Ukrainian modern metal architects IGNEA further open the doors to their upcoming album Monumental, out on October 23 via Napalm Records, with the second single, "Darkness." The song sets the emotional foundation for the album, which is set around the concept of nostalgia. "Darkness" explores finding comfort in memories, even if they reveal cracks. Native to Kyiv, IGNEA have their own fair share of those, so the new song inevitably takes a bittersweet turn. Shifting between eerie, melancholic verses and grandiose, uplifting choruses before crescendoing into a live choir set against raw blast beats, the new song mirrors the emotional swing of nostalgia itself, the drift into shadow followed by sudden bursts of longing.
"Darkness" is paired with a music video shot in Ukraine's capital city. The walk through Kyiv captures an additional theme of the album — the walk past modernist buildings representing a future that never arrived. Part of the video was filmed at the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture — symbolically vital for an album about urban nostalgia, as its halls carry the energy of generations of students who trained there to build the very structures the video mourns.
With the very same buildings that once only held innocent memories of the band's upbringing now being destroyed by the war, the imagery adds a second, bitter layer to the nostalgia. It's not just longing for the past, but grief for what is disappearing in real time. In a cruel coincidence, IGNEA shot the video for "Darkness" in the literal darkness of the largest missile and drone attacks on Kyiv that hit the night before shooting.
Helle Bohdanova about "Darkness":
"'Darkness' is about the rides we take into nostalgia when the present gets too heavy — and how bittersweet it is to realize you can never actually go back. As all IGNEA members are from Kyiv, we wanted to make a nostalgic ode to our city, walking through its memory — the same modernist buildings that once promised a future, the subway stations, the same streets that hold our childhoods, our first kisses, people we've lost. The war, in its turn, adds its own layer of darker nostalgia, watching those buildings burn in real time — and it heavily affected both days of filming. On the first day, one of the worst missile attacks on Kyiv hit the night before — we hadn't slept at all, running on nothing but adrenaline, and the city was still on fire as we drove to the location. On the second, we filmed through the city with sirens and drones overhead. Considering this, we're living in literal darkness, longing for the peaceful, trouble-free days... Can we ever get back?"
Watch the Official Music Video For "Darkness" Below:
Monumental is IGNEA's second full-length album that was written during the full-scale war in Ukraine. The recording process mostly took place in the winter of 2025-2026, during icy temperatures and long power outages in Kyiv.
Helle Bohdanova says about Monumental:
"Back in the 17th century, nostalgia was considered a deadly disease — and in many ways, it still is. It's a universal feeling experienced by every human being, pulling us toward a past that felt gentler than it truly was, especially during the bitter moments of the present. Much of this album was inspired by modernist architecture — concrete giants built to signal progress and a brighter future, now slowly decaying. They've become a sort of memory box: Monuments to unrealized dreams, where the future that was once imagined never arrived, yet continues to echo through the ruins and bright mosaics."
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF MONUMENTAL NOW.
IGNEA LIVE 2026:
Supporting EVERGREY's Architects Of A New Weave European Tour 2026 w/ Stellar Circuits
11/11 — Lund, SE — Mejeriet
11/12 — Stockholm, SE — Kollektivet Livet
11/13 — Linköping, SE — Palatset
11/14 — Gothenburg, SE — Filmstudion 2
11/15 — Oslo, NO — Salt
11/17 — Hamburg, DE — Logo
11/18 — Berlin, DE — Hole44
11/19 — Munich, DE — Feierwerk
11/20 — Vienna, AT — Weberknecht
11/21 — Milan, IT — Slaughter Club
11/22 — Aarau, CH — KiFF
11/23 — Antwerp, BE — Zappa
11/25 — Southampton, UK — The Brook
11/26 — Birmingham, UK — Asylum
11/27 — London, UK — The Underworld
11/28 — Leeds, UK — The Key Club
11/29 — Dublin, IE — Opium
11/30 — Belfast, UK — Limelight 2
12/1 — Glasgow, UK — G2
12/2 — Newcastle, UK — Anarchy Brew
12/3 — Manchester, UK — Rebellion
12/4 — Bristol, UK — Strange Brew
12/5 — Nottingham, UK — Saltbox
12/7 — Paris, FR — Petit Bain
12/8 — Trier, DE — Mergener Hof
12/9 — Karlsruhe, DE — Substage
12/10 — Dortmund, DE — Junkyard
12/11 — Rotterdam, NL — Baroeg
12/12 — Maastricht, NL — Muziekgieterij
IGNEA ARE:
Helle Bohdanova — Vocals
Yevhenii Zhytniuk — Keys
Dmytro Vinnichenko — Guitars
Oleksandr Kamyshyn — Bass
