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

Catapult the Sun - Martyrdom (2026) Review

In Western art and Christian tradition, there’s a recurring theme centered on a 3rd - 4th century Egyptian hermit named Anthony the Great, considered one of the founders of monasticism. According to early hagiographies, and especially the source of Athanasius of Alexandria, Anthony retreated to the desert to pursue an ascetic life, where he was subjected to intense psychological trials. These “trials” were not merely restricted to the realm of morality (e.g resisting pleasure), but often described as demonic assaults, illusions of wealth, and hallucinations. In a broader interpretation, the Temptation of Saint Anthony represents the battle between spiritual discipline and the natural chaos of the human mind.

Such a depiction is on the front cover of the Catapult the Sun debut record, Martyrdom (as it was engraved in the 15th century by Martin Schongauer), giving feels of raw black metal / dungeon synth or a Brodequin album art, but this record sounds nothing like either. After a series of EPs between 2020 - 2024, Athens-based project finally puts together a full-length album of a particularly grounded strain of instrumental sludge / doom metal, defiantly unadorned and courteous in execution. By eschewing vocals entirely, the guitars carry all the responsibility for sensation and narrative, and the band refuses to decorate the compositions with anything more than the essentials.

Standing firmly against exhibitionism, Martyrdom breathes and complies to simple but substantial principles: produce a natural sound, serve the song, trust the riffs and their effect. The guitar work carries a concrete density and never stagnates, offering a smooth flow that subtly shifts emphasis as the tracks progress to carry on forward momentum even within the slowest passages. I’d say doom stands at the core of the album, but the band speaks the tongues of drone and sludge with its own abstraction. Fans of flashy hooks may be disappointed, as time passes slower and less chaotic than normal within these particular walls.

"A Pale Stine" moves at its own pace to set the atmosphere properly, and is one of the record's more permissive tracks. Moments of clean guitar lines is where Martyrdom approaches post-metal directly, with a highlight the thrilling main melody of "Powerful Dark Objects (Mind Bender)", as well as the more dismal, sludgy "Insanity Has Thin Walls". Evenly ugly is the shortest track "Noon Creeper" (sounds like something from the self-titled debut by Union of Sleep, but with no vocals). A beautiful post-metal mattress allows for a significantly faster section on "The Word Made Flesh", which reminded me of the few occasions across their discography when Bongripper played black metal - also the highest tempo Catapult the Sun pick up on Martyrdom by far.

Final track "Black Sails On Wine-Dark Seas" features beefy guitars strongly reminiscent of current Electric Wizard, but still the album deservingly fits in any playlist that would also include names like Omega Masiff, Eyehategod or Year of No Light, with Bongripper remaining the strongest parallel I could think of when listening to these Athenian raiders. Martyrdom borrows from a handful of subgenres which are anyway bordering each other, yet it still has its own sound and manages well in terms of delivery, a feat that is sometimes more difficult for instrumental bands. A fine propulsion of potential evident from their EPs, and a decent first record all around.

Release: March 12th, 2026 | Independent
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Arvalastra - Meditation on the Lunar Steppes (2023) Review

A fairly unique underground entity from Bilbao, Spain, the project of Arvalastra has been active for the last six years with numerous releases and now counting five full length albums. Its meditative, occult presence is accompanied by a particular but not completely novel (Necromantia, Barathrum) compositional approach: no guitars, only bass. Such is the groundwork for Meditation on the Lunar Steppes, which has been developed only through electric and acoustic bass, drums and vocals, a rather simplistic but in this case, quite efficient setup. 

Arvalastra manages not only to construct the monotonous, think drone / doom metal atmosphere it goes for, but it also serves its purpose conceptually, as Meditation on the Lunar Steppes has fully compatible music for the journey it wants the listener to take. The tracks are slow, introspective and drained out of unnecessary energy, boasting quite a full sound even without the use of guitars, often reminiscent of depressive black metal templates, but one should not get the wrong impression when reading this. A couple of interludes (“Celestial Orbs” and “Crepuscular Dusk”) are short, minimal and haunting, fixing the different pieces of the album together nicely. 

Convoluted existential topics of deep philosophical concern are discussed in the album, which ultimately makes itself not a walk in the park to go through in case one decides to dig a bit deeper. Meditation on the Lunar Steppes lasts 50 minutes, and 21 of those are occupied by the massive closing piece “Towards Aurora”, which contains the more black metal side of the record, followed by a quiet instrumental and funeral doom ending. 

