[Heavy News] Mayday! Mayday! Five Riff-Bombers on #MusicMonday!

Music MondaysMusic
Written By Brady Irwin

Oof, man. Middle of the year already, nearly?! How’d that happen. Middle of the year in the middle of this decade, to boot?!

Time flies when you’re having fun, and have fun I think you very much will in checking out our latest smorgasbord of artist releases from the month of May.

Due to having a lot of other time-sensitive content coming up throughout a very busy last week or so, we’ve got a heck of a backlog (on top of the existing, mountainous pile of great stuff, which I love to see).

For that reason, I’ll dispense with my usual rambling nature, and simply bring you a plethora of releases from across the heavy/alternative music-verse.

Peace, Love and Beating Back Relentless Sands of Time By Enjoying Good Tunes Now, xoxo - Brady.

 

  1. Swedish Doom/Psych Delvers CAVERN DEEP Unearth Trilogy Concept-LP Part III: The Bodiless, Out Now!

Swedish doom/psych explorers Cavern Deep return with the final chapter of their epic concept album trilogy. Titled "Part III – The Bodiless", the album is set for release on May 9, 2025 via Bonebag Records and Majestic Mountain Records, marking the conclusion of a story that has taken listeners on a dark and otherworldly journey since the band’s self-titled debut in 2021.

Formed in 2019 by members of Zonaria and Gudars Skymning, Cavern Deep has built a reputation for crafting captivating, atmospheric doom soundscapes, blending crushing heaviness with eerie psychedelia. Their debut album, released via Interstellar Smoke Records, introduced a unique storytelling approach that continued with "Part II – Breach", a critically acclaimed release on their own Bonebag Records.

Now, with "Part III – The Bodiless", Cavern Deep brings the saga to a dramatic and haunting close, pushing their sonic boundaries further into the abyss. The album is expected to deliver the band’s signature slow, hypnotic riffs and cavernous atmospheres, while weaving a final chapter that explores themes of transcendence, transformation, and the unknown.

The album is the most grand and expansive album in the series so far. It features Marty Harvey from Slomatics as the vocalist of the title track “The Bodiless”, and Martin Ludl on saxophone playing on the track “Moskstraumen”. 

The concept synopsis is as follows:

The Bodiless
The transformation is complete. It enters the ungodly realm through the pulse, now without physical form. A shimmering image of nerves, energy, and vibrant rage moves through starless space. The bodiless is greeted by the never-ending hordes of shapeless beings, awoken for the sole purpose of ending its journey. They will all perish.

Queen Womb
Traveling between nodes of passage, covering the vast distances of void, the queen rises. Its children disintegrated, now itself decaying. Facing the bodiless with the desperation of a grieving mother, it unleashes a spewing tidal wave of pure hatred. It is futile. The struggle is short. All that remains is an empty husk. A floating dead mass.

Putrid Sentry
Enter the looming watcher of the outer rims, the putrid one. Bestower of unfathomable grief. The commander of a million shapeless minions now gone. It spreads its dark, suffocating energy across the vastness, like a mighty bellow. It wants to consume all. The bodiless seeps into its veins like a lethal promise, soon rendering its deadly cloak pierced and useless, shattered throughout dead space.

Moskstraumen
The bodiless slowly drifts into the maw of the maelstrom. Almost depleted. Nearly spent. Soon its purpose is fulfilled. This is the cradle of prime evil. As the ancient swirling mass begins to gnaw away at every ethereal nerve ending of the bodiless, its final offering is released in its full glory: the last light. Burning. Consuming. The grip on the entire realm withers away as the great whirlpool bellows in dying agony.

Galaxies Collide
As oozing wounds of ungodly matter bleed out and fade, space itself starts to crumble. Violently colliding with itself, tearing rifts in the very fabric of existence. The bodiless is pulled towards the dead black center of it all. The eye of the storm. Drifting to sleep. In peace. Flickering like a dying lantern.

Full Circle
The fail-safe. The curse. The testament. The bodiless is sucked into the deep at the center of the chaotic collapsing reality surrounding it. It is trying to draw breath. It is becoming. Images are rushing back like an unstoppable flood. There is flesh... One archaeologist and 49 brave men stand at the gates, staring down into the bowels of the mountain. It is time to begin the descent.


