{"id":569241,"date":"2026-08-19T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=569241"},"modified":"2026-08-19T12:19:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:19:45","slug":"from-black-metal-to-folk-and-doom-belarusian-band-dymna-lotva-s-album-vyraj-named-among-metal-hammer-s-top-releases-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/from-black-metal-to-folk-and-doom-belarusian-band-dymna-lotva-s-album-vyraj-named-among-metal-hammer-s-top-releases-of-2026","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFrom Black Metal To Folk And Doom\u201d: Belarusian Band Dymna Lotva\u2019s Album \u201cVYRAJ\u201d Named Among Metal Hammer\u2019s Top Releases Of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>The album \u201cVYRAJ\u201d by <strong>Dymna Lotva<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/best-metal-albums-2026-so-far-lamb-of-god-evanescence-converge-karnivool-slift-skindred\">has been included<\/a> in the list of the best releases of 2026 by the influential Metal Hammer magazine. The publication has released its midyear ranking, placing the Belarusian musicians alongside global stars of heavy music.<\/p>\n<p>Metal Hammer is one of the world&#8217;s most influential and authoritative magazines covering rock and metal. Founded in the United Kingdom in 1983, the magazine is now published in several languages, including in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Greece and other countries, and is one of the leading trendsetters in heavy music. Being featured in Metal Hammer reviews and rankings is recognition within the professional music community.<\/p>\n<h3>Release On An International Label<\/h3>\n<p>The album \u201cVYRAJ\u201d by the Belarusian band was released on Aug. 7, 2026, by the renowned German label Prophecy Productions. It is the band&#8217;s fourth full-length album, combining post-black metal, Belarusian folklore, elements of doom and ethno-astronomy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_95267\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qNiBm2ETwOE?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=ru&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=0&#038;fs=0&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What Does Metal Hammer Say About The Band?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Review author <strong>Rich Hobson<\/strong> particularly highlights the band&#8217;s difficult journey and the emotional intensity of its music:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDymna Lotva\u00a0have been through a\u00a0lot. Decried as &#8220;extremists&#8221; in their home country of Belarus, the post-black metal group fled to Poland to continue the good fight without fear of being arrested. There is a clear sense of fury and liberation at the heart of\u00a0Vyraj,\u00a0the band still using Belarusian folklore and historical accounts as a means of personal expression, vocalist <strong>Nokt Aeon<\/strong> venting fury, despair and defiance in explosive whirlwinds. From black metal to folk and doom (including a guest appearance from former My Dying Bride frontman <strong>Aaron Stainthorpe<\/strong>), this record utilises an impressively diverse palette to craft something truly vivid and unique.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Neighbors On The List<\/h3>\n<p>Metal Hammer notes that 2026 has been marked by a packed schedule of events and major metal releases. The same list as Dymna Lotva includes global giants and cult acts such as <strong>Dimmu Borgir<\/strong>, <strong>At The Gates<\/strong>, <strong>Converge<\/strong>, <strong>Evanescence<\/strong>, <strong>Elder<\/strong>, <strong>A Forest Of Stars<\/strong>, as well as comebacks by <strong>Neurosis<\/strong> and <strong>Warning<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The band itself has already briefly commented on the news on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dymnalotva\">social media<\/a>: <em>\u201cWhat a honour! Many thanks to <span class=\"html-span xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak xexx8yu xyri2b x18d9i69 x1c1uobl x1hl2dhg x16tdsg8 x1vvkbs\"><span class=\"xt0psk2\"><span class=\"xjp7ctv\">Metal Hammer<\/span><\/span><\/span> for including our VYRAJ to the list of the best albums of 2026.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The album \u201cVYRAJ\u201d by Dymna Lotva has been included in the list of the best releases of 2026 by the influential Metal Hammer magazine. The publication has released its midyear ranking, placing the Belarusian musicians alongside global stars of heavy music. Metal Hammer is one of the world&#8217;s most influential and authoritative magazines covering rock [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":569240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6a857534c241c.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"\u201cFrom Black Metal To Folk And Doom\u201d: Belarusian Band Dymna Lotva\u2019s Album \u201cVYRAJ\u201d Named Among Metal Hammer\u2019s Top Releases Of 2026"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142375,142338],"tags":[143189],"class_list":["post-569241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news","tag-suchasnaja-belaruskaja-muzyka"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}