Vesseles is making a comeback.
After releasing their first EP in 2024, the band led by Valira Pietrangelo (guitar/keyboards/vocals, Mortal Filth, WarTroll, ex-Arcane Existence), accompanied by Ron Graves (bass, Horrorborn) and Nick Brown (drums, WarTroll), is unveiling its first album, Home, to mark 2026.
Former vocalist Joel Ferry (A Black Rose Burial) also contributed vocals to this album, as did Antonio Giardina on piano.
The album opens with the haunting and majestic Flesh Throne, whose immediately catchy massive rhythm becomes even more so with the arrival of banshee screams that haunt the orchestrations. The band’s influences are more than evident, both in the most furious passages and in the soaring Gothic interludes before the return of violence, then Eternally Within Us reveals almost melancholic tones that naturally tinge the darkness of the melodious riffs. The track is much more haunting than the previous one, retaining the fury in the vocals but also in certain moments that exploit the band’s Old School roots and their blast beats, which rekindle the flame by joining the theatrical The Beneath and its unapologetic rage, which gives pride of place to raw and jerky riffs. The macabre roars give the track an even more frightening feel, despite a fairly minimalist piano that sometimes disrupts or embellishes the rhythm, as on Home, the eponymous track, which it introduces with a refined touch before the clear vocals lead us to riffs and other screams. It’s easy to get carried away by the massive rhythm, which likes to speed up from time to time, but the abrupt ending leaves us with They Wither…, a dark but soothing interlude that precedes Until They Are Dust, where saturation is once again used to reinforce, accompany, and darken the sometimes terrifying vocals. The track is quite short, as is Scriptures Etched Into the Mind’s Pillars, which immediately exposes us to its warlike march topped with heavy orchestrations that naturally make us bang our heads for as long as they last, but which shift towards almost plaintive tones on Perpetual Chasm of Black Mirrors, which follows suit. Once again, the icy and piercing influences are noticeable in the leads, but also in this stripped-down moment where piano, vocals, and drums lead the dance while waiting for the obvious return of waves of saturation, taking advantage of its length to keep us in suspense before repeating the process with This Is Not Home, which begins with a hazy voice before moving toward mystical touches paired with rage, giving this last track a very special flavor and a most interesting contrast to close the album.
After a few lineup changes, Vesseles offers a work that is obviously marked by its majestic influences, but above all very raw, creating a delicious contrast that is particularly well reflected on Home. I can’t wait to hear what comes next.
85/100