Line-up:
Kenny-Oswald Duvfenberg – Guitars & Vocals
Max Malmer – Bass & Vocals
Dennis Sjödin – Drums & Backup Vocals
Johannes Behndig – Keys

2. Belgique Sludge-Monsters GROWING HORNS Bring You Latest LP ‘The Essence of Suffering’ a.k.a., An Existential Crisis In Drop-B.

Some bands play heavy.
Growing Horns drags you through the mud, ties millstones to your soul, and sings lullabies in the language of ruin.

Formed in 2015 in the shadow-cloaked depths of Kortrijk, Belgium, Growing Horns didn’t emerge as just another sludge band—they rose as a séance. A slow-burning, punishing invocation of pain, fury, and existential dread. Their sound isn’t forged—it’s exorcised.

Their 2019 debut EP, The Nobility of Pain, landed like a blow to the chest. A raw, unrelenting outpouring of emotion that critics called relentless and fans called home. It wasn’t just music—it was a wound. Pulsing. Festering. Unrepentantly real.

Now, the Belgian collective returns with The Essence of Suffering—an album that doesn’t simply gaze into the abyss, but sets up camp, builds an altar, and lights black candles in its honor. Heavier, darker, and more immersive than anything before, this new chapter digs even deeper into their signature sound: a harrowing fusion of sludge, doom, and stoner-infused despair.

Every note lands like a slab of grief.
Every riff feels like a monument crumbling in slow motion.
And the vocals—part preacher, part beast, part mourner—don’t just scream. They bleed.

There’s no gloss. No pretense.
Just pure, cathartic release.

Live, Growing Horns offers a baptism by ash—no stage banter, no gimmicks. Just a wall of dread, blasted through cranked amps and shattered dreams. Whether at festivals or in sweat-drenched basements, they leave a lasting silence that follows you home.

With influences that range from the low-end weight of Crowbar, the pounding stomp of Goatsnake, to the swamp-soaked dread of Down, Growing Horns crafts music that is brutally heavy—and spiritually resonant.

Line-up:
Daf – Vocals
Didier – Guitar
Sven – Guitar
Wim – Bass
Kev – Drums

GROW A PAIR (OF HORNS) AND HEAD OVER TO THEIR LINKS, AT:

GH - Artist Site:
https://growinghorns666.wixsite.com 

GH - Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/growinghornsband

GH - Bandcamp:
https://growinghorns.bandcamp.com

GH - Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/growinghornsband

3. Avant-Garde Doom Project, LIMINAL SPIRIT, Releases Pathways EP!

Milwaukee (WI) - Pathways, the sophomore EP from one-man progressive doom/avant-garde metal project, Liminal Spirit, is out now on all digital platforms! Pathways follows last year's self-titled debut album and is available to purchase/stream at the following locations:


liminalspirit.bandcamp.com/album/pathways


open.spotify.com/track/7alaa1lzFGJMNn9pFYHLR0


youtu.be/GGkn2dRAqQM


Genre descriptors get one only so far with Pathways though. Multi-instrumentalist/composer, Jerry Hauppa (Northless, Ara, Deorbit), explains that the solo project is "focused on making 'seance music' or, in other words, a backdrop suitable for channeling the passage of spirits."

Pathways consists of the single 14-minute title track, depicting five individuals trapped within a maze. It is fully through-composed, meaning there are no repeating parts of any kind until the epilogue. It is composed in a way that brings to mind a stage play, where there are intermissions and the aforementioned epilogue, and the lines of each of the five characters comprise the lyrics. The music will shift in tone throughout the piece to reflect the mood of each speaker.


FFO: Jesu, Cynic, Confessor, Swans, Skepticism


Track Listing:


1. Pathways


Credits:


All music written, recorded and mixed by Jerry Hauppa.

Mastered by Jeff Wojtysiak at Spiral Sound Studios.

Artwork: James Becker

Photo Credit: Jerry Hauppa

Liminal Spirt is:

Jerry Hauppa - Guitar, Bass, Drum Programming, Synthesizer, Vocoder 

BIO:

Liminal Spirit is Jerry Hauppa's solo project. Prior to this, Hauppa was involved in sludge metal band Northless, death metal band Ara, and instrumental space-focused band, Deorbit.

