Deep, dark and hypnotic haunting …
🔻 MEDIA FEEDBACK
Infinity / 10
➤ "Everything about this album is perfect, genuinely … artfully arranged and played with passion and power and an utmost belief that is really quite scary to behold … absolutely at the top of their respective games, and this is one of the rarest of rare things, an album I am unable to criticise … utterly irreplaceable and one of the jewels in the crown of British music."
(Ever Metal)
10 / 10
➤ "... doom-laden, dark, and mystical sounds that transport the listener into the mysterious worlds of darkness ... the dark walls of sound are created by bassist Lawrence Wakefield, who brilliantly masters his four-string instrument. And finally, Alex Howson's drums create an atmosphere that is impossible to resist …"
(Time For Metal)
10 / 10
➤ "... since November 7, 2025, there has been a piece of music that can easily compete with 'She's In Parties': 'I Will Wait' by the London band COLD IN BERLIN ... the versatile voice belongs to Maya Berlin and lies somewhere between Kate Bush, Björk, Siouxsie Sioux, and Toyah ... one of the ten best albums of the year so far ..."
(Bleeding4Metal)
9 / 10
➤ "... Maya belts things out with the expected intensity of her aching alto … you can hear more of a sixties psych sound cropping up in places ... they have continued to perfect the brooding darkness they now weave seamlessly in these songs, a testament to the fact that darkness always sounds heavier than hope."
(Ghost Cult Magazine)
4,5 / 5
➤ "If you love your music dosed up to the nines with marvellous melancholy, then ‘Wounds’ is right up your street … without doubt one of the best albums of 2025 in this specific genre … Maya’s vocals are truly outstanding, haunting and unrivalled in their ability to bring an emotional tear to your eyes … cruel, harsh, but also a stunning reality check … own unique style … more than worthy of further investigation. Highly recommended!"
(Metal Epidemic)
8,88 / 10
➤ "… ein Meisterwerk der Balance zwischen rigoroser Komplexität und unmittelbarer, emotionaler Wucht … kohärent, episch … ein biblisches Statement über Schmerz, Überleben und die Schönheit der Dunkelheit, wie sie nur COLD IN BERLIN vermitteln können …"
(Saitenkult)
85 / 100
➤ "… COLD IN BERLIN hits a solid point of Gothic Doom with 'Wounds' … it’s a grower that offers its own sort of promise."
(Metal Archives)
4 / 5
➤ "… certainly intriguing … 'Wounds' builds off the clashes between Doom and Post-Punk … driven by off-kilter beats, disorienting vocals, and synth touches, but it also comes with heavy layers of guitar fuzz and bass grime. A hypnotic aura plays into the blend quite nicely, drawing ready comparisons to groups like Messa, GGGOLDDD, and Chelsea Wolfe."
(Sputnik Music)
8 / 10
➤ "… a great band and their new record will scratch the stoner/doom/goth vibes you didn’t even know you had … sounds great, Maya’s voice is amazing, and there are just enough goth vibes and synths to keep 'Wounds' very interesting …"
(Musipedia Of Metal)
7,5 / 10
➤ "There really is something for everyone here. The music is dark, the atmosphere oppressive ... and above it all reigns the crazy, theatrical vocals of frontwoman Maya — she sounds mystical, dramatic, and desperate. Sometimes I'm reminded of Coven, sometimes of The Devil's Blood, sometimes of Avatarium; even Diamanda Galas ... the production fits perfectly."
(Crossfire)
7 / 10
➤ "… much of this album finds its identity in the last decade of the Cold War. The new romantic synths and high-register guitar notes of ‘The Stranger’ take you back to 1981 … charismatic singer… here’s nothing that reeks of overly digitised engineering, which is impressive considering the tools at every band’s disposal these days."
(Scream Blast Repeat)
➤ "… consistently mystical, dark, and in a certain way engrossing ... the sum total of all the qualities that have consistently distinguished this unique formation ... excitingly expressed originality ... distinctive compositional complexity ..."
