For every style in the vast underworld that metal music has come to call its own, there are many that are not given nearly enough representation. Sometimes, it can feel as though the reaches of folk and symphonic metal are not given enough attention as time goes on, but it’s in the darkness of obscurity that some of the truly niche and unsettling creations of metal ingenuity and pervasiveness in the face of true madness. It was last year that the intersection of doom and black metal were given immense justice thanks to the efforts of a select few acts, and it’s now with the debut album from Dwellnought that the genre has a strong foothold in 2026.

It will never cease to amaze me how easily any sound can be twisted so long as the hands in question have the imagination and capacity to bring their vision about. Black-doom can be a relatively restrictive sound, but it’s here that Dwellnought refused to conform. Normally, a work of black-doom would offer the listener a slow and methodical excursion through the vast expanse of the endless, all-consuming void. The sheer terror of it all should seep into your very bones and be one of the dominant flavors in the aural concoction that takes its time in diabolical fashion. In just the first few minutes of “Monolith of Ephemerality”, it’s made obvious that Dwellnought is doing anything other than playing by the rules. This is an intensity that immediately seeks to get under your skin. Writhing and coiling under the flesh, corroding the spirit, Dwellnought’s devious tactics are damned effective with the eventual bursts of unbridled black metal fury of a sort that’s compelling for both its ferocity and its clear understanding of what it hopes to elicit. However, it’s when “Monolith of Ephemerality” comes to a stark halt where the dark machinations of Dwellnought’s scheming come to fruition. This record degrades the very soul and weakens the fortitude of the listener such that by the end of just the second track, Dwellnought is ready to engross all that you are with the remainder of the album an unyielding display of power that wouldn’t stop even for the end of the world. The sheer concept of a gaping maw of nothingness plays a critical role here. It’s a bold but nonetheless explosive cocktail of what black-doom metal can be when taken to the extreme, and it demands to be said that Dwellnought has immediately proven itself to be a name that is nothing if not extreme.

This particular style is always in need of more that are willing to embody the themes of darkness itself, yet the demand that the genre asks of its participants has put the sound in a difficult position if it hopes to expand. Bands like Dwellnought are why the genre is still brimming with overwhelming and uncompromising potential. If we’re to get albums like “Monolith of Ephemerality” more often, then there’s very little one could ever do to restrict the explosion of this genre with performances such as this aptly leading the charge.

“Monolith of Ephemerality” releases on February 20th via Caligari Records!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Monolith of Ephemerality” on Bandcamp here.

FOLLOW Dwellnought on Instagram here.