Weekly Spotlight, Week 24 / 2025

Feel like there's been a bit too much death metal of late? This week mixes it up slightly, with releases from Gaahls Wyrd, King Parrot, Austere, Bear Mace and Phase Transition.

Among the big releases, there's even greater variation:

Battlesnake – Dawn Of The Exultants And The Hunt For The Shepherd

Gruesome – Silent Echoes

Katatonia – Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State

Orthodox – A Door Left Open

Volbeat – God Of Angels Trust

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Gaahls Wyrd – Braiding The Stories

Genre:  Avant-garde black metal

Subjective rating: 4.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Norway

Rooted in the conventional, but displaying an extraordinary blossom on the splayed fingers of branches stretched wide through decades of growth, "Braiding the Stories" was always going to be a wide-reaching experience. In fact, it feels like a small universe of its own, where we travel down a spiraling, non-linear timeline, the progression being felt as both near-stationary floating, and stark sprints of riled-up panic. Comparing it to the style of Enslaved, this is more contrasting - managing both greater departures from, and closer visits to, the original, primitive Norwegian black metal sound. It's not doom, it's not gothic, and it's not really folk. It's primal, transcendent, dramatic and dark in a natural way. 

Highlights: "Time and Timeless Timeline" and "Flowing Starlight"

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King Parrot – A Young Person's Guide To

Genre: Grindcore/hardcore

Subjective rating: 4.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Australia

This album feels like chugging gasoline and promptly pissing it onto a fire. It's strutting with barbed wire bravado and reckless abandon, but instead of going in the murky, ultra-heavy direction of death metal, it pulls from hardcore and punk, making it agile and spiteful. There's not a dull moment on here, but it doesn't need to get chaotic or overly noisy in order to fulfill its purpose of shaking your brain to a paste. There's tons of groove, the rhythms (although often hectic) are easy to follow, and combined with some killer riffs, it truly gets your heart pumping. 

Highlights: "Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On" and "Punish the Runt"

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Austere – The Stillness of Dissolution

Genre: Gothic/black metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Australia

As band names go, Austere have chosen a fitting one for the style of music they make. I was impressed with their 2024 effort "Beneath the Threshold", and wouldn't you know, they're back with more just a year later. On this one they've flipped the black/gothic balance in favor of the latter, prioritizing atmosphere and mood over harshness and cold, guitar-led melody. It's a subtler sound, perhaps too subtle. Even though theirs is not a particularly slow approach, the transitions are often very gradual, and not a heck of a lot of ground is covered during the course of a song, which is often in the 7-minute realm. Still, their mastery of the tone, achieving both melancholy and hopefulness, is just as strong as before. The clean-sung parts are performed with true emotional weight, highly fitting their slight shift in style. If you're looking for dark gothic metal devoid of the kitsch-factor, this is absolutely recommended.

Highlight: "Redolent Foulness" and "Rusted Veins"

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Bear Mace – Slaves Of The Wolf

Genre: Death/thrash metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: USA

Bow down to our werewolf overlords. It's a neat thing when you can look at a ridiculous death metal cover and just go "yeah, why the hell not". And be delighted when the music matches the visual expression perfectly. This is hard-hitting death thrash with a strong emphasis on the former of the two. The thrash mostly appears in the form of shredding and upbeat tempos, but the tone, vocals and low end are all dimly-lit, blood-dripping butcher's work. Notably, it's not obsessed with old-school style, which is a departure from the norm these days. It's neither filthy, crusty, musty or grimy, nor is it in any way polished. It's just punishing, riff-driven, headbanger-friendly bad-assery all the way. 

Highlights: "The Iceman Cometh" and "Worthless Lives"

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Phase Transition – In Search of Being

Genre: Progressive metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Portugal

Phase Transition is a Portuguese, female-fronted prog metal band that bring to mind the symphonic and melody-rich styles of several Finnish and Dutch greats. What this album isn't though, is overproduced. It's got a clean, fairly lean sound, not lacking fullness but also far from bloated. Granted, I would have liked a bit more force in the peaks, especially considering that the band isn't at its best in the calmer sections. But the album is well balanced, and considering this is their first full-length, I see great potential for expansion. The violin solos are a very welcome touch. 

Highlight: "The Other Side"