(Sonic Seducer • Album of the Month)
➤ "'Wounds' is more than an album – it is a ritual that transports listeners into an intermediate world of darkness and ecstasy."
(BlattTurbo)
➤ "… have long been considered the secret treasure of London's underground scene... serious, intense, and hypnotic ... their shows are sweat-soaked rituals, somewhere between ecstasy and demolition. They have captured precisely this energy on 'Wounds'."
(Medienkonverter)
➤ "How does Doom Metal fit into Post-Punk? Quite seamlessly, judging by COLD IN BERLIN's fifth album. The London group composes dreams by candlelight as they soak powerful guitars beneath synthpop percussion and gothic bellows."
(Invisible Oranges)
➤ "… just f… impressive stuff … this album hits all of the right spots … this is definitely one of my favourite things I've heard this month, for sure …"
(The Doorway To Magazine)
➤ "With 'Wounds', COLD IN BERLIN have stepped up to another level – and in every aspect. It didn’t seem possible they could keep getting better … but here, they’ve surpassed expectations, and once again exploded beyond the walls of genre to deliver an album which is something else ..."
(Aural Aggravation)
➤ "… not just an album – it's a ritual ... a carefully crafted, pitch-black nightmare ... imagine this: Siouxsie Sioux and Bauhaus conjure up an ancient demon by flickering candlelight, while Krautrock plays unwaveringly and hypnotically in the next room. It's the kind of noise that wakes your bones …"
(Radio Diabolus)
➤ "… the most ambitious work to date ... urgent guitars and Maya Berlin's intense voice ... the album oscillates between harshness and fragility, between menace and beauty – a dark, stirring journey of sound that burns itself deep into the body and consciousness and lingers long after listening."
(Orkus)
➤ "… want to prove themselves — something it has done excellently over the past 15 years. This time is no different … showing how much they have evolved within their style. Their sound consists of Heavy Doom/Stoner Metal with a slight psychedelic touch, and Maya sings beautifully, naturally, and intimately."
(Roadie Metal)
➤ "… gloomy sound aesthetics ... once again underscores the London-based Doom Goth band's claim to make darkness not only audible, but also tangible ... oppressive atmosphere …"
(Monkeypress)
➤ "... simple, icy songs in which a strong, melodic idea carries everything, without too many tricks, without stylistic mannerisms. With modern, partly synthetic sounds, conveyed through nocturnal, borderline electronic experiences - a great band ..."
(Metal Skunk)
Previous acclaim for the band
▪️ "The Body Is The Wound"
➤ "… a masterclass in dark, industrial-infused post-punk, with the bass becoming extraordinarily overbearing to hammer in the darkness of the closer. This EP is an S-tier performance from start to finish."
(Distorted Sound)
➤ "Dirty guitar riffs twist around menacing electronics, driven ever onwards by pulsating rhythms. Nothing is wasted, and nothing superfluous is added. But front and centre remains Maya Berlin’s powerful, mesmeric vocals. Following the mood of the music behind her, she switches from tempestuous howls to furious rage to dark introspection with such ease, delivered with a beautifully melodious poise that one cannot fail to be swept along in her wake."
(Echoes And Dust)
➤ "What elevates the track even further are the spectacularly offbeat vocals that remind one of Lydia Lunch at her most chaotic and dangerous, the orchestration helping to enhance its menacing unpredictability."
(The Sleeping Shaman)
➤ "COLD IN BERLIN’s wide appreciation for Darkwave, Gothic Rock and Doom Metal is easy to envisage but hard to execute. They do it with ease …"
(Scream Blast Repeat)
▪️ "Rituals Of Surrender"
➤ "Crunch gut level heft... gothic elegance... weaving dark, shadowy tales lit only by moonlight and the flickering of candles... haunted subtlety to world ending incandescence."
