Nargaroth releases "Requiem Germania" off new album 'Apocalyptic Steel'

German black metal band NARGAROTH releases "Requiem Germania", the lead single from the forthcoming album Apocalyptic Steel, set for release through Season of Mist Underground Activists.

Written entirely in German, "Requiem Germania" stands apart from the rest of Apocalyptic Steel in both language and register. Where the album is built on the direct, unadorned attitude of old-school metal, this track moves through a slower, more interior space, its weight carried by the accumulated grief of someone who left and cannot cleanly return. The lyrics draw on imagery of harvest fields, ancestral graves, and the pull of rivers to frame a condition that has grown more acute rather than fading with time.

The song addresses homesickness not as a temporary state but as something that calcifies with distance. Ash left Germany, his family and his home more than a decade ago. The longer the separation, the more insistently the roots assert themselves. The track sits in the tension between that pull and the practical difficulty of return, shaped by resentment and a world that has changed in his absence.

The official video for "Requiem Germania", directed by Claudio Marino and produced by Artax Film, moves between a smoke-wreathed black metal performance and a slower narrative built around traditional German garments being put on, piece by piece—each layer a step back toward something left behind.

Watch the official video for "Requiem Germania": https://youtu.be/bJXSTkS_Cww

"Apocalyptic Steel" was recorded at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California in September 2014, with engineer Juan Urteaga. Drums were re-recorded in July 2022 at Skeleton Key Studios in Las Vegas, with Rylie Ellen Wechta. Vocals, mixing and mastering were completed at AMP Studios in Duisburg, Germany between February and April 2025, with engineer Jens Forster. Cover artwork is by Felipe Mora (Colombia), with CD artwork by Anne-Kristin G. and additional booklet artwork by Jenglot Hitam. Band photography by David Perga.

Apocalyptic Steel is out June 26th, via Season of Mist: Underground Activists.

Tracklist: 1. Intro (00:34) 2. Steel Apocalypse (03:58) 3. Twisted Steel (03:37) 4. I Drink Alone (04:26) 5. Metalheart (04:17) 6. Dresden (04:21) 7. Shelter the Faithless (06:27) 8. Man of Mayhem (06:15) 9. Requiem Germania (05:10) Full runtime: 39:07

Photo by © Daniel Rodríguez

NARGAROTH is the sole vision of Rene "Ash" Wagner, forged in Saxony in 1996 and driven by nearly three decades of raw, uncompromising German black metal. Apocalyptic Steel is a record that refused to stay buried. Tracked in a single weekend at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California, in September of 2014, the album sat forgotten on a hard drive in the United States while Era of Threnody took priority. Years later, the recordings resurfaced. Drums were re-recorded in Las Vegas, vocals and mixing completed at AMP Studios in Duisburg, and twelve years after its first sessions, the album is finally here. This is not a vault curiosity. It is Nargaroth at its most direct: nine tracks of filthy, unadorned metal built on the attitude of old Judas Priest, Accept, Deicide and Obituary. From the predatory menace of “Twisted Steel" to the band-name-studded battle cry of "Metalheart", from the unflinching historical weight of "Dresden" to the aching Germanic longing of "Requiem Germania", this is an album that has nothing to prove and wastes nothing on pretence. Recorded fast, recorded dirty, and finished on its own terms. Tracklist: 1. Intro (00:34) 2. Steel Apocalypse (03:58) 3. Twisted Steel (03:37) 4. I Drink Alone (04:26) 5. Metalheart (04:17) 6. Dresden (04:21) 7. Shelter the Faithless (06:27) 8. Man of Mayhem (06:15) 9. Requiem Germania (05:10) Full runtime: 39:07 Recording Line-up: Ash — Vocals, Guitar, Bass Mike Williams (Mummification) — Guitar, Bass Phil Cancilla (Malevolent Creation, Hank Williams 3) — Drums Current Line-up: Ash — Vocals Fernando Cortez (Hacavitz, Ash Nazg Burz, Through Torment) — Guitar Julio Rodas — (Dreamlore, Tim-Ripper-Owens) — Guitar Pavulon (Vader, Belphegor, Decapitated, VLTIMAS) — Drums Production Credits: Instruments recorded during a weekend session in September 2014 at Trident Studios in Pacheco, CA (Juan Urteaga). Drums were re-recorded in July 2022 at Skeleton Key Studios in Las Vegas, NV, USA (Rylie Ellen Wechta from Sound Horizon Production). Vocals recorded at AMP Studios in Duisburg, Germany, between February and April 2025 (Jens Förster). Mixing, and mastering took place at AMP Studios in Duisburg, Germany, between February and April 2025 by Jens Förster. Cover Art: Cover artwork was hand-drawn and created by Felipe Mora. CD artwork by Anne-Kristin G. Additional artwork in the CD booklet are a homage to classic Metal album covers and was done by Jenglot Hitam. Photography: David Perga, photography in CD booklet. Follow Nargaroth: Bandcamp: https://nargaroth.bandcamp.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialnargaroth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nargaroth.official/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NargarothChannel Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/nargaroth/1087036045 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0aIcU4OHpKl7lpcRQp32Eo Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/artist/12064 Tidal: https://stage.tidal.com/artist/7687559 Booking Contact: Europe: René “Ash” Wagner nargaroth@gmx.com USA & Latin America: Victor Sanches (Chamuco Production) chamucoprods@gmail.com Available Formats: CD Jewelcase Digital Download 12” Vinyl Gatefold — Black 12” Coloured Vinyl Gatefold — Transparent w/ Black Marbled 12” Coloured Vinyl Gatefold — Red & Black Marbled