Folk Metal Duo FORGOTTEN SHRINE Releases New Album 'Nox Aeterna' With Album Stream & Focus Title Track

November 6, 2026

Folk metal duo FORGOTTEN SHRINE embarks on a journey of introspection, destruction and resilience in the new concept album, Nox Aeterna. Released today, the album arrives independently alongside a visualizer stream and the focus track, "Nox Aeterna."

Sofia Frasz comments on the album's concept:
"Nox Aeterna is a concept album about two keepers of an ancient shrine to art, creativity, and freedom. Artists, musicians, bards, and storytellers of all kinds throughout the ages have left offerings to the shrine in exchange for inspiration and the courage to pursue their goals. As the shrine has changed hands between generations of keepers over the centuries, the world around the shrine has also changed. The world has grown dull, dark, and full of peril and despair. Wars rage, cities are captured and oppressed, and people no longer believe in dreams, fantasies, or anything greater and more powerful than themselves. They simply endure the drudgery of everyday life with nothing to hope and strive for.

Much of the album is a metaphor for the importance of keeping one’s childlike sense of wonder alive in a world that tries to force everyone to grow up, shut up, and conform to standards that make for a dull, lifeless world. In that sense, it’s a meta-commentary on, and a love letter to, the importance of art and creativity in a functioning society. We all need escapism and something greater than ourselves to strive for. The little things that we look forward to every day, especially when life gets tough, keep us going and help us remember who we are."

On "Nox Aeterna" Josh Alexander shares,
"'Nox Aeterna' is truly the main event on this album, both in terms of the conveying of the lore and in creating a dense and unique instrumental atmosphere. For me, writing this song all started with the acoustic guitar riff you can hear in the background of the verses, and I built up the entire instrumental around that while integrating leitmotifs and references to other tracks on the album. The song begins with a familiar melody, the one from 'Where Shadows Lie' only something is unsettlingly off about it. This sets the stage for the rest of the song which utilizes a very macabre and chromatic mode that matches perfectly with the theme of being ushered into the darkness and being tempted to make a metaphorical deal with the devil."

Frasz adds, "[t]he song is about the desire to just lie down and give up on your creative pursuits (along with everything else that makes you who you are as an individual), because the act of creation is more difficult than remaining complacent and going through the motions of everyday life. But if you get too complacent, you’ll lose yourself and have nothing left to strive for."

Nox Aeterna was produced, mixed and mastered by Joshua Dalviken. The album artwork was created by Josh Alexander and Joshua Dalviken.

About FORGOTTEN SHRINE:
Created by Josh Alexander (Pennsylvania, USA) and Sofia Frasz (Maryland, USA), FORGOTTEN SHRINE fuses the sounds and textures of folk instruments with the power and darkness of metal. Through their genre-crossing arrangements FORGOTTEN SHRINE delve into fantasy realms creating both upbeat songs perfect for embarking on an adventure and heavier offerings for battling shadowy forces.

Alexander and Frasz combine their compositional styles, instruments and vocal textures to produce dynamic and emotive music. The upcoming full-length sees the duo each take the reins across the track list while ensuring FORGOTTEN SHRINE's core identity remains cohesive.

FORGOTTEN SHRINE is:
Josh Alexander - Guitar, Bass, Hurdy Gurdy, Irish Bouzouki, Additional Instruments, Backing Vocals, Composition.
Sofia Frasz - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Lyrics, Composition.

Connect With FORGOTTEN SHRINE:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555238025771&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgottenshrineband
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ForgottenShrineBand
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0q7rFp0yxvWoxGWqIt21nI?si=p5jz0YOOROOHFy5jxHAW6A
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/forgotten-shrine/1734698132

Folk Metal Duo FORGOTTEN SHRINE Unveil "The Parting Glass (Reforged)" Ft. EMBER BELLADONNA Ahead Of New Album Nox Aeterna

August 12, 2026

Landing ahead of the forthcoming full length Nox Aeterna, FORGOTTEN SHRINE revisit their folk metal take on the Scottish traditional song "The Parting Glass (Reforged)" featuring flutist EMBER BELLADONNA. This new version sees a new instrumental arrangement and additional vocal performance by Josh Alexander. Nox Aeterna is scheduled to release independently on November 6, 2026.

This enchanting interpretation from the folk metal duo balances the emotion and meaning of the original song, while also injecting shadowy elements and dynamic instrumental textures that are cohesive with the new album's sonic character. The collaboration with EMBER BELLADONNA introduces further musical depth.

Sofia Frasz comments on the new single release: "We decided to release the 'reforged' version of this song as a single about 2 years after we released the original single version, with a new instrumental and new vocal parts from Josh. With the release of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced on August 9, this felt like the perfect time to release a revamped version of our 'The Parting Glass' cover. I’ve had this version on repeat for a while; the instrumental part feels like it has more space to breathe than in the version we released 2 years ago, and Josh really shines as a vocalist here."

Nox Aeterna was produced, mixed and mastered by Joshua Dalviken. The album artwork was created by Josh Alexander and Joshua Dalviken, with the cover art for "The Parting Glass (Reforged)" created by Josh Alexander and Tricia Alexander.

Folk Metal Duo FORGOTTEN SHRINE Present Dark Fantasy Single "Dearly Departed", Announce New Album

July 8, 2026

Folk metal duo FORGOTTEN SHRINE are preparing to unveil their forthcoming concept album Nox Aeterna. The narrative centers around two guardians who protect an ancient shrine dedicated to art, creativity, and freedom. It is inspired by the need to keep one’s childlike sense of wonder alive; as the darkness dampens the peoples' spirits, the shrine begins to lose its power. Nox Aeterna is scheduled to arrive on November 6, 2026, the new single "Dearly Departed" is released today.

In "Dearly Departed", the lyrics explore the journey of newfound power. Following this discovery, the protagonist chooses to utilize their abilities to inflict revenge on those who have wronged them. The song reveals the wider themes of the album as individuals begin to fall victim to the darkness and advance the destruction of their world instead of preserving it.

"My vocal performance was strongly inspired by 'The Violation' by Fleshgod Apocalypse, relying predominantly on cavernous, mournful, death metal-inspired harsh vocals as opposed to black metal highs." Shares Sofia Frasz. "Josh took the demo I sent and reworked it into the final version, adding a ton of detail and instrumental flourishes that bring the song to life beautifully."

"'Dearly Departed' is a more emotionally charged and dark song than what we are used to, which after the release of our song 'Halo' will come as a relief to our more heavy/symphonic metal fans". Josh Alexander adds. "It's structurally frantic, each section building on the last until it can't anymore, and rounds itself off with quite possibly the prettiest piece of music on the album in the piano outro. Sofia demoed out the entire song first, and the thing I built upon the most was the piano, which makes for a great juxtaposition to the black metal inspired guitars. I think the power of a song like this is that the listener can interject their own experience of heartbreak and resentment, ultimately culminating in a 'let the past die' moment at the end which is communicated in the strained softness of the outro."

"Dearly Departed" follows the previously released original singles, "Halo" (2026), "Terror! At The Ballroom" (2025), "Where Shadows Lie" (2024) , "Hero" (2024) and "The Parting Glass" (2024), along with their recent enchanting take on BREAKING BENJAMIN's "Crawl" (2026).

Nox Aeterna was produced, mixed and mastered by Joshua Dalviken. The album artwork was created by Josh Alexander and Joshua Dalviken, with the cover art for "Dearly Departed" created by Josh Alexander and Tricia Alexander.