Florida-based solo black and death metal project VITHIAL has unveiled its debut full-length ‚Awakened Ancient Spirits‘ via Black Metal Promotion. The album is set for official release on June 5, 2026, and offers a first full listen to six tracks steeped in occult mythology and extreme metal tradition.VITHIAL, the melodic black and death metal solo project of Pensacola, Florida-based musician David Dwayne, has premiered its debut full-length album ‚Awakened Ancient Spirits‘ through Black Metal Promotion ahead of its official release on June 5, 2026.
The record represents a significant step forward from the project’s formative demo material, channeling the atmosphere and aggression of 1990s second-wave black metal and Florida death metal into a cohesive and purposeful statement. Mystic guitar tones, forceful rhythms, fierce vocal delivery, and restrained symphonic elements define the sonic character across all six tracks.
Lyrically, ‚Awakened Ancient Spirits‘ explores the perils of existence, occult themes, spirituality, misanthropy, and dark fantasy, with songs unfolding as mythological and metaphysical narratives involving gods, spirits, ancient forces, and mortals. The album examines nature, consciousness, and the cycles of life, death, and creation within a unified conceptual framework.
VITHIAL emerged in late 2023 and took shape throughout 2024, initially envisioned as a collaborative effort before evolving into a fully independent endeavor. The project draws its rhythmic drive from thrash metal while maintaining a firm grounding in traditional extreme metal aesthetics, balancing modern production clarity with a raw, uncompromising edge.
The tracklist features six compositions, including ‚Tornadic Wind, the Barons of Nightfall‘, ‚War of the Gods, the Balance of Darkness and Light‘, and the title track ‚Awakened Ancient Spirits‘. The full album is currently available to stream via Black Metal Promotion.
Photo: VITHIAL / C Squared Music