XIV Dark Centuries – Aus uralter Zeit (Digi)

++++ OUT / VÖ – 05.12.2025 ++++ XIV Dark Centuries drew inspiration for their new album from the ages of centuries and millennia. An album that is new, but reveals the band members' many old influences. Whether it's the black metal of the 90s from Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Immortal, or even the hymns of Bathory, all of this has influenced the band, which has been cooking up its mixture of Thuringian pagan metal for over 25 years. Now these influences are to be heard more strongly in the songs. At the same time, however, the band remains true to its cornerstones: narrative depth, a connection to nature and origins, and songwriting that oscillates between archaic power and melodic grandeur. But the new work goes one step further: the production is more powerful, the arrangements more detailed, the atmosphere denser than ever. Old sounds are not only quoted, but cloaked in a new soundscape that conveys both nostalgia and freshness. Thematically, XIV Dark Centuries draws on myths, legends, and fragments from ancient times—but with a maturity that makes it clear that these are not just musicians at work, but also chroniclers of a traumatic past.