Suffering so you don't have to!
Metalcatto
You know what we haven’t done in a while? Reviewed something kind of techy. So why not review a super underground act like The Absolution Sequence? Sure, the name sounds like something else—as in Goth or MeloDeath—but Dread Cycle should deliver all those complicated riffs you want, right? One can have expectations when the musicians shred more, or so I hope.
Thechopstickdrummer
Chris Gebauer is, in essence, a superspreader of black metal grime. Under various monikers, Gebauer has managed over ten musical projects, ranging from a duo with his wife, Anett Hauzu, to multiple depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM) bands. In these undertakings, he mainly sings, but in Exitium Sui, the full set of standard musical apparatus is all under his control. This project acts as an outlet for his efforts on blackened doom metal and dirge-like atmospheres, habits not entirely new to a musician like himself. Exitium Sui’s third full-length, Unravelling, is a curiosity of funeral doom-adjacent textures, but hopefully there’s enough life for me to cling to. Unlike the moods in the majority of Gebauer’s bands, I like living.
Metalcatto
Honestly, when I heard this was an Atmospheric Black Metal promo, my first reaction was “noooooooo.” After I managed to recover from my panic attack, I gathered the courage to click play and give Gemynd Beadu a chance. How sad can it be if the title is Continued Degradation of Life? Okay, it sounds grim, but does it sound grim? That’s what we’re here to find out.
Metalcatto
It can happen, once in a full moon, that this reviewer feels like looking for something less intense. At least in the noise department, my ears need a break from the constant bashing. Teramaze is an old school Progressive Metal band—the kind that dives more into Dream Theater or Karnivool vibes than Opeth. Now that you know what to expect, let’s dive into The Silent Architect.
Metalcatto
When the band is named Hebephrenique and the album is titled Decathexis, you know they aren’t here to play My Little Pony. If anything, you should expect something that would ruin your breakfast harder than massive layoffs at your workplace. It’s been a while since we reviewed some sick Black/Death Metal around here. 2025 will be hard to top in that department, but that doesn’t mean we should disregard the underground so quickly.
Metalcatto
You could certainly argue that my Doom Metal bias leans heavily toward the most depressing and suffocating end of the spectrum. I don’t cover enough Epic Doom, and that’s a fair criticism. But let me pose a question: what if you didn’t have to choose between crushing depression and epic grandeur? What if an album could be simultaneously brutal and majestic? Can that even work? I honestly didn’t know, but that was precisely the proposition Mammon’s Throne put forward with its new album, My Body to The Worms (an uplifting title, right?). My only real hope was that this wouldn’t simply be a carbon copy of Hooded Menace—I mean, just look at that artwork!
Metalcatto
Karnivool is what happens when a band possesses the intricate, atmospheric ambition of Tool but is fundamentally more willing to wear its heart on its sleeve and openly explore emotional vulnerability, rather than shrouding everything in cryptic metaphor and themes of substance abuse. The band carries both the blessing and the curse of an undeniable landmark album in its past (Sound Awake). Hence, its latest offering, In Verses, arrives with enormous shoes to fill and, frankly, zero of my initial hopes for a triumphant return. But let’s dive in regardless.
Metalcatto
Rarely has a band name been so accurate in describing the atmosphere it creates as Malignant Aura. From the very first moments, the music lives up to that promise, radiating a suffocating, almost inhuman presence that feels carefully engineered rather than accidental. One could imagine this being the sound of ancient entities waking up, though filtered less through Lovecraftian myth and more through a modern Progressive/Death Metal lens. Even before pressing play, Where All of Worth Comes to Wither sets the tone with a title that feels relentlessly bleak, practically daring the listener to engage with it on its own terms.
Metalcatto
We continue exploring the harmful side of Metal! It’s been a while without old school Death Metal, so let’s dive in! Vile Apparition might look at first like your consistent brutal band—nothing more and nothing less—but in Malignity the band tried to do more than just have fun and send us all to therapy. It attempts to leave a lasting impression, and there’s next to no other subgenre where this task is harder. Hence, I respect the impossible endeavor from the start. Enough drama now!
Metalcatto
I was there when Austere released To Lay Like Old Ashes. It was my first experience with Atmospheric Black Metal. And though it wasn’t a perfect album, I recall it to this day. Long after, I’m here, ready to review The Stillness of Dissolution, ready to appreciate how much the band—and I—have changed in these almost twenty years. Austere has already taken radical steps in its style, but will this continue, or will we see a return to its origins? Stay put for your favorite flavor of depression.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 