LIMINAL SPIRITS, MAXIMAL LINKS:

instagram.com/liminal_spirit_mke

Liminal Spirit on Facebook

liminalspirit.bandcamp.com

4. OMINOUS RUIN’s Frenzied Tech-Death Album, Requiem, Out Now on Willowtip!

San Franisco (CA) - American Tech-Death Juggernaut, Ominous Ruin, have released new album, Requiem, on Willowtip! The album is available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. Click to purchase/stream below!

https://bit.ly/requiem-willowtip

https://bit.ly/requiem-bandcamp

open.spotify.com/album/6tuSRtLi7jkWWlIVxOxGhx

music.apple.com/us/album/requiem/1796497512

youtu.be/70umHNI8we0

"The whole album is simply outstanding."

- Teeth of the Divine

"A great album!" (10/10)

- Necromance

"Ominous Ruin have somehow done it again, and this, in my mind, is the standard for others in the same arena to aim for." (100/100)

- Cult Metal Flix

"Requiem is a blunt and solid-as-a-mountain release, dense as could be expected and containing enough to discover that you’ll be searching out the ole’ musical mining helmet once again to go spelunking."

- No Clean Singing

"Enthralling, captivating and immersive, Ominous Ruin have hit another home run here." (9/10)

- Metal Noise

"Requiem is intricate, punishing, and unique." (4.5/5)

- Metal Epidemic

"A relentless blast of inherently addictive intensity, measured and detailed, Ominous Ruin have delivered something downright impressive here."

- Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life

"Think Spawn Of Possession’s labyrinthine torment, Decrepit Birth‘s precision carved into chaos, and Ulcerate‘s suffocating dread—all stitched together with trem-picked madness that induces polyrhythmic panic attacks."

- All Father Metal

"Technical death metal that is memorable as it is brutal." (9/10)

- Dead Rhetoric

"Brutal, technically brilliant death metal – intense, precise, and full of sonic contrasts." (4.5/5)

- Metalunderground.at

"Their musicianship is off the charts, and their technical prowess is hard to match. Intense, brutal, and punishing."

- Metal Temple

"If you love death metal, and love extremely tech versions of it with a progressive edge, then you really need to check this album out."

- Canadian Assault

"This album isn't like a storm, but rather like a cyclone that builds up threateningly, then unloads on you, collapses, and then strikes again."

- Metal-Only 

"The album might be a new phase in the band’s career, but their core savagery, violence and intricacy is intact." (4/5)

- The Headbanging Moose

"Ominous Ruin‘s line-up may have changed, but the band’s determination to offer brutal, complex music has not! Requiem picks up where its predecessor left off and hits us with its own jerky riffs with the same rage."

- Acta Infernalis

"If all tech death albums were as good as Ominous Ruin’s Requiem, then I would like the genre a lot more."

- Doomed For Metal

"Ominous Ruin have put out another solid and satisfying record in Requiem, and the band remain an above average modern technical death metal band."

- Wonderbox Metal

"Ominous Ruin are laying down tech death that is not so much redefining the genre as it is refining it."

- Heavy Music HQ

A formidable leap forward in both musical complexity and emotional depth, Requiem is a powerful exploration of the human psyche, the ravages of time, and the inevitable descent into oblivion. Requiem is at its core, a continuation of Ominous Ruin’s first release, Amidst Voices that Echo in Stone. Beyond that, its conception spawned from the raw emotion of personal issues and turmoil, as it was created during a dark time in the band’s lives.

 

The album begins with a direct continuation from the final song off Ominous Ruin’s first album, an emotional guitar and piano ballad that brings the mood to somber, yet melodic. It immediately transitions to an explosion of chaos with the first song, "Seeds of Entropy. "

The musicianship on Requiem is, as expected, nothing short of exceptional. Guitarists Alex Bacey and Joel Guernsey showcase their technical brilliance in every track, with blistering solos and complex, interwoven riffs that keep listeners on their toes. The rhythm section, comprised of Mitch Yoesle (bass) and Harley Blandford (drums), is hardly just a rhythm section, that provides a relentless foundation of precision, power and creativity, anchoring the music as it constantly shifts between ferocity and atmospheric beauty.

