Up-and-coming Nordic doom adventurers MAUNAH unveil their first music video ‘Heimaland’ (‘Homeland’) as the first advance single taken from their forthcoming debut full-length Hjarta ("Heart"). The Danes’ first album has been scheduled for release on September 18, 2026.
MAUNAH comments: “To us, ‘Heimaland’ feels like a signature track for Maunah that captures our urge to let beauty and doom coexist”, vocalist Søren Sol Koldsen-Zederkof muses. “The song carries the feeling of belonging to a place, but it also reflects the more difficult search for a home within oneself. We have lived with ‘Heimaland’ for a long time, shaping and fine-tuning the song until it finally became as it is now. We are deeply excited to finally release it into the world and hope that you will like it as much as we do!”
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How on earth can any debut album sound as complete and sophisticated as Hjarta from Danish doom newcomers MAUNAH? How can a band that seemingly just appeared out of the blue deliver such a modern doom metal masterpiece?
Valid questions. The answer lies in the fact that although it is technically correct to label MAUNAH as a new band, the truth is that the members are veterans of the Danish rock, folk, and metal scenes.
MAUNAH’s popular frontman, Søren Sol Koldsen-Zederkof, has toured extensively with the beloved Nordic folk band KRAUKA, and he has also released several critically acclaimed albums under the artist’s name LOS. His fellow musicians come with experience as well. Guitarist Mads MP Laursen has, for example, played guitar with IRONGUARD and ENCYRCLE.
As it turns out, the chemistry was just right. All the stars aligned – and remarkable talent, fresh musical ideas as well as mature songwriting flowed together naturally in MAUNAH. The positive interaction of the band members became the catalyst for an alchemical transformation that turned music into sonic gold.
Although the roots of Hjarta reach deep into the melodic Scandinavian doom tradition, there is so much more happening on this album. A dash of Nordic folk here, a pinch of modern metal there, which is boosted by renowned producer Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, MOONSPELL, HEAVEN SHALL BURN et al.) being responsible for recording the groove parts with the Danes’ rhythm section.
With each new spin, Hjarta keeps giving as MAUNAH have crammed their album with excellent ideas and layers of details. Yet the Danes have not fallen into the trap of drowning out their own ideas by wanting too much in too short of a time. Their songs are allowed to breathe, develop cinematic moments, and unfold, before sinking captivating hooks into the ears.
That MAUNAH are a perfect example of the notion that the sum can become greater than its parts was already audible on the band’s digital EP Heimaland, which came out on June 20, 2025. Enriched versions of the songs found their way onto the debut album.
Another element that sets MAUNAH apart from their peers in doom is the absence of a lexical language. The vocals are built on tone, feeling, and rhythm – in an echo of human speech. This creates a space for a more direct connection between vocals and music that reaches beyond the limits of rational language.
In the Danes’ own poetic words: “Maunah is the sound of despair and open skies. Maunah is leaves crunching underfoot, the cold of the forest floor seeping through the soles. And Maunah is the warmth of the sun on the face and oxygen filling the lungs. In the music, the cold of winter meets the summer warmth in the chest, where Maunah pumps blood through the body and music into the air.”
With Hjarta, MAUNAH offer a remarkable debut that goes well beyond the average and exceeds expectations. How far can these Danes get? Only time will tell!
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The Pixel Rain – Last
Posted: 23 June 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPsTags: A Sense of Danger, anthemic, contemplative, electronica, industrial rock, Last, Post-Punk, Review, Single, social commentary, Synth Pop, The Pixel Rain
18th June 2026
Christopher Nosnibor
‘Death is following us’, Áron Siegler warns at the start of, and throughout ‘Last’, the new single from Southeast London act The Pixel Rain. Hungarian-born songwriter and project founder Siegler has spent the last three years evolving a sound which draws on industrial rock, post punk, synth-pop and electronic music, and now, in the run-up to the release of the debut album, A Sense of Danger, set for a September release, they serve up a tune that pitches the guitar up in the mix.
Of the song, Siegler says, “‘Last’ was born from my scorn for modern-day authority figures as I was picturing a world that these kinds of people are gonna leave behind. The song has a specific meaning for me as a Hungarian person but I always try to write lyrics universally, encouraging the audience to find their own stories in my songs”.
The timing of the release couldn’t be better, landing just a few short days before the resignation of UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, after less than two years in the position. The media – online, in print, and on TV – is frothing with speculation, of course, while much is also being made of his legacy. It’s remarkable how a leader so insipid could be so divisive – but certainly, under his leadership, the government has done no favours to the trans community, migrants, or those with disabilities, or civil liberties in general, particularly when it comes to protesting the genocide in Gaza, which he still maintains is simply Israel defending itself. What kind of world is he leaving behind? What of his predecessors, and what – just what? – of Trump?
Death is indeed following us – and it’s stalking us digitally, through social media, through AI. One might be forgiven for feeling paranoid.
The production of ‘Last’ forges a sonic density which encapsulates that inescapable tension. The band cite The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Horrors as sonic inspirations in addition to their usual electronic touchstones, and it may allude vaguely to Automatic in form, but I’d say it lands more in the domain of Interpol intersecting with Depeche Mode – although that’s by no means a bad thing. The guitars are mixed quite smooth and soaring, and the song is imbued with an anthemic feel, while propelled by an insistent beat, and the chorus is prominent and dominant. If the rest of the album matches this standard of songwriting, it’s destined for success.
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Áron Siegler by Evelina Kloimova