Today we have the privilege of sharing an early stream of “Met Kalmte in het Hart” taken from ‘Sterveling‘ the debut full-length album from Utrecht, Netherlands-based atmospheric black metal project STERVELING. Formed by way of M.vdW (Weltschmerz, ex-Wesenwille) roughly four years ago and given shape via a 2022-released demo the artist’s work reflects more than a purely “atmospheric” tag wherein ominous spacefaring dread and despairing/depressive black metal expressivity meld into ever-escalating longform pieces. This new album contains three such longform ordeals with atmospheric black metal as their basal expression but with a nearly prog-rock worthy exploration of synth/keys set beneath the blanket of Sterveling‘s darkened stargazing tonality. From the backlit organ grinding bent of “Verstoten” to the sensorial array of today’s premiere track (album closer “Met Kalmte in het Hart”) there is a true journey taking place throughout ‘Sterveling‘, an exploration of unearthly sentience at the very least, but also a clear destination achieved within this dramatic endpoint.

M.vdW comments on the piece: “Met Kalmte in het Hart’ is the final and probably most dynamic track off of the album. Besides being the last track on the album, it was also the most recently written track. This meant that I had a clear base and vision to work off of, which I had refined by writing the rest of the album. This allowed me to try a few new things without becoming too experimental, since I was working from a solid foundation.

It also features M.R, with whom I’ve played in many settings, as a guest on synthesizer and noise, adding an extra layer of melody and different textures to the music, which I think has elevated the track. In addition, we took some extra time recording the vocals for this song because we had not yet rehearsed it in a full band setting. Doing the vocals this way resulted in a different perspective and gave B.K extra room to try different things. The result was definitely worth it, capturing the vibe of the different parts of the song very well and at the same time drawing the listener in further and further.“

Thanks goes out to Sterveling for the opportunity to share this song early. Scroll down to the SoundCloud embed below to finalize your descent… As always, please do your best to support the worldwide black metal underground and grab a copy on CD, cassette and digitally this coming September 26th, 2025.:

https://sterveling.bandcamp.com/album/sterveling

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Per the Press Release:

Artist: Sterveling
Album title: Sterveling
Release date: September 26th, 2025
Genre: Atmospheric black metal

ABOUT STERVELING
Sterveling is a one-man band founded in 2022 by M.vdW (Weltschmerz, Prospectors, ex-Wesenwille) from
the Netherlands. Following its debut demo ‘In de schoot der aarde’ (link) released in late 2022, Sterveling
played several shows with a live line-up. With a debut full-length being released on September 26th, 2025,
Sterveling is ready for the next chapter in its existence.

The music can be described as atmospheric black metal, its feel and essence best summarized by the
artwork of the new album. A figure frozen with streams of moving lights rolling over him amidst a desert of
overwhelming black. A bright shining porthole mesmerizing, tempting the protagonist, but at the same
time unreachable for now. The same holds for the music, which takes the listener on a journey moving
closer to a final climactic conclusion, yet dark, minimalist and building only very slowly.
For fans of: Wiegedood, Leviathan, Xasthur, Weakling

Release date: September 26th, 2025
Self-released on CD, tape and digitally

Line-up
B.K: vocals
M.R: synths on ‘Met Kalmte in het Hart’
R.S & W.vK: additional vocals
Everything else performed by M.vdW

Artwork and design by Passivist
Engineering and production by M.vdW
Mastering by James Plotkin
All music and lyrics written by Sterveling

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