(written by Islander)
We’ve been following the ever-evolving music of Ohio’s Plaguewielder since early days, and today we continue our watch by premiering through an eye-catching video an excellent new song, “Blood of the Astral Gate,” the lead single being digitally released today from a two-part Plaguewielder EP that’s set to unfold in early 2026.
That two-part series will be entitled Year of the Plague, to be released by a new independent label named Mourning Shroud that will become the new vehicle for their music. As Plaguewielder portray what’s coming through the EPs, “the band descends further into the spiral of post-black metal, where anguish becomes ritual and melody bleeds into shadow. These offerings are steeped in decay, adorned with haunted hymns and the weight of forgotten aeons.”
With respect to the new song you’re about to hear, Plaguewielder have provided this statement:
This is not a song about death—it’s about transcendence. Written in memory of our friend Rowan Oak, this track serves as a ritual offering, a sonic passage through the veil of the mundane toward something vast, endless and eternal.
“You must become nothing to become infinite.”
“Forged in bleakness. Born to carry the weight.”
First let’s talk about the song, and then we’ll get to the video.
The music launches with a big throbbing bass line and a big bounding beat, and around those compulsive grooves the guitars vibrantly flash and swirl, spiraling so high they seem to deliriously scream, while also snarling below. The vocals snarl too, a gritty, gnashing, ragged, raw, and near-screaming attack that meshes with the slashing and roiling turbulence of the riffage.
The song becomes more unhinged as the high-powered drums start blasting and the fretwork generates bursts of shrill dementia in the midst of manic whirls, wailing arcs, and gut-loosening low frequencies.
After a pause, the music also enters a darker and more surreal phase, allowing the bass to mumble and clang with just the tick of a cymbal for companionship, and then a distorted guitar picks up that bass riff and carries its dark and depleted mood forward above a kind of lurching and heavily throbbing groove, creating a feeling of dismal introspection.
And so the song is a multi-faceted affair, bursting with light and also steeped in shadow, a groovesome pulse-pounder and head-spinner but also a channel of rage and haunting darkness.
And now for the video: It’s a fast-flashing and often colorful and distorted collage of imagery that conjures both the presence of death and the madness of delirium, the sands of life running down an hourglass and a closing dedication to Rowan Oak.
PLAGUEWIELDER 2025/2026:
Bryce Seditz – Guitar/Vocals
Chris Vogagis – Drums
Cory Waugh – Guitar
Mitch Lawrence – Bass
We also want to share the following statement by Plaguewielder about their new label:
Mourning Shroud is an independent label conjured from the same gloom that fuels Plaguewielder — a vessel carved in shadow, built to hold and release the sound of grief, fury, and resolve. Where others seek permission, we shape our own path, unbound by industry or trend.
This imprint was not made to follow, but to withstand — a quiet monument to self-reliance and sonic honesty. Each release is a ritual; each sound, a burden made sacred.
Mourning Shroud is the hand behind the veil — overseeing the creation, release, and preservation of Plaguewielder’s work across all formats and dimensions.
As mentioned, “Blood of the Astral Gate” is being digitally released as a single today, and you can stream and download it here, where you can also read the lyrics:
https://plaguewielderoh.bandcamp.com/track/blood-of-the-astral-gate
To keep pace with Plaguewielder‘s activities, follow the links below.
BANDCAMP: https://plaguewielderoh.bandcamp.com
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/7GP021Sa2sW8me99P990Cs?si=Zh-phOEiRmujdieB6ncvXg
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/PvidaIHSrm8?si=PkTgKAVrdqpdQmBV
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/plaguewielder
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/PlaguewielderOH
MOURNING SHROUD:
https://www.instagram.com/mourning_shroud_