(Metal Hammer)
➤ "Blending hefty riffology with full-lunged brooding. Rituals of Surrender sees COLD IN BERLIN occupy the space between Doom and Goth. Emerging like Sabbath fronted by Siouxsie. And they do it so well. This could well be their definitive album."
(Aural Aggravation)
▪️ "The Comfort Of Loss & Dust"
➤ "Bone crushing riffs and sharp dynamics... places COLD IN BERLIN squarely in the ‘ones to watch category."
(Metal Hammer)
➤ "Trembling walls of fuzz... unique and spellbinding."
(Terrorizer)
➤ "Painful and raging with torment... listen loud and with the lights off."
(Power Play)
▪️ "Give Me Walls"
➤ "A voice that could fell oaks."
(Q Magazine)
➤ "Ten tracks of sex-punk energy."
(Rock-A-Rolla)
➤ "A dark whirlpool of noise."
(Mojo)
➤ "Brilliant. A band you need to see live."
(Clash)
➤ "Translators for our imploding society."
(Artrocker)
| Action: | COLD IN BERLIN |
| Title: | Wounds |
| Base: | London • UK |
| Style: | Doom Goth Rock |
| Genre: | Gothic Rock, Doom Rock, Post-Punk |
| FFO: | Siouxsie And The Banshees, Bauhaus, The Sisters Of Mercy |
| Type: | Album |
| Format: | Digital+CD+Vinyl |
| Label: | New Heavy Sounds |
| Distro: | Cargo |
| Release: | Nov 07, 2025 |
BULLETPOINTS
🔘 Fifth album from the somber collective
🔘 Doom, Post-Punk, and driving Krautrock
🔘 One of the UK’s most revered live acts
With their most ambitious album "Wounds", COLD IN BERLIN expand their DOOM GOTH ROCK sound further - bringing in synths, free-jazz brass, and off-kilter rhythms.
"Wounds" is the band's long-awaited fifth album - their first in six years. As heavy as it is haunting, the record masterfully blends Doom, Post-Punk, and driving Krautrock in a dynamic, hypnotic maelstrom – pushing London’s most exciting cult band into intoxicating new territory.
[ "The Stranger" • Official Music Video ]
► Singer Maya reveals about "The Stranger":
"'The Stranger' is a song that is meant to allow for multiple interpretations … perhaps it is a song about addiction- the wound that doesn’t heal. The way the focus of an addiction sings to you, searching you out, twisting and flowing through the body- whispering beneath the skin until you answer the call and find home once more.
Perhaps it is a song about finding your place in the world- groups of people watching and experiencing something meaningful together- a way to heal and close old wounds. How live music can stay with you even as you are separated from it. How finding the strange songs, sang in dark places can actually bring you home to yourself.
Or perhaps it is a song about that sharp kind of love at first sight that can overwhelm, offering freedom and constraint all at once. When you are drawn to that person that you know can destroy you, but you cease to matter because they are somehow instantly your home and only resting place.
'The Stranger' can be all these things- a healer, a cage, an addiction, but it is most definitely a call into the darkness, reaching out to the listener to join us in the howl of life, to wake up the bones and the skin. Be with us in the noise and know that whatever it is that led you to us, we are grateful you are home."
The first single, "Hangman's Daughter", kicked things off and has been available to stream and download since 5 September.
Opening with a hypnotic techno bass-line, the song quickly gives way to Post-Punk guitars, huge choruses, and vocalist Maya’s magnetic storytelling.
[ "Hangman's Daughter" • Official Music Video ]
► "'Hangman’s Daughter' is an unrequited love song", says Maya.
"A woman was loved but could not love in return so she is drowned by the man who loves her. She is not lost though – she haunts the killer and he can’t escape her. The title hints at the past, but actually this is a very current issue for women today – how to literally survive when they can’t love a man who has decided he only wants her."
