Prominent metal content creator and musician Nik Nocturnal has officially ended his hiatus, returning to YouTube this weekend with a new video update and a brand new single, “Collapse.”
The return comes six months after he posted a farewell video in May 2025, where he announced he was stepping away from his channels to prioritize his mental health and personal life. On November 16, Nocturnal uploaded a “comeback” video to explain what he has been doing during his time away, dispelling any wild theories fans might have had.
“I think a lot of people think when I left, I did some crazy s**t or I was partying or all that stuff. Yeah, no,” Nocturnal said in the video. “We were going to the park every day, feeding squirrels, I was learning about macros and nutrition, going to the gym, talking with fam and friends, going to the doctor.”
This period of “normalcy” allowed him to completely disconnect from the demands of the content algorithm. Nocturnal admitted that he stopped following the metal world entirely for the first few months. However, when he eventually logged back into Spotify to see what he had missed, he found his passion reignited.
“There was so much cool music that came out and it was so great just to feel that sense of wonder again,” he explained. He noted that listening without the pressure to immediately react or create content allowed him to enjoy the art form on a deeper level.
Despite the break, Nocturnal has decided to return to his platform, though with a significantly adjusted schedule to prevent future burnout. Instead of the daily grind that defined his previous output, he plans to scale back to approximately one video and one Twitch stream per week.
“I know I still have that passion to always just celebrate new music and new metal and that’s something that won’t go away,” Nocturnal stated.
In addition to the reduced content schedule, Nocturnal revealed that his focus will shift heavily toward his own creativity. He intends to spend more time writing original music—evidenced by the release of “Collapse“—and organizing larger events for his community. The goal, he says, is to ensure his content fits into his life, rather than forcing his life to revolve around the content.
Ogorthul: Immersed in the bone-shattering world of death metal and beyond. I’m here to excavate the latest news, reviews, and interviews from the extreme metal scene for you.
