Weekly Digest, Week 29 / 2025

Whether you'd like to dance, headbang or hide from your metal, you can find your jam among these releases from Impureza, Hell, Imperial Crystalline Entombment, In The Company Of Serpents, Angerot and Disembodiment.

Not a huge week for big bands, but it's not completely dead:

Born Of Osiris – Through Shadows

Calva Louise – Edge Of The Abyss

Nathan James – Hollywood Mortician

---

Impureza – Alcázares

Genre: Folk/death metal

Subjective rating: 4.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: France

Hearing the description "flamenco-infused death metal", my expectations immediately pulled from Fleshgod Apocalypse. But, while they're not worlds apart, this is definitely not quite the same. While the flamenco certainly adds a sense of occasion, the overall feel is not distinctly theatrical. The folk elements mostly function separate from the death metal, which by themselves sound like non-Scandinavian classic melodeath, leaning ever so slightly into modern tech death. The most important part is that this isn't overproduced. It's fierce and powerful, but it's not an apocalyptic cacophony. The guitar attack is direct and purposeful, and the rhythms deftly skip between playful, folk-inspired passages and visceral assaults. The transitions between castanets and acoustic guitar and murderous chugs with predatorial vocals include both complete shifts and stylistic blends, and somehow work incredibly well regardless. A thing I didn't realize how much I needed in my life.

Highlights: "Bajo Las Tizonas De Toledo" and "Reconquistar Al-Ándalus"

---

Hell – Submersus

Genre: Blackened doom metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: USA

When I choose to describe this album as "cinematic", know that it has to do with the immersive, enveloping quality of the music. I see myself in a massive, dark auditorium, barely lit by a red glow, like that album cover, and the screen/stage opens up like a great maw to swallow you into a world of eternal damnation. It's a sinister, ground-trembling sound, but it doesn't feel hostile in a way like it's about to attack you. You're being subjected to the machinations of the underworld, and they barely take note of your presence. It's a smooth, uncomplicated listening experience, and everything feels very deliberate, but it's not too slow, not too uneventful, just pouring on sulfurous atmosphere and mountainous bass and riffs. It's not overly oppressive or disturbing, just naturally evil.

Highlights: "Hevy" and "Bog"

---

Imperial Crystalline Entombment – Abominable Astral Summoning

Genre: Black metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: USA

Like a melding of Immortal and Satyricon, this is severely chilled black metal played from deep within an ice cave. It's got a sharp aggression to it, and uses it to spearhead an assault of marching riffs and charging drums. While it's got melody in it, it's not exactly melodic, more majestically atmospheric, but with the instrumental performances front and center. A more punchy production might have allowed it to hit harder, and even bigger contrasts between attack and pause would probably allow individual passages to stand out more clearly. But if you're into atmosphere-loaded, aggressive, classic black metal, then you can't go wrong with this.  

Highlight: "Esoteric Offerings" and "Insufferable Shivers"

---

In The Company Of Serpents – A Crack In Everything

Genre: Sludge/doom/stoner metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: USA

This feels first and foremost like sludge that every now and then chills out with a desert rock vibe, and that in itself is a very cool pairing, mixing coal-powered, lurching heaviness with acoustic-melodic playfulness. But it's also got a doomy heaviness and pace, and a stoner-like, groovy approach to the riffs. Add the final touch of a tastefully low-fi production, and you've got an expression that is both distinct and still fairly familiar. It's dark and a bit cynical, but dares to dream, and takes you on a journey through dry landscapes of sun-burned paleness and black, impenetrable shadows. It sounds a little understated at first, but once you get attuned, you're hooked.  

Highlights: "A Patchwork Art" and "Cinders"

---

Angerot – Seofon

Genre: Death metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: USA

Angerot are back with their fourth full-length of crunchy, modestly blackened death metal. It sounds tough and sinewy, which works well as a stylistic feature, but it also manifests as a lack of dynamism in the performances, vocal and instrumental alike, which isn't great for the flow. That aside, it's more than punishing enough, with some real beastly energy and sections of bloodthirsty groove. The tone is sinister and ever so slightly morose, and I get the mental image of this being performed in a dilapidated, filthy and very dimly lit room, with upside-down crosses and blasphemous passages carved into the walls. The production is good though, with plenty of force and a good, sharp edge to the lead guitar.

Highlight: "Her Song Ov Feathers & Ivory"

---

Disembodiment – Spiral Crypts

Genre:  Death metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Canada

Festering, murky death metal that comes rumbling out from below a layer of maggoty intestines. The bass does a tremendous job to maintain the gore-horror mood, without it tipping over into flippant- or meta-territory, although it does include some well-fitting sound clips and atmosphere alluding to 80s horror movies. The band knows exactly what kind of sound they're going for, and they've nailed it. I wouldn't have complained over a little more crispness for that scratching-in-your-ears feel, but it's also not severely muffled. The tempo varies, and the drum work is exactly as precise and pummeling as it needs to be, with ravenous guitars and raw-throated vocals making up the meat of the beast.

Highlight: "Infected to Rot"