Denmark’s Shadowspawn are back.
After a second album in 2021, Nicolai Cheung (guitar), Kelvin Dam (bass), Bue Torin Jensen (vocals) and Oliver Ragnar Larsen (guitar) welcome Lukas Meier (drums, Sacrificial, ex-The Petulant) to create Blasphemica, their third album.
The introduction lets a sampled voice tell us a few words before Bonesong, the first track, strikes with a raw sound topped by rocky screams. Heavy jerky riffs offer a few opportunities for sharp leads to add relief to the aggression, before Blasphemica sets its dark ominous tones to a heady Old School basis. The vocal parts are sometimes reinforced by a few backing vocals, giving them a different touch, while Desert Serpent adopts intriguing harmonics that create a certain dissonance with the more massive parts. Color Me Dead immediately offers a more direct and aggressive approach, with jerky riffs coupled with powerful vocals, leading us to Lacerations and its ethereal-sounding introduction, before returning to a solid rhythm. Leads continue to bring in more ethereal elements, while Vanity Of The Wicked returns to solid tones that bludgeon us at all times, even when the band skilfully develops more impressive tones. The sound becomes more mysterious again with Absolution In Flesh, which doesn’t shy away from letting violence fully express itself beneath this dark veil that also persists on Sacrament of Deceit, which is probably the most interesting track on the album in my opinion, thanks to its various nuances that flow naturally. We find a throbbing groove again on Echoes Of Human Debris, the next composition, whose leads regularly soar to lacerate us, then the explosive final leaves us after a possessed laugh with Thrive In Sadness, the last track, which starts with a throbbing bass, to let the other instruments join the assault and close the album with the same rage.
Shadowspawn take advantage of their Old School roots to develop with Blasphemica an abrasive and qualitative Melodic Death Metal. Fans of heady rocky sound will undoubtedly be won over!
85/100