Strangeways

Avant-garde metal duo of 47_N_74D0 and horrid_charme, recorded and arranged 2019-2020 between Warsaw and Madrid. Their debut Deformed by the Misuse of Soul [RG06] (ruego label, May 2020) fuses black metal and industrial metal with death industrial, noise, musique concrète, and glitch, using field recordings and sound design across four long-form tracks (one featuring guest act portento).

Abbey ov Thelema is a Slovak project founded in mid-2009 by Delgrast (vocals, keyboards, programming) of atmospheric black metal band Nevaloth, initially as a dark-ambient solo side project before Nevaloth bandmate Vilozof joined on guitar in late 2010 and pushed it toward what the pair called 'Transcendental Khaoblack Metal.' Across a run of demos and full-lengths for Wraith Productions (2009-2019), including "A Fragment ov the Great Work" (2011) and "Liber DCLXVI" (2013), the project fused fast, melodic black metal songwriting with heavy synth/electronic textures and esoteric Thelemic themes before splitting up.

Rotting Heaven was a black metal band from Sergiyev Posad, Moscow Oblast, Russia, active 2008–2017, part of a small local scene that also produced Neon Scaffold and VTTA. Their sound has been described as classical, icy black metal contaminated with caustic electronic effects in the Mysticum lineage, closing out with a 2017 split with Wolok before disbanding.

A one-man Icelandic project from scene veteran Thordur Bjornsson (also of Illkynja, Hrae and Endalok), built on cavernous, chaotic black metal soaked in murky, oppressive atmosphere. Schizomenous // (2020) and Canvas of a New Dawn (2021) weave in drum machine, synths, field recordings and unsettling radio-broadcast samples. Released through UK label Onism Productions in small limited runs.

Paraklēsisplay in the dock

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Ragnarökkur is an atmospheric black metal project whose Bandcamp lists Iceland as its home (Metal Archives instead tags it Finland/Iceland, suggesting a split/international lineup), built around the core pairing of Matron Thorn (strings and synthetics) and Nefarious (drums and percussion), with Palmi and Stefan on voice and guest female vocals from Kabukimono. Its sole release to date, the 2021 demo Fjöldagröf Goðanna, sets furious, technically dense atmospheric black metal against Icelandic-language song titles drawn from Norse mythology (the name itself is an Icelandic form of Ragnarök), with orchestral synth layering thickening the atmosphere. Beyond that one five-track demo there is no further discography or biographical material available.

Alfa Obscura is a one-man Norwegian black metal/avant-garde project based in Oslo, run since around 2010 by Bjeima (Bjørge Eide Martinsen), who writes, performs, and produces all instruments and vocals. Musically it is rooted in cold, dissonant '90s Norwegian black metal tradition pushed into more avant-garde territory across the albums 'Plutonian Shores' (2011) and 'Sisyfos Speil' (2023), the latter drawing critical comparisons to Ved Buens Ende, Virus, and Manes. Bjeima is also a session/touring bassist for the Norwegian avant-garde black metal band Virus, appearing on their album 'The Agent That Shapes The Desert' (2011) and 'Oblivion Clock' EP (2012).

Ophe is a one-man avant-garde/post-black metal project from Châtillon, France, created by Christophe "Bargnatt XIX" Denhez (also frontman of OMRÅDE and Demande à la Poussière), who handles all vocals, instruments and programming. Debut album Litteras Ad Tristia Maestrum Solitude arrived on My Kingdom Music in 2018, followed by Somnium Nocte Mendaciis (2022) on the same label. The project pairs primal black metal with dissonant, hermetic song structures and post-industrial, noise-inflected atmospheres, drawing comparisons to Dodecahedron, Ævangelist and Spektr.

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.

Ägakäken is a one-person Estonian black metal/experimental project helmed by SÜBÜR (guitar, vocals, synths, percussion). Its 2022 EP "BlÄkk VVärkk" mixes black metal with harsh noise, noise rock, and post-rock textures across short, abrasive tracks, some under 30 seconds. Other 2021–2022 releases include "DEMO 2021," "AxLxBxUxM," and "Seksiori Indrek."

Sturmgeist is the solo vehicle of Norwegian musician Cornelius Jakhelln (Solefald, G.U.T.), founded in 2002 as an experimental black/thrash outfit that took an increasingly electronic/industrial turn from its 2005 debut Meister Mephisto onward. Sung across English, Norwegian and German, the project draws on Germanic mythology, war and poetry (Goethe), with Jakhelln handling vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming and sampling himself while rotating in session musicians for drums and second guitar.