Behold the new EP by this iconic Ukrainian Symphonic Black Metal horde, offering more than forty minutes of first-class heavy music, and a very good indication of what to expect from their upcoming full-length strike.
Initially a pure Death Metal project under the name of Suppuration formed in 1992 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Symphonic Black/Folk Metal Nokturnal Mortum started to gain real attention from fans under their new name in 1994, with the album Twilightfall (1995), Lunar Poetry (1996) and Goat Horns (1997) presented a unique blend of Melodic and Symphonic Black Metal with the heritage of Ukrainian folk music. Now in 2026 the band currently formed of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Knjaz Varggoth, guitarist Wortherax, keyboardist Surm, bassist Karpath, and drummer Kubrakh returns with a very special EP titled Біль | Hurt, following up on their 2022 opus До лунарної поезії, offering more than forty minutes of first-class heavy music, and a very good indication of what to expect from their upcoming full-length strike.
To Those Who Went Down the Tysyna River is an absolutely atmospheric and cinematic track, working as an extended intro to Eight Days to Spring, one of the most emotionally charged songs the band has ever made, born after protesting people getting shot down by criminal government forces at Maidan in the last days of February 2014, where the band blasts their trademark fusion of Black and Folk Metal spiced up by symphonic and epic elements. Then after the also experimental interlude First Steps of Freedom… The Flavor of Doom in Eight Years, we face Weltanschauung, with the scorching riffs by Knjaz Varggoth and Wortherax, and the massive beats by Kubrakh, exhaling Blackened Folk Metal magic. The Forgotten Ages of Victories offers a more epic vibe, with Knjaz Varggoth declaiming the song’s dark words like a beast from the underworld, followed by Ukraine, a vibrant live take on one of the band’s classics, where the keys by Surm sound striking from start to finish.
The year of 2026 is going to witness two new metal storms by Nokturnal Mortum, starting with the excellent EP Біль | Hurt, and culminating with their still untitled upcoming full-length album, which doesn’t have a release date confirmed yet. If their new album is just half as good as what they have to offer in this awesome EP, we can rest assured the gods of Black Metal will be extremely happy, just like us mere mortals, fans of extreme music, and you can get in touch with those talented Ukrainians via Facebook and Instagram, and of course, grab a copy of their new EP from Oriana Music. Біль | Hurt is the perfect representation of the past, present and future of such a resilient Ukrainian band, keeping the fires of Black Metal burning bright, and pointing to an even more exciting future ahead of them in the coming years.
Best moments of the album: Eight Days to Spring and The Forgotten Ages of Victories.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2026 Oriana Music
Track listing
1. To Those Who Went Down the Tysyna River 7:34
2. Eight Days to Spring 4:51
3. First Steps of Freedom… The Flavor of Doom in Eight Years 9:06
4. Weltanschauung 8:42
5. The Forgotten Ages of Victories 6:45
6. Ukraine (live) 7:28
Band members
Knjaz Varggoth – vocals, guitars, keyboards, weellyre, drymba, telynka, kobza, percussion
Wortherax – guitars
Surm – keyboards, dulcimer, pipes
Karpath – bass
Kubrakh – drums
