Cnoc An Tursa – A Cry For The Slain (2026) – Review

Cnoc An Tursa - A Cry For The Slain - Album Cover

Is it Saor season yet? I reckon it’s time again to roam them standing stones and stuff to find more country lore, yarns, and fairy tales of all sorts. And 2026 seems to be the year that those unsung warriors of the arcane lurch forth. The Scots of Cnoc An Tursa1 didn’t manifest themselves for almost a decade and are now back with their newest concoction, A Cry For The Slain.

Never heard of them? You’re not alone. The old geezers of the RMR Review Desk have seen the name mentioned here and there. But their earlier wares … [...] Click to raid more!

Fabienne Erni – Starveil (2026) – Review

Fabienne Erni - Starveil - Album Cover

The RMR crew would like a word. We’re talking about solo artists and those jacks of all trades that grandly strut their stuff around their very own soundscapes. Those often end in misguided and listless endeavors en route to nowhere. And that, when everybody knows that band efforts reign supreme.

And then, there’s those who quietly build their career and reputation. Until they’re ready for a solo project themselves. But instead of going it alone (and failing), they find themselves bandmates for the music and concentrate on songsmithing.

Fabienne Erni is such an artist. I’ll forever remember when she rushed … [...] Click to raid more!

Cemican – U k ‘u’ uk’ankil Mayakaaj (2025) – Review

Cemican - U_k’u’uk’ankil_Mayakaaj - Album Cover

The Mexicans of Cemican1 are a weird bunch. They deliver a mix of harsh Death Metal and contemporary interpretations of long-gone South American (or Mayan) folk. Ritualistic meditations of the kind we usually hear from Northern Europe.

It appears that the Yucatan is the band’s preferred playground. An area, yours truly here knows pretty well. Extensive travels through dark jungles fondly remembered and a gazillion stoneheaps duly visited. But I digress, this would be fodder for a travel blog, not this zine. Back to Cemican, ’tis a band with a strange addiction to Mayan ideology, worldview, mysticism, and … [...] Click to raid more!

Vintersorg – Vattenkrafternas Spel (2025) – Review

Vintersorg - Vattenkrafternas Spel - Album Cover

I reckon we’ll need a lamestream n00b list for 2025 as well. Vintersorg, the band around one Andreas Hedlund, has been active since 1996. That’s not quite a lifetime ago, unlike other bands out there. But it is a whopping three decades of faithful service to further the mighty metal lore. And they had an undeniable influence on Northern atmospherics in metal, no contest.

The band sometimes showed its colors at the RMR office tower, straight out of the Northern lights at the outer edges of our aural range. But they never quite made it onto the review … [...] Click to raid more!