Shardana: The Monarch
Photo: Valeria Spiga
Time, Struggle, and the Sardinian Spirit in Blackened Death Metal
Time is the enemy no one escapes, and in Shardana’s new album The Monarch, it becomes a looming figure—ancient, deaf, and immovable. With each track, the Sardinian blackened death metal outfit wages war against its passing, weaving cultural heritage and personal defiance into something both feral and beautiful.
Since forming in 2008, Shardana have evolved from heavy metal with Viking influences into a darker, more extreme force. But The Monarch—out September 5th, 2025 via Rude Awakening Records—feels like their most complete statement yet, blending Sardinia’s living traditions with the unbound aggression of modern extreme metal.
That balance between past and present is nowhere more vivid than in S’Inferru, inspired by Daniele Atzeni’s 2019 film about the early 20th-century Sardinian miners’ strike in Buggerru. Aaron explains how it came to be:
“In previous records we talked about historical events of our land, but wanted to tell something closer to our times, like the miners’ strike of 1904 in Buggerru. We did some research from news archives and we came across this 2019 movie. It was the perfect fit for a song Daniele [Manca, guitars] was writing. The song is dark and ominous, and the lyrics matched perfectly. Besides, the movie is titled S’Inferru, which means ‘The Hell.’ How can it be more metal than this?”
The choice to sing in their native tongue goes beyond preservation—it’s a statement of survival. “We think we have to do more than preserve, we have to live our language and our culture,” Aaron says. “It’s very hard because we need to de-colonize ourselves, and it’s a long process. What we’re doing is using our native language not just for historical or folklore themes, but also in pop culture. Rei de sonnu (King of dream) is a song inspired by Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman, and all the lyrics are in Sardinian (except for the evocation part, which is in English) and it’s a perfect example. If you normalize the use of your native language, you keep it alive and not just a prisoner of the past.”
Over the years, their sound has shifted naturally from their earlier blend of heavy and Viking metal toward the blackened death metal they embody today. “It was a natural process,” Aaron reflects. “Our taste changed as we grew up, personally and as a band, and record by record we went towards a more extreme sound. Consider that we didn’t choose a particular genre when we write a song, it is just how we want to express ourselves now. We’re presenting ourselves as a ‘blackened death metal’ band just to give an idea of what we do. But it’s very hard to define our music because we won’t stick too much to something else when we write. We just want to express ourselves and see where it goes.”
That self-awareness has fueled their endurance through nearly two decades in the underground metal scene. “The biggest lesson we’ve learned,” Aaron says, “is that connection is everything: with your bandmates, with the fans, with the other bands, especially in the underground scene. This is not a solo journey. It’s teamwork.”
The Monarch captures that philosophy in sound—recorded at Overcore Studio, produced and mixed by guitarist Lorenzo Mariani, and mastered at Audiosiege by Brad Boatright. From the warlike pulse of Iron Will to the shadowy atmospheres of Is Cerbus, it’s an album built to be felt as much as heard.
The Monarch will be released worldwide on September 5th, 2025 in both jewel case CD and digital formats through Rude Awakening Records. Fans can order directly from the label’s store, pick it up through major online retailers, or stream it across all platforms upon release. Pre-orders and exclusive merch bundles are available now through Rude Awakening Records’ official site and the band’s social channels (links below).
Shardana will bring that presence to the stage throughout 2025, from the Sons of Rock Festival in Mores (August 23rd) to Cosmic Void Festival in London (September 20th), and their Cagliari release show on October 11th.
For Shardana, The Monarch is more than a record—it’s an act of resistance. A refusal to let their culture, language, or spirit be silenced. And in that defiance, they’ve forged something worthy of both their ancestors and the modern metal world.
Tour Dates
23/08/2025 – Sons of Rock Festival // Mores (IT)
20/09/2025 – Cosmic Void Festival // London (UK)
11/10/2025 – The Monarch Release Show // Cagliari (IT)
20/12/2025 – TBA // Cagliari (IT)
