Release date: August 1, 2025

From the dark alleys of Essen, Germany, Stølen returns with a vengeance. Their two-track demo EP No Survivors, released August 1st, 2025, is a snarling, high-voltage follow-up to their self-titled 2023 debut. They are not here to ask for permission to have your attention, this one kicks down the door and commands it.

Rooted in the sleaze-soaked swagger of Hollywood’s hard rock heyday, Stølen channels the grit, leather, and danger of a scene that once ruled Sunset Boulevard. They aren’t playing for nostalgia; they’ve captured lightning in a bottle. With switchblade riffs and a rhythm section that hits like a bar fight, No Survivors pulses with intent and refuses to flinch.

Out front is Kat Vain, whose vocals slice through the mix like broken glass. She’s feral, fearless, and impossible to ignore. Svanwal’s guitar work is pure gasoline: red-hot licks, razor-sharp riffs, and zero filler. Behind them, Marc Mercy and Dom Destruction lock in with bass and drums that feel forged in steel, anchoring the chaos with precision and power.

Stølen has been grinding it out on the road, sharpening their sound with every show. The result? This band is hunting bigger stages and international audiences. Though they are still unsigned, that won’t last for long. Acts this dialed-in are bound to detonate from the underground and into the heights of metal stardom.

Review

The title track of No Survivors grabs you by the collar and throws you into the fire. The opening is a snarling guitar riff, raw and unrepentant, like the ignition of a muscle car in a back alley drag race. Then the bass drops and it is thick, grimy, and pulsing like a predator’s heartbeat. This monster of a song roars to life and there’s no turning back.

Kat Vain enters like a banshee summoned from the wreckage of a haunted Sunset Strip. Her vocals are spectral and savage, a spirit from beyond that’s pissed off and prowling for blood. She doesn’t sing so much as she spits venom, each line dripping with attitude and danger. It’s the sound of someone who’s seen too much and is ready to burn it all down.

The track grinds forward with a relentless sense of menace. Every beat feels like a boot stomp in a dark alley, every riff like a flick of the blade. There’s a vibrant rough edge to the mix… unpolished, untamed, and all the better for it. It’s not trying to be pretty.

The climax is Svanwal’s solo. A blistering, high-octane eruption that slices through the track like a switchblade in the night. You don’t see it coming, you just feel the flash of steel and the aftermath.

“No Survivors” is big, bombastic, and unapologetically in your face. It’s the kind of track that delivers a sonic gut punch from a band that’s clearly here to make trouble. And thank the gods for that.

If “No Survivors” was the ambush, “To the Grave” is the war march. The second track on Stølen’s demo EP kicks off with a groove-laden riff that’s juicy enough to sink your teeth into. This one is hook-heavy, swaggering, and soaked in attitude. It’s the kind of lick that channels the titans of rock and metal. There’s the bite of Motörhead, the fire of early Guns and Roses, and it’s all stitched together with Stølen’s own brand of street-born fury.

This band is going to carve their own name into the wall and you’re going to cheer them on as they do. The guitars wail and burn like funeral pyres, the bass rumbles like distant thunder, and the drums crash like tombstones splitting open. It’s a sonic resurrection, and it’s glorious. The vocals are pure possession and are howled with the kind of conviction that makes you believe she’s seen the other side and came back swinging. There’s grit in her delivery, but also grandeur.

This one is a streetwise séance. You can hear the pavement in their sound. It bleeds from the grind, scratches the grit, and burns like gasoline. “To the Grave” is a delicious package of dynamite, wired tight and ready to blow. The coming blast is a megaton of groove, blood, and glory from a band that’s clearly building something bigger than themselves.

Conclusion

Stølen’s No Survivors EP/Demo is a shot across the bow that delivers a swaggering, sleazy two song salvo that is soaked in unrelenting attitude. It’s a marvel they’re still unsigned, because what’s brewing here isn’t just potential… it’s deliciously dangerous. This band has the raw ingredients to craft a full-length record that could be downright notorious, and that’s exactly the point. They’re not playing it safe. They’re prowling the shadowed alleys of the scene with gusto, talent, and gall, dragging the ghosts of rock’s golden age into the now and daring them to dance. If this demo is the warning shot, the next release might just be the reckoning.

As the band continues to mount their campaign, be sure to give them support. Follow their socials. Cheer them on. If they come to your town, pack the hall with your friends in metal. There’s razor sharp talent here that’s just waiting to be discovered and grown into something amazing.

TheNwothm Score: 9/10

Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stolen.band.official

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/stolen.band.official/