Golgotha is getting a makeover.
The band led by Vicente J. Paya (guitar, Bisonte, Unbounded Terror, Yskelgroth, ex-Holycide…), Andrew Spinosa (bass/distorted vocals, Unbounded Terror, In War), María J. Lladó (clean vocals, Bisonte), Dan Garcia (guitar, Sons of Cult), and Rafel Garcies (drums, Vulgar Chaos), which is set to release its seventh album, Hubris, in 2026 via Abstract Emotions.
María begins A Simple Life alone with keyboards; the opening track starts very slowly, but she is quickly joined by the other musicians, who impose their massive rhythm section before Andrew responds with heart-wrenching screams. The Beauty and the Beast effect remains as effective as ever in the Spaniards’ Melodic Doom/Death Metal, with the rhythm section naturally igniting as it welcomes hypnotic leads that lull us until The Weight of the Weak comes along to pick up the pace while staying within perfectly controlled melancholic tones. Although the drums energize the track, the riffs remain fairly simple, carrying the two voices toward a fiercer blast section before a final moment of gentleness that leads into Broken Toy, a track with a slightly heavier atmosphere, quickly confirmed by the arrival of the vocals. The lament of the clean vocals continues to soothe the spirits, but the unsettling break will eventually transform it, then the piercing solo will mar the finale, leaving us in the whirlwind that is Empty Minds, the next composition with much more pronounced violent Death Metal roots. The track is one of the most contrasting on the album, and although in certain passages the two main roots are evenly matched, what stands out most is the unexpected violence of the opening and the tranquility of the finale, which gives way to the haunting Too Late, a rather majestic track that allows the two vocalists to call and respond without stepping on each other’s toes, all while the tone grows increasingly somber. The lingering harmonics also contribute to these heavy sounds, while Blind grows increasingly mysterious while continuing to exploit the band’s intrinsic duality, they don’t hesitate to break up the rhythm only to relaunch it in an even more theatrical manner, paving the way with staccato touches toward Fire in the Shadows. This sense of a coexistence that’s half-natural, half-forced is even more palpable on this track, but the harmonics bring a few brighter notes, as do the keyboards, before we move on to Intolerance, the final track where the band intensifies its Gothic influences (that intensely powerful voice…) without denying the others, offering a final moment of thick, and at times even overwhelming, melancholy, combined with intoxicating leads.
Golgotha has now found its stride, delivering on Hubris a superbly crafted Melodic Doom/Death, allowing it to showcase all its gloomy power and contagious sorrow. Fans of the genre will be won over from the very first notes.
90/100