benjamin Paul Strange thrives on an appropriately doomy foundation to evoke that misty atmosphere in which mythological creatures like the one eyed black dog Old Shuck might appear in the nightly British countryside. Doomy Prog Metal with Death outbursts like Dan Swanö’s Witherscape – if that’s your jam you should definitely check out Invalid Yellow’s “Old Shuck”. Dario

From old British folklore to the mythology created by one of the greatest British writers ever: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth lore is perhaps one of the most cited in Metal music in general (along with Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft). Multi-instrumentalist duo Anfauglir have just added an especially awe-inspiring musical oeuvre to the long line of Tolkien inspired albums. “Akallabêth” is retelling the rise and downfall of Númenor in four epic movements with a runtime ranging from 12 to 22 minutes. A 71 minute symphony of epic proportions, and only 10 minutes in I was already convinced that this is a better adaptation of the source material than the Netflix Rings of Power series. A great balance of black metal fury and epic orchestrations wrapped in a powerful and clear high-end production, these two musicians from Montana give Hollywood as well as Dimmu Borgir (who never dared to break out from their tried and trusted 5 minute songwriting formula) and Summoning (who never crawled out of their dungeons and caves production wise) not only a run for their money, but squarely placing themselves lightyears ahead of them. Dario

Looking back at June releases but with fall around the corner now, Nosound’s “To The Core” EP feels a bit like a foreshadowing of the melancholia season. Their first new music since 2018 thrives in somber, quasi-acoustic soundscapes wrapped into expertly crafted songs that make Steven Wilson music almost seem happy and upbeat. How wonderful. Give me more. Dario

The main riffs of ‘The Circle’, second track and lead single of Noumenia’s debut album “Echoes”, had me thinking of a bastard child from Slipknot and Gojira, but the more I dove into it, the more I discovered their very own brand of energetic Groove Metal. Every time they add subtle orchestrations to the background, it’s like they also add another dimension to their sound, and a bit of a slower tempo like the pen-ultimate ‘Digital Aftermath’ suits them well. If Noumenia explore this side of their sound a bit more in the future, they might even climb higher in the Release of the Weeks ranking of the highlights. A promising and powerful effort. Dario

UK-based multi instrumentalist Grace Hayhurst is back after her debut EP “Existence is Temporary”, the standalone single “I’m In A Battle Against My Brain” and two shorter live releases. This time, it’s no less than her debut full length, entitled “The World Is Dying”. Painting a quite bleak, yet accurate picture of the current state of the world right now with her unique blend of Progressive Rock and other heavy music subgenres that I find quite hard to describe actually, it is the moments when she taps into her Classical music background I find myself gravitating to most of all (maybe given my own Classical upbringing?). So naturally I’d wish for more of that (and maybe some more heaviness at the same time) for future releases if it ever comes to that (and the world hasn’t actually died until then). The world is dying and it’s our fault. It will continue on that dying path if there’s no ‘Revolution’ soon. Until then, there’s always the best song on “The World Is Dying” to take some inspiration. Dario

Greek Technical/Melodic Death Metal band Black Path is a brand new discovery that  I found in our promo email inbox, but after reading that Buster Odeholm (Vildhjarta, Humanity’s Last Breath) had mastered one of their previous singles, I seriously expected a much more modern, sterile sound. “Of Paint and Ash”, their second full length release, breathes so much more rawness and realness though to my absolute delight. The balance between proggi- and techiness, a good chunk of melody but still enough pit-inducing heaviness to go around is just spot on, making “Of Paint and Ash” easily a June highlight. Dario

With the fierceness of Black Metal and the brutality of Death Metal and an undeniable technical aspect, Rome’s Patristic are destined to take the extreme metal world by storm with their debut full length “Catechesis”. Drummer Sathrath surely knows how to make jaws drop to the floor by his unrelenting blastbeats, cymbal ornaments and high speed flares and fills. Hideous Divinity’s Enrico Schettino penchant for those ever so slightly dissonant guitar harmonies probably dominates the masterful songwriting, making “Catechesis” one of the most important releases in the Extreme Metal realm. Dario

US based quartet Shadow of Intent has been carving out their very own niche between Technical Death Metal, Deathcore and hints of Symphonic Black Metal for well over a decade now. “Imperium Delirium” is their fifth album to date and it will only continue their upward trajectory. The horror element implemented by the Black Metal factor and the all sorts of filthy vocals by Ben Duerr are such a perfect match to both the Tech Death element as well as the Brutal AF Deathcore breakdowns. Almost too perfect. Definitely not for the faint of heart but all the more fun for anyone who likes their Metal Extreme with a capital E. Dario

Continuing our violent and brutal path through these second half of July highlights, we can’t miss “An Insatiable Violence”, the ninth album by Canadian legends Cryptopsy. Shaping the sound of Brutal Tech Death for more than 30 years now, the quartet around founding member and drumming luminary Flo Mounier continues to bulldoze their path through everything standing in their way with no signs of slowing down at all. Exhausting but for all the right reasons. Dario

A little enigmatic Instrumental Djent/Prog Metal EP that was washed into my Release Radar thanks to the involvement of Canadian guitarist ZaKrahe is “Echoes of Djinn” by Fovere, Chris Fohner’s musical alias. Bookended by intriguing oriental vibes fitting to the EP’s title in the form of the two minute intro ‘Abandoned’ and the second half of ‘The Last Wish’, this release shows great promise and I’m looking forward to the next steps of Fovere. Dario

Calming down a little bit for our Psychedelic Rock pic of the second half of July, we’re going to Italy. “In Between” is the new album from Da Captain Trips and it’s heavily inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It explores the inevitable aspect of human life that is dying as a last psychedelic trip and with a little bit of patience, they’re really starting to gain momentum about halfway throughout the second song, ‘Whispers’. From that point on, I’m tripping as well. Recorded live in studio with no overdubs, it is as much a statement of living in the here and now as it’s taking us into the “In Between”. Dario

There’s definitely not enough Prog Rock in this edition of our Releases of the Weeks series, so Mirror Mirage’s “Missing Pieces” EP comes along quite conveniently. Especially the central quasi title track ‘For All The Missing Pieces’ marks a memorable return of ex-Armed Cloud guitarist Wouter van der Veen to the Prog world. Welcome back. Dario

The Art Rock pick for this RotW edition falls to King Crimson vocalist/guitarist Jakko M. Jakszyk and his new solo album “Son of Glen”. A nostalgic, auto-biographic account full of mystery, wonder and melancholia. For the shorter songs, I’m more reminded of Peter Gabriel-esque Art Pop, but the fantastic 10 minute title song is worth the admission alone for all Prog Rockers. Dario

Somewhere between Bach, Anna von Hausswolff and Sturle Dagsland and yet even so much more: Berlin based vocalist Sophie Tassignon is offering marvelous, mysterious Avantgarde A-Cappella sounds on her new album “A Slender Thread”. Je ne sais quoi. Je ne sais pas pourquoi. Mais j’adore ca. Dario