Polish black metal mystics VARMIA have returned — just in time for the season of spirits — with a brand new digital single and music video, “Zwykli Zmarli” (“Ordinary Dead”). It’s the first new material from the band since their 2023 album Nie Nas Widze, and the first glimpse of their next full-length, due in Spring 2026 via M-Theory Audio.
Released over All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, the song couldn’t have arrived at a more fitting moment. VARMIA’s founder and vocalist Lasota explains that the track pays homage to those who have passed on — but who still, in some sense, remain close:
“‘Zwykli Zmarli’ is a song to honor those who are no longer a part of our flesh-realm, but still wander amongst us. Our ancestors, the Old Prussians, said farewell to the departed by placing the dressed body inside the household and feasting around it, as if they were still one of us. That custom, in different forms, survived in northern and eastern Poland. On November 1st, we try to reconnect with that invisible world — this song is our vocal attempt to create that link.”
The music video offers a raw look at the band’s recording sessions inside Zamek Kapituły Warmińskiej — the ruins of the old Warmian Chapter Castle in Pieniężno, Poland. True to VARMIA’s ethos, the song was recorded live within those historic walls, channeling the energy of the land and its ancient spirits.
Sonically, “Zwykli Zmarli” strips away excess and dives straight into a more primal, aggressive side of VARMIA — a furious blast of black metal grounded in Baltic roots, earthy percussion, and traditional instruments that give their music its unmistakable ritualistic flavor.
It’s both a haunting tribute and a fierce reminder of what makes this band unique: that mix of old-world mysticism and modern blackened ferocity.
Expect more details and pre-orders for the upcoming fifth album soon — but for now, “Zwykli Zmarli” opens the gate between the living and the dead, and VARMIA are once again standing at the threshold.
