Downfall of Nur - And the Firmament will Burn to Quench the Pain of this Earth (2026)

There's been some meaningful comebacks recently and so it happens that all of them came back after a decade of hiatus. And Antonio Sanna's project is no different here. It'd been already 10 years since the last album signed by Downfall of Nur, EP with Selvans was released. The Italian artist currently living in Argentina brought back his music that is located somewhere between instrumental ambient and black metal and made it worth waiting for.

If you take the notion of atmospheric (black) metal and concentrate it over and over again, you'll get Downfall of Nur's soundscapes. Because this is music that may have came from the realm of angry guitars and powerful screams but there's little that reminds us of the genre's origins at the moment. It's a soundscape. Almost ambient music in a way. The album is long which makes the tracks long, almost all of them being their own wholes, their own albums. Slowly developing, reaching unbelievable places, coming back and again, like a nice evening stroll. It happens that the stroll brings you around hell that our world is turning into, but nevertheless, it's a stroll.

The atmosphere on thsi album is phenomenal. No wonder, as this album treats about the way the suffering and the grief of women shaped the history of humankind. This and the undoubted ties to the Mediterranean culture must bring the recent cinematic mega-production to one's mind, especially that the album "is not a linear or conclusive narrative, but a fragmented ritual space that opens the way to multiple layers of interpretation, where history, mythology, and human mourning converge". Non-linear, huh? Just like a certain American director likes doing stuff. I'm happy to say that And the Firmament will Burn to Quench the Pain of this Earth is my favourite piece of non-linear storytelling set in the Mediterranean world this summer.

And the Firmament will Burn to Quench the Pain of this Earth costs 7 EUR.

Check: Underground Halls of the Oldest Goddess’s Stronghold

Country: Italy/Argentina

Genre: black metal soundscape

Label: Avantgarde Music

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Deaf Center - Reverie (2025)

Somehow this is only the first time the Norwegian duo Deaf Center appears on my blog. It's a shame for me as Erik K. Skodvin and Otto A. Totland create their works of art for over two decades now. But their dark improvisation had to eventually turn up here and I'm glad it's this beautiful, yet unsettling album.

The new album includes two long compositions that balance the darker and unnerving atmosphere with the beauty of piano notes. The slow pace of the darkness that is woven into this music makes me think of a winter morning that will turn into a bright day but for now is still cold and unwelcoming. The album was recorded live and, as it is mentioned on their Bandcamp page, "as always, the duo favours improvisation, and what emerged on this evening turned out to be a truly magical encounter". The piano, cello and guitar sounds glued together with dark electronica give out peculiar but addictive vibes.

Reverie costs 7 EUR.

Check: Rev

Country: Norway

Genre: dark neoclassical

Label: Sonic Pieces

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