The production, handled by Alex Bacey is pristine yet dense, allowing every instrument to shine through the brutal wall of sound without sacrificing the intensity of the compositions. The layering of ambient soundscapes and acoustic passages throughout the album provides an immersive listening experience, allowing the heavier elements to hit even harder when they arrive.

Track Listing:

1 - Intro

2 - Seeds of Entropy [Video]

3 - Eternal [Video]

4 - Bane of Syzygial Triality

5 - Divergent Anomaly

6 - Fractal Abhorrence

7 - Architect of Undoing

8 - Staring into the Abysm [Video]

9 - Requiem

Credits:

Written & Produced By: Alex Bacey

Lyrics & Concepts By: Adam Rosado

Vocals Performed By: Crystal Rose

Bass Written By: Mitch Yoesle

Drums Written By: Harley Blandford

Additional Solos And Song Writing By: Joel Guernsey

Drums Recorded By: Cody Fuentes/Rapture Recordings

Vocals Recorded By: Petr Oplatka [Petropolys Media]

Mixed/Mastered By: Alex Bacey

Artwork By: Pär Olofsson

Emblem Logo By: Alejandro Morales [Imperfect Designs]

Photography By: Catalino [Kitty] Alvarez [Cateyeview]

Management By: Joel Spielman

5. Romanian Post-Black Metallers GENUNE Release Third LP Infinite Presence

Romanian atmospheric post-black metal outfit Genune is set to release their third full-length album, Infinite Presence, on May 17 via Consouling Sounds. To be released on black vinyl, cool blue vinyl, CD, and digital formats, this new record marks a profound artistic leap for the band — one born from radiant hope and deep absence.

Formed in 2012, Genune found its true artistic voice with the release of Cern Sol in 2018. Their sound defies simple categorization, blending the intensity of post-black metal with elements drawn from shoe-gaze, electronica, Americana, and Anatolian rock. The result is a dynamic and emotive musical tapestry, where moments of searing intensity meet calm introspection.

Lyrically, Genune explores the themes of time, consciousness, identity, and existence through a modernist poetic lens. Their second album, Inert & Unerring (2021), delved deeper into the complexities of identity, setting the stage for the introspective journey that Infinite Presence now offers.

Infinite Presence was written between summer 2023 and summer 2024, conceived as both a reflection on the fleeting nature of life and a celebration of memory and gratitude. It’s an album about remembrance — and the presence that remains in absence.

Genune:
Dragoș Chiricheș – guitars, synths, acoustic guitar
Cosmin Farcău – guitars
István Vladăreanu – bass, voice
Abel Păduret – drums
Victor Neicutescu – voice

Album credits:
Produced by Genune
Mixed and mastered by Victor Neicutescu
Drums, voice & acoustic guitar recorded at Torion Recording Studio by Nimrod Szedlacsek
Field recording on “I Want You Here” by Florentin Popa (recorded at the Black Sea)
Artwork layout by Eduard Szilágyi
Artwork photography by YAP Studio
CD photography and painting by Sorina
All music written by Dragoș Chiricheș
All lyrics by Dragoș Chiricheș
Arranged by Genune

Genune
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/genunebm

Consouling Sounds
Website Consouling Sounds: https://consouling.be
Website Consouling Sounds store: https://store.consouling.be
Youtube Consouling Sounds: https://www.youtube.com/@ConsoulingSounds
Instagram Consouling Sounds: https://www.instagram.com/consouling
Facebook Consouling Sounds: https://www.facebook.com/ConsoulingSounds

There are so, so, so many more releases that have come out in May! (By my inbox count, hundreds). Stay tuned as I’ll be putting out some more Heavy News in the coming days.

If you like what you’ve sampled of the above artists, consider showing your support with likes, follows and most importantly, grabbing some of their musical output, merch etc if you have the dosh to spare!

Support The Local Scene. Support International Alternative/Heavy Music. Don’t Support Crowd-Killers.

 
Brady Irwin
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