Weekly Spotlight, Week 20 / 2025

It's a death metal-dominated week of the sinister, hooded variant, with releases from Jade, Skaphos, Escarnium and For The Pyres. 

If you're keen on some other flavors, there's a few different ones "overground":

Behemoth – The Shit Ov God

Candlemass – Black Star (EP)

Ghost Bath – Rose Thorn Necklace

Sleep Token – Even in Arcadia

Tetrarch – The Ugly Side Of Me

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Jade – Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream

Genre: Atmospheric/melodic death metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Spain/Germany

Like a storm sweeping over the peaks of a mountain range, the sonic turbulence resounding across the valleys below, this atmospheric death metal album rolls over you, forcing you to lean into it to keep your footing. There's a feeling of primordial forces being invoked, a bit like the dark folk elements you might find on an Enslaved record. In that regard, there is a touch of black on it, like a calling from the shadows, but it never takes any sort of technical shape. It's a heavy, austere sound that flows exceptionally well, letting in streams of melody that perfectly match the tone, feeling like transient glimpses into worlds beyond the veil of reality. Personally I could have wished for even more force when the time comes to put the foot down, but I'm completely sold on the immersion.  

Highlights: "Darkness In Movement" and "Shores Of Otherness"

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Skaphos – Cult Of Uzura

Genre: Blackened death metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: France

If you thought that the Behemoth album this week was a bit too "safe", then might I heartily recommend this monstrosity. Not that it's some sort of out-of-control, ultra-harsh work of madmen, but it's definitely on the raw and ever so slightly unhinged part of the blackened death spectrum. It dips into eldritch horror and ritualistic soullessness, but first and foremost it's an utter assault of coarse riffs, canon-barrage drums and rusty, gurgled vocals. It does feel a bit long at almost 50 minutes of runtime, so could have used a bit of trimming, but the real ripper tracks are evenly distributed throughout, so it will keep a tight hold of you till the end. 

Highlights: "Shaphism" and "Abyssal Tower" 

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For The Pyres – At The Pyres of Sin

Genre: Death metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Sweden

No, I can, in fact, not get enough of classic Swedish death metal. This is a lively one, with a heavy focus on those crunchy riffs, and vocals that sound like grinding gravel. It has an air of shadowy triumph about it, but it's not really one that you take seriously as any sort of no-nonsense malicious statement of actual evil. It's a non-stop headbanging good time, overflowing with groove and all the brutal bells and whistles you would expect from this style. 

Highlight: "Let Their Blood Colour Our Swords"

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Escarnium – Inexorable Entropy

Genre: Death metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Brazil

This is Brazilian death metal that takes the dark and horrifying route. Most everything about the sound is monstrous, but not in an over-the-top brutal, overproduced sort of way. It sounds like it comes from the deep, rumbling with hunger and feeling its way with slithering tendrils. It's a thing that's not instantly easy to wrap your head around, but you feel your understanding growing the further in you get, almost like you're getting indoctrinated. 

Highlights: "Revulsion of Carbon"