OTHALAN: Sophomore Effort ‘For Victory! For Speed!’ Due Out July 10th Through So Below Productions
Forged in Tampa, Florida in 2022, OTHALAN has been on an unstoppable charge forward since their inception. Originally executed as a solo project from creative mastermind Thomas, OTHALAN wasted no time striking with two singles and their debut full-length, Blood and Iron, during the year of their inception. Blood and Iron was a strong suite of pagan black metal-oriented material, which showed off Thomas’ capabilities as a solo songwriter, blending black metal with punk, hard rock, speed metal, and neofolk to create a gritty, dark piece that was filled with soaring melodies, galloping beats, and hook-heavy riffing. In 2024, the band released the Howl of the Northwinds EP, which showcased a massive step forward in both sound and composition, amplifying the combination of black metal and speed metal, geared up with more spatial production and cleaner dynamics. This was unrestrained musical evolution, quick and dangerous.
July 10th, 2026, marks the arrival of the band’s newest full-length, the triumphant For Victory! For Speed!
Featuring 10 new tracks at 36 minutes in length, OTHALAN worship the gods of the 1st wave on For Victory! For Speed! injecting their own sense of intrepid grit and raw fury, creating the crowning moment of their career up to this point. Fans of MIDNIGHT, VENOM, TOXIC HOLOCAUST, SABBAT, HELLRIPPER, NUCTEMERON, and POWER FROM HELL should take note, OTHALAN are positioning themselves to become one of the rising talents coming from the Florida underground scene, a potent collective that has produced quality extreme metal since the 1980s. Tracks such as ‘Ov Hels Fire’ charge like calvary, combining vintage speed metal attack to black metal flourishing, up-tempo snare assault merges with ripping melodic riffing, scowled vocals lance the listener, the blend of melody and triumphant riff crafting demands notice. ‘Infernal Rock N Roll’ is an anthemic cut of dense bass lines and down-picked chaos, compact tremolo sequences offset by raging melodic patterns that drive the song forward, bringing old rituals into new states of darkness. The title track will surely please any fan of black n roll and vintage speed metal attack, a masterful blend of conventional composing and explosive progressions, highlighting the trumpeting tone off the guitar, the rawness of the thick bass presence, and the frantic machine gun drumming.
The sound of For Victory! For Speed! demonstrates why the band has been tapped to open for the likes of MIDNIGHT, VENOM INC, TYR, RAVEN, and MIZMOR over the span of their short, frantic wildfire-like career. The eternal combination of vintage 1980s tonality and structuring brought into frenetic animation using crust punk, 1st wave black metal, and black thrash.
Central creative force, Thomas, adds: “(OTHALAN) is a rebellion against a lot of the modern misunderstandings of what black metal is, in that the school of thought is that it’s meant to be grim, cold, and dark, and only exclusive to those. When, in reality, you look at all the 1st wave black metal and the bands that influenced the genre, it’s all hellish and riff-laden fury and mosh-worthy music about being free.”
Those on the ever-eternal search for gritty and hellish songwriting mixing victorious melodies that invoke the listener into charging straight into battle like a savage beast, OTHALAN raise their banner in your name. True DIY essence and determination, actualizing into one of the strongest releases out of the southern United States this summer season.
So Below Productions will be handling the release in both digital and cassette formats.
OTHALAN – FOR VICTORY! FOR SPEED!
1 – Court of Snakes
2 – Ov Hels Fire
3 – All Hail the Horned God
4 – Drunk off the Blood of Conquest
5 – Infernal Rock N Roll
6 – For Victory! For Speed!
7 – World Devourer
8 – Blood! Fire! Steel!
9 – Speed N Sleaze
10 – Wildfire
Thomas: Guitars/Vocals
Lakota: Drums
Greg: Bass
Check out the advance single for ‘Ov Hels Fire’ HERE
For any questions, interview requests, or general inquires please contact Iron Bulldog PR at andrew@ironbulldogpr.com
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