"'Wounds' is a series of songs about the different ways people live with and process 'the wounds' of their lives", explains vocalist Maya.
"A strange celebration of that formative pain we have all experienced in some way. The loss and joy of survival – the celebration of finding others like us, the gift of knowing life comes after fire."
"Wounds" was recorded by Mike Bew, on location at Foel Studio. The band could be found working deep into the witching hours, experimenting with new sounds and filling the valleys with cantankerous wails of sound, bursting from amps borrowed from My Bloody Valentine.
"The Welsh countryside has a mystical quality to it", says guitarist Adam. "We recorded in a deep, dark valley; misty days and shooting stars at night. You could wander through nearby woods and stone circles during breaks. Foel Studios is woven into this setting with a transcendence of its own – its storied history includes sessions by Electric Wizard, Hawkwind and The Fall."
Synths on the album are arranged by Berlin-based Bow Church, an influential figure in the dark electronic scene and a longtime collaborator of the band. His work weaves icy and atmospheric textures into the songs, layering complexity that demands repeat listens. The synth led track "They Reign" captures the band nestled comfortably between Kate Bush and Neu!
While meticulously crafted, "Wounds" captures the visceral energy of COLD IN BERLIN's renowned live shows. The album’s arrangements and raucous sound remain true to the unrelenting intensity and atmosphere of their stage performances – every track retains the sweat, urgency, and immediacy of a band performing in the moment.
Featuring free-jazz brass sections on the audacious Punk Rock track "12 Crosses", off-beat structures in the blackened "I Will Wait", and the poetic closer "Wicked Wounds", and soaring synths on the electro doom of "The Stranger", "Wounds" is the band's most ambitious release yet – and an early entrant for the 2026 Mercury Music Prize.
FLASHBACK
COLD IN BERLIN emerged from East London’s gothic underground in 2010, evolving into one of the UK’s most revered live acts. Blending dark Post-Punk, Doom, and Krautrock with Maya’s fierce, commanding vocals, their sound balances raw power with haunting beauty. Debut album "Give Me Walls" (2010) made waves with Artrocker Album of the Year, followed by acclaimed releases on Candlelight Records and New Heavy Sounds.
By 2019’s "Rituals Of Surrender", they had fully embraced a heavier Post-Metal identity, earning critical acclaim and a place in the British Library Sound Archive. After a period of reinvention, 2024’s "The Body Is The Wound" EP introduced mechanical rhythms and synth textures, hailed as their finest work yet.
"Hangman's Daughter" ➭ Streaming Pre-save
Landing Page
EMAIL
•
TRACKS
01. Hangman’s Daughter
02. 12 Crosses
03. Messiah Crawling
04. They Reign
05. The Stranger
06. We Fall
07. The Body
08. I Will Wait
09. Wicked Wounds
total: 42:23 min.
•
LINE-UP
Maya Berlin • Vocals
Adam Richardson • Guitar
Lawrence Wakefield • Bass
Alex Howson • Drums
•
DISCOGRAPHY
2010 • Give Me Walls • Full-length
2012 • And Yet • Full-length
2015 • The Comfort Of Loss & Dust • Full-length
2019 • Rituals Of Surrender • Full-length
2024 • The Body Is The Wound • EP
2025 • Wounds • Full-length
•
VISUAL CREDITS
Band: Rupert Hitchcox
Artwork: Derek R. Setzer
Logo & Symbol: Cold In Berlin
•
•
2025/26 TOUR DATES
[ Full list of tour dates ]
FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER
Coventry, UK
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER
Leeds, UK
SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER
Sheffield, UK
SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER
London, UK
SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2026
London, UK
THURSDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2026
Poznan, Poland
FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2026
Krakow, Poland
SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2026
Warsaw, Poland
INTERVIEWS ➭ COLD IN BERLIN are available via phone, Zoom & email
📢 𝗣𝗥 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 • 𝐸𝓈𝓉. 2001
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