“Saturn’s Scythe” and “Æthēr Primigenium” are fitting gloomy doom metal pieces and only “Salarmoniack” is a more middle-paced track in its entirety, compared to the overall slowness of this meditation. As a whole, Arvalastra have not changed much since their last or any release, and this new record has exactly what it goes for, not less or more. Not for the average doom metal or black metal fan, it will be appreciated by people that prefer more “lethargic” material, be it DSBM, funeral doom or dark ambient. And it definitely comes with topics to think about.

DAMAGE: 3.75/5

Listen:
Bandcamp

Release date: 03 Feb 2023 (His Wounds) 

A realm at the edge of sanity - Interview with Elminster / Ithildin Tape Production

I was already a few years in the blog cosmos when the first posts of Andrew Werdna surfaced on his now historic website, describing a certain style of dark / fantasy ambient with forlorn medieval aesthetics and initially coining the term "dungeon synth". The genre, initially loosely consisting of side projects of musicians of the second wave of black metal, has undergone a time period of rebirth and reform the last 10 years, with more and more projects and dedicated labels coming up and honouring the forgotten art of the cassette tape. And if you've followed this micro scene even a little bit lately, the name Elminster will surely ring a bell. Restless and with seemingly unceasing inspiration, an abundance of projects are maintained almost solely by one musician, Maeglin Aumar, all at the same time, releasing material quite often and a lot throughout the year, while maintaining his own tape label Ithildin Tape Production too. Under different monikers, he experiments with a wide array of musical templates, spanning from dark ambient, to dusty hip hop, to dungeon synth, to raw black metal, and all over again. Elminster agreed to a discussion that includes an extensive description of his artistic presence, his motives, insight on past releases and a glimpse into the future.

 

Sutekh Hexen - Yule XV

1. Yule XV

We bid your company, to this handful of ashes held to the sun, this glint of silk and flashing anthem, this child’s tear shining before the grave. If your heart measures its meter by sea tide, if the razed earth cries out through your throat, if the moon tugs at your fingertips and the winter is to you a summons; migrate to our verdant rainscape, join us, as more than mere audience but as congregation, poised on the razor’s edge of significance, an ephemeral convergence of souls who might by our integrity participate in something grander than the amnesiac spell of this age. For our collective howl of beseeching and joy and weeping demands a mass to instantiate the sacrament, and thus your dedication means more than mere spectatorship—it is necessary to make meaning, to make our collective honoring of sun, dark, and the deeper things of mortal consciousness substantial.

Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry (2012) Review

Elysian Blaze "Blood Geometry"
Summer 2012, Osmose Productions

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When we're talking about really long album, Elysian Blaze's Blood Geometry should come to mind. This funeral doom/depressive black metal one-man project from Australia released this album last year in two CDs/parts, each one of them lasting around an hour. A monotonous drone is needed in albums like these, but if you decide to listen to this particular album as a whole, prepare to sink in the deepest void.

I am convinced that this is their best album to date. There is finally the perfect balance between the instruments and the guitars, in the first albums the guitar work was a bit unlear and cast aside by the synths. This is not the case here though, a previous flaw has been fixed and Elysian Blaze are even closer to excellence. The atmosphere of the whole album is magnificent, through its variety of synths, gloomy melodies and a sorrowful woe of screams. The whole idea is that the music stays slow, thick and depressive, so i would say its for the fans only. Inside the dark vibe of the whole album, i noticed an ounce of epicness at the end of the first CD in the self-titled track, an elegant ray of light between oblivion.

I personally love the way Mutatiis handles the pianos and the synths behind them. The ambience he creates is remarkable, and that places him among the top artists of funeral doom/depressive black. His music is complex and inspirational, by all means artistic. He is not hesitant to compose long tracks that go up to 36 minutes, a true manifest of pianos, orchestral parts, guitars, percussion and organs. Intriguing instruments are also used here and there, like this somewhat xylophone in the middle of "Pyramid of the Cold Sun". The ambient and black metal parts are close to depressive black metal, in terms of speed and sound, whereas there are groundbreaking funeral doom riffs as well. A surprise might be, that some guitar lines in the album are glorious and shiny, meticulously placed at the correct places, that can tend be uplifting, despite the general despair it provokes.

I didn't give this the attention needed the first time i listened to it and i came back accidentaly, now i can see what a fool i was. It is an amazing album by an amazing band, that will please the fans and not only. It is also one of the best active one-man projects out there, look out.

DAMAGE: 8.5/10