Asofy

Elagabalus is a Baltimore, Maryland avant-garde black metal duo formed in 2014 by Dustin Swanson (bass, vocals, synth) and Ben Price (drums, vocals, guitar). Across Damnatio Memoriae (2015), Antiquarian Black MIDI (2017), and Dark Money (2018), the project layers synthesizers over black-metal instrumentation, drawing press comparisons to Neurosis, My Bloody Valentine, Godflesh, and Nirvana. Dark Money is tagged 'doomgaze/shoegaze' on Bandcamp and explores themes of financial corruption and power through a cinematic, synth-heavy sound.

The dark-ambient/doom project of Matron Thorn (also of Ævangelist and Præternatura), based in Tampere, Finland, with six full-lengths 2021-2024. Bandcamp self-tags consistently describe it as experimental dark-ambient doom metal with post-rock and soundtrack qualities and occult lyrical themes — a slower, more spatial sibling to Thorn's more extreme-metal-facing projects.

Omega Centauri is a UK-based atmospheric black metal project built around multi-instrumentalist Tom Vallely, blending glacial tremolo-riff black metal with dark ambient textures, doom-paced passages, and cinematic post-rock swells. Recorded piecemeal between 2006 and 2011, debut Universum Infinitum favors slow-burn atmosphere and philosophical/theological themes over aggression. The project sits in the same cold-and-spacious atmospheric black metal lineage as labelmates on Duplicate Records.

In the Woods... are a Norwegian avant-garde/progressive metal band from Kristiansand, formed in 1992 from the early Green Carnation lineup. Their debut 'Heart of the Ages' helped shape pagan black metal before the band evolved toward atmospheric, progressive and doom-leaning territory across 'Omnio' and later records, with clean and female vocals broadening the palette. After disbanding in 2000 they reformed in 2014 and continue releasing through Debemur Morti Productions.

Chiva was a Swiss atmospheric doom/black metal and darkwave project from Sion, Valais, formed in 1996 as a parallel/solo outlet for the person behind the band Sadness, described in its own liner notes as 'a desire to realise my personal work through a different and majestic music.' The sole release, the CD 'Oracle morte' (1996, Witchhunt Records/SPV), features four tracks exploring sadness, loneliness, winter and majesty, with additional vocals from Robert Frost on 'Fire And Ice.'

One-person black/doom project from Seattle helmed by J.B., active since 2020, exploring prehistoric mysticism and psilocybin-tinged, entheogenic themes across the demo MMXX (2020) and a 2023 split with fellow Balor's Eye Productions act Graal. J.B. also drums in Graal, making the split a genuine bandmate connection rather than a mere label pairing.

Strigine Premonitionplay in the dock

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Wyrmwoods is a one-man experimental/atmospheric black metal project from Oulu, Finland, active since 2014 under the alias Nuurag-Vaarn and signed to Inverse Records. Its four full-lengths (Earth Made Flesh, 2017; Spirit & Teeth, 2019; Gamma, 2020; No Sun Nor Moon, 2022) fold progressive rock, doom, jazz saxophone and ambient texture into a black metal core, with Gamma marking a deliberate turn from a chaotic, lo-fi approach toward more progressive, Opeth-indebted songwriting.

Nightly Gale are a Polish 'suicidal'/experimental doom metal band from Zabrze, formed in January 1996 and still releasing as of their 2008 album Imprint. Founder Slawek Pyrzyk's slow, melancholic doom foundation has been layered over the years with second-vocalist Waldemar Sagan's black metal screams and, notably, live saxophone passages that reviewers single out as an unusually organic touch for the genre. Their debut ...and Jesus Wept (2001) came out on Pagan Records, and Imprint (2008) pushed the format further into a single continuous 70-minute piece.

Nomicon was a Helsinki act led by vocalist/bassist Tommi Launonen (Ceasar), moving from an early death/thrash sound into symphonic, atmospheric black metal by the 2001 album Halla, drawing comparisons to The Kovenant's Nexus Polaris but 'enriched with more deeply doomy atmospherics.' The band drew on a deep bench of Finnish extreme-metal talent, including guitarist Roope Latvala (later Children of Bodom), rhythm guitarist Miika Niemela (Shape of Despair), female vocalist Tanya Kemppainen (Lullacry), and drummer Yka 'Agathon' (Barathrum). A Metal Archives review characterizes Halla's keyboard-led sound as a 'misanthropic baroque celebration' anchored by 'apocalyptic witch-esque rasps.'

Towards Rusted Soil is a black metal side project of Tamás Kátai, better known as the founder/mainman of Thy Catafalque (and also of Gort and Gire), on which he performed all vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and programming himself. The project released two demos, Forsaken in Fog (2000) and A Landscape Slumbering (2003), before its material was reissued on a 2014 four-way split alongside fellow Makó-scene acts Gort, Namtar and Gire.