Weekly Spotlight, Week 23 / 2025

A week of surprises for me, with challenges to the big names coming from Puteraeon, Obsidian Tongue, Eschaton, Graceless and Zig Zags.

First though, a quick mention of the efforts of said big names:

Doobie – Give 'Em Hell Until You Get To Heaven

Gridiron – Poetry From Pain

Grin – Acid Gods

The Haunted – Songs Of Last Resort

Rivers Of Nihil – Rivers Of Nihil

Vader – Humanihility (EP)

Vildhjarta – + där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar +

Wolves At The Gate – Wasteland

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Puteraeon – Mountains Of Madness

Genre: Death metal

Subjective rating: 4.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Sweden

Oh dear, it's crunchy Swedish death metal. I can feel my objectivity draining away and my consciousness slipping into a happy-place-coma. This one even has some thematic depth to it... oh damn, I'm completely sold from the get-go. You can imagine my ecstasy at discovering that the melodic and rhythmic variety on this album is also more than decent. Let's see if I can muster the mental fortitude to properly describe it to you. This is a Lovecraft-themed, fairly cold-toned, modestly melodic, Swedish old school death metal album that boasts a beefy production, playful rhythms and a constantly threatening tinge. The vocals are mostly all-out wet-snarling, but also does a few barks, and a couple of dips into clean. There is absolutely nothing missing from this in terms of pure, headbanging heaviness, but I will deduct some slight points for missing the opportunity to utilize some genuinely scary atmosphere. A few cues from death doom might have done it. But other than this, I find precious little to criticize.

Highlights: "Watchers At The Abyss" and "The Land of Cold Eternal Winter"

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Obsidian Tongue – Eclipsing Worlds Of Scorn

Genre: Experimental black metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: USA

Welcome to this otherworldly sermon to powers incomprehensible. Yes, this is in essence black metal, but it's warm, curious, expansive and unpredictable in a non-jarring way, like it's inviting you along to experience an undiscovered part of the universe. You get gentle, atmospheric melody, rich, friendly psychedelia, a tragic-epic tone and sweeps of snarling heaviness that feel both old school and grand in a tastefully understated way, without resorting to a garbage production. There's not really a clear, coherent direction to the listening experience, and I find myself losing interest slightly on the second to last two songs, but then it soars back up with the final track, and all is well again.  

Highlights: "Theater of Smoke & Wind" and "Orphaned Spiritual Warrior"

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Eschaton – Techtalitarian

Genre: Technical death metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: USA

Fair warning: If the erratically busy nature of modern tech death is precisely what puts you off most examples of the subgenre, then this is most certainly not for you. This thing skips about like a hummingbird on speed - and with unrestrained teleportation abilities. It's not the kind of thing you go to for measured buildups and a deeper sense of purpose. Neither is it an overly chaotic sort of beast. The drums in particular ensure a supercomputer-like level of control and precision, and while it's not exactly immersive, it certainly can be fascinating. There's not much melody outside of the guitar solos, but neither does it feel bleak or soulless. The instrumentation takes on a life of its own, like being enveloped in frantic and overlapping streams of communication in an alien language.  

Highlight: "Antimatter"

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Graceless – Icons Of Ruin

Genre: Death metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Netherlands

Graceless manage the feat of both staying faithful and satisfyingly predictable within the sphere of old school death metal, and at the same time branching out and pulling in select elements from neighboring styles. When they slow down, it feels like a nod to epic doom. When they take the brutality down a slight notch, it feels like cracking open the door to melodeath. And when it's time to step up the fun factor, they start toying around with early groove metal. Rhythm wise, it's not terribly engaging, and they lack a bit of force in the low end to really knock your socks off. But the production is suitably grungy, and for such a style-conscious sound, it's pleasingly varied. 

Highlight: "Sanctified Slaughter"

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Zig Zags – Deadbeat At Dawn

Genre: Heavy metal/punk

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: USA

Playing a characterful blend of classic metal and punk rock that the band themselves like to call garage metal, there is no doubt that LA's Zig Zags have a very specific expression in mind. Is it a bit narrow? Sure, but not more than usual for any of the subgenres in question, which also include a bit of speed and thrash. It's a mid-tempo, back-to-basics affair that strikes a tasteful balance between lean and punchy. The album starts very strong, then dips into a slight creative lull, before coming back stronger towards the end. The overall length is only a bit over 33 minutes though, and there's really nothing bad on here, so expect to be entertained throughout.

Highlight: "Altered States"