VAN RAVEN: 'Before the STORM' and the Fastest Apprenticeship in Tasmania

Denise van den Berg writes, records, and produces her own material, makes her own videos, and sings in a low contralto that most pop producers would not know what to do with. Recording as VAN RAVEN from Tasmania, she released "Before the STORM" on October 31, 2026, and in her own description it is dark and atmospheric, about fate, manifestation, and the unsettling feeling that something inevitable is approaching. Halloween was the right release date.

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The trajectory is remarkable for its speed. The Dutch-born musician, who moved to Tasmania in 2006, wrote her first song in November 2024, finished a Certificate IV in Music in 2025, and has since released a run of singles and a demo album, picking up Tasmanian community radio support and charting her single "Like a Secret" at number 8 on the Local Sounds Top 10. Her own list of reference points runs from Pearl Jam and Garbage to Paradise Lost and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and "Before the STORM" sits in the goth and doom end of that range, a slow build that trusts tension over release.

The single opens the road to her debut album, SECRETS, due later in 2026, with Matthew Osborne supporting on bass and backing vocals. A demo of this song appeared on last December's Secrets (demo); the finished version is the sound of a fast learner arriving.

Start here: "Before the STORM" for the current single, "Like a Secret" for the charting one, and "Where Did All the Humans Go?" for the question every good goth record eventually asks.

Where to follow: vanravenofficial.com, Bandcamp, Instagram @vanravenofficial, and Threads @vanravenofficial.