[Gothic Rock/Gothic Metal] ASHEN SUN - “Velarium”

Band/Artist: Ashen Sun
Release Title: Velarium
Release Date: March 27, 2026
Label: Desert Plain Records
Format: Digital, CD
Genre: Gothic Rock/Gothic Metal
Country: Sweden

Ashen Sun’s Velarium lands on March 27, 2026 via Desert Plain Records, bringing six tracks of gothic rock/gothic metal from Sweden. The first single, “Black Thoughts”, is set for February 27 (with a video on February 26), followed by a second single on March 13 (video on March 12).

Ashen Sun is Johnny Hagel stepping back into the dark after years as bassist and co-writer in Tiamat and Sundown, only this time he’s building the whole thing himself. The project emerged quietly in 2024, written in solitude, and it carries that closed-room intensity: isolation, inner decay, the feeling of a world dimming out in real time. Sonically it sits in dark gothic rock with a cold electronic spine, where 90s melancholy, cold-wave synths and cinematic textures move together without trying to look “modern” for the sake of it. Hagel calls it “a requiem for fading empires and dying stars,” which is basically the mission statement if you want one.

After the first single “Faith’s Funeral” dropped in December 2025 and quickly picked up playlist adds and strong early reactions, Ashen Sun now follow it with the six-track EP Velarium, out March 27, 2026 on Desert Plain Records. Lyrically it’s bleak in different shades: the claustrophobia of a mind turning cynical, devotion rotting into something corrosive, cities collapsing into smoke, a wheel that never stops turning, the end-of-world backdrop of “Velarium”, and that last foggy piece where sleep keeps dragging the dead back into the room.

Tracklist:
1. Black Thoughts
2. Desperate Vows
3. Ashes of the World
4. An Ever Turning Wheel
5. Velarium
6. Dreaming of the Dead

Line-up:
Johnny Hagel

Recording info:
Studio Dark Room

For fans of: Tiamat, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of Nephilim, Type O Negative

Links:
Website: https://www.ashen-sun.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashensundark
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashen_sun_dark
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Ashen-Sun-dark

If you wish to receive the full promo, please, get in touch: catia@againstpr.com