Guyođ - Death Throes of a Drowning God (EP, 2026) Review

I came in contact with Guyođ from Austria quite abnormally a few years ago, around the time of their first split release with Lehm and before their debut album, Heart of Thy Abyss, was even on the horizon. The band hit the mark with that album of abyssal doom / death metal and left overall positive impressions to anyone who came across it, especially when convincingly communicating it live during their concerts. Latest effort, Death Throes of a Drowning God, extends the foundations of the debut and pushes its vision to darker, more introspective territories.

The EP consists of four main tracks, interspersed with short dark ambient / drone interludes, all titled “Signal” followed by specific numbers. While the structure may seem unconventional at first, for people who dwell within the discographies of bands like Teitanblood or Necros Christos, this is no mysterious domain. From the start, the record establishes a dense, claustrophobic sonic field nurtured by the drone waves of “Signal 00347”, and then the deathlike pressure exerted by the oppressive first full track “A Thousand Invisible Eyes”. 

Despite Guyođ’s dim lit setting and gritty sound, guitar melodies are discernible all along as riffs undulate between a variety of tempos from speedy considerably slow. Along them, the remarkable vocal performance often takes the lead and faithfully serves the needs the composition, be it growls, shrieks or hushed whispers. The band steps on the aggression in the following tracks, "Behind Walls of Ice" and "Vortex of Infinite Despair", which feature furious blast beats surfacing from the murk before tempos drop to depths, structurally providing distinct moments when the EP embraces its doom side, and when it moves in frenzy. 

For me, the last piece “Hestia Drowning” is to me the most complete compositional statement on Death Throes of a Drowning God and the most successful in suffocation. A church organ introduction (which can also be heard earlier, on “A Thousand Invisible Eyes”) and a series of inescapable guitar lines and agonizing vocals, continued by the last short distorted ambient outro, “Signal 79357”, finish the EP off in panegyric terms. A few efficient tracks connected with brief intrusions of oceanic static and drone to reset the atmosphere, Guyođ’s authentic presence on Death Throes of a Drowning God has enough to compel you. 

Release: January 23rd, 2026 | Grazil Records
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Thorn - Evergloom

Doom / death metal from the Unites States. 

 

Album out on September 15th, 2023 through Transcending Obscurity Records. 

 

From the label's Bandcamp page:

 

Underground death metal heroes Thorn conjure up their third full length which is easily their most mature and immersive one yet. They've elevated their unique style of barbaric old school death metal blended with emotionally-charged atmospheric parts which very few bands are able to pull off convincingly. As if reminiscing about bittersweet memories, the music instinctively oscillates between angry, bludgeoning parts and poignant, wistful tunes. This contrast works beautifully for their kind of doomy death metal music, and even better so on this album which has more pronounced death metal influences along with comparatively more fleshed out structures. Interestingly, the songs on the album start getting more violent after the initial comforting lull, drawing in unsuspecting new listeners and preparing them for the ritualistic slaughter, after which they go back to their dreamlike state, closing with the triumphant title track which perfectly encapsulates their sound. Thorn have come up with a refreshing and fulfilling album that's just as powerful as it's evocative, and one that will be talked about for aeons to come.

FFO: Desecresy, Intestine Baalism, Edge of Sanity, Desultory, Fumes

The A.C. report:

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  Music: 3.5

Production: 3

Vocals: 3

Text: 3
Cover art: 3.5

Originality: 3.5

Instrumentation: 3
Atmosphere: 3.5
Flow & cohesion: 3
Impact: 3
Replayability: 3 

Innovation: 3

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Overall: 3.2 out of  5 [Good]

 

Tiamat - Sumerian Cry (1990) Review

From the ashes of the more prolific Treblinka, now legendary Tiamat formed in 1989 and as soon as 1990 had their debut full length album Sumerian Cry created already. This is the first release to be recorded at Sunlight Studio, earlier than Entombed's Left Hand Path, even though the latter was actually released first.

At this stage, the band hand’t taken the turn towards more gothic metal patterns that happened later, 1994 with Wildhoney and on, but instead maintained a more extreme character very much in line with a lot of bands of its time that changed afterwards. Not shying away from growls and slow-paced, doom death metal, Sumerian Cry often borrows from early black metal for its riff sections, but it’s not as clear as you would point it today. This illustrates the state of the underground scene at the time, which had much less well defined boundaries between genres still, and Tiamat were also by no means a pure Swedish death metal band either. 

With a chalky production and based on not flawless but organic sound, Sumerian Cry would have been one hell of an interesting album to listen to at the time and still stands well in terms of enjoyment, even if it doesn’t really impress as much as classics of the early 90’s now. Johan Edlund’s vocals are one of the best aspects of the record, as are the sparse, agile solos of the tracks, which are otherwise built upon simplistic but hefty riffs with not a lot of variations. Often times though, only the drumming is a little bit underwhelming as it doesn’t hit hard enough to live up to the aggressive intentions of the rest of the composition. A bluesy, rock’n’roll xylophone session appears in “Evilized” which is the most unexpected moment in Sumerian Cry, which is appreciated even if it is, strictly speaking, out of place.

Solid tracks, all with wonderful macabre lyrics of underground metal, are “The Malicious Paradise”, “Apotheosis of Morbidity” and “Where the Serpents Ever Dwell”. All in all, Sumerian Cry has a warm 90’s sound, innocent mistakes that make it unique, and the contents of a hungry young band with a bright future. An acceptable start.

DAMAGE: 3.25/5