Reykjavik’s MANNVEIRA return with their second full-length, «Vesöld», out on 16 October 2026 via Dark Descent Records.
Country: Iceland
Style: Black Metal (post-black)
For fans of: Carpe Noctem, Naðra, Andavald
The band started around 2010 with singer, guitarist and bassist Illugi Kristinsson (formerly of Abacination), who worked alone on a sound world rooted in the Icelandic black metal tradition. From those recordings came the 2014 EP «Von Er Eitur», with a session drummer from Úlfúð. Within a year a full line-up was in place with people known from Naðra and Andavald, which led to a split and eventually to the 2021 debut LP «Vítahringur».
Most of the same people appear on «Vesöld», but the roles have changed: Kristinsson keeps only the vocals, the former bassist moved to guitar (while still playing bass on the record), and members of Forsmán, Naðra and Altari were added. The main voice stays recognisable — a restrained, harsh scream — but the pace and the way the guitars are built have changed noticeably.
The album has seven tracks: «Lygar himinsins», «Þrot», «Af bergi brotin», «Stormur», «Aumingi», «Bölvunin» and «Rottur». The opening «Lygar himinsins» sets the tone with a dark, measured intensity, while «Þrot» starts from a groove that pushes the bass to the front and develops with metallic, almost post-black textures. Softer moments, as in «Stormur», bring the sound close to melancholic, dreamlike territory, before the closing «Rottur» speeds up into punkier rhythms.
Our take
«Vesöld» shows a band that does not repeat itself: it keeps the bleak atmosphere of the debut but translates it into a cleaner, more modern post-black sound, with the bass lines and the rhythm taking the lead role. It is not original in every moment — some ideas keep circling the same pattern — yet the coherence and the intensity hold throughout, and the end result is aimed at anyone who loves the northern, dark sound.
See also
Agonanist – The Spirit of Gravity: A Dense Wall of Dissonant Black Metal and Burzum – Filosofem: The Album That Slowed Black Metal Down.
