Mentally masticated by the gnawing shadows of your portal-severed limbs, their tooth-like pressure emanating from the eye-slits of Nyarlathotep who’d teleport thoroughly (but not completely) the flesh to the Dreamlands and the psyche to the final void. All is not chaos in the Demilichian realm detailed on this sophomore full-length album from Puławy, Poland-based death metal quartet TOUGHNESS in fact we are seated at a court reserved to temper away all energy into torpor and dismay. Once again taking their time to develop tribute and temperament fitting for the old outrage of the ancient ones, these ‘old school’ avant-garde death metal students can mark ‘Black Respite of Oblivion‘ as successful push for a biggest-yet vision from beyond their core inspiration, far more than what’d been achieved by the debut. Here they provide more flesh to adorn their volatile alien grooved landscapes and more psychic shock from the mouth of the unknown to derail and disturb the modernist ear.

Toughness formed circa 2020 after the core trio of the band spent 2015-2019 developing a preliminary sound under the name Conveyor, essentially renaming their gig and adding a second guitarist for something more rhythmically obsessed and distinctly in the spirit of 90’s abstract/technical death metal. For guitarist/vocalist Bartek Domański classic albums from Demilich and Morbid Angel were the catalyst for invention and this was most clear on the kinda earlier Diskord-esque skronk of the Conveyor record (‘An Incarnated Abstraction‘, 2018) which you should absolutely check out for a bigger picture pertaining to the years of development that preceded the band breaking through and finding interest with their proper debut under a new name and focal point. You could feel the pressure change in the air, the tendrils leaping for every available orifice as the band’s three song demo (‘Prophecy‘, 2022) hit after they’d completed work on their debut LP but before they’d released it.

‘The Prophetic Dawn‘ was one of the most engaging, creeped and cavernous death metal albums from 2022 to the tune of my placement of it at #23 among the 100 Best of 2022, having appreciated the crooked-jawed chew of Toughness‘ pieces which might’ve been indebted to ‘Nespithe‘ in terms of the greater resolve of their sound but weren’t limited to straight worship. Chaotic as certain parts of that record’s rhythmic map were it was exactly the sort of thing any fan of ‘old school’ technical or abstract death metal would want in terms of intensity, rabidity and a steadied hand creating a dynamic that could confidently represent the level of furor and derangement of the classics. Likewise songs like “Forsaken Entity” and “Other Insalubrious Beings” represented the groovier, slimier reaches of ‘Domination‘ and ‘Gateways to Annihilation‘-era Morbid Angel and this’d helped that debut grow legs for my own taste upon review. Their own bar was set high by that quality of that record, a bizarrely textured feat, but expectations from the greater death metal fandom were weird-ass ‘old school’ minded death metal and truth be told… being different in a sea of vaguely interested pretenders, tourist hardcore bands, and bad bedroom projects the bar ain’t that insurmountable for authentically avant-brained death in 2025.

On our way into Toughness‘ nine-toothed staircase into their pooling dread-chasm’s waterlogged state of possession we can begin to count a constellatory number of confounding factors adding extra-dimension to the experience herein. First and most important is the addition of a new drummer, the very young Maciej Gransztof, who blasts more readily throughout this album given a prime boost via production values from Haldor Grunberg who has given similarly explosive results to many a great band over the years (Devilpriest, Azarath, Dopelord, et al.) Opener “Abominating the Scourge” benefits from a clear and hard-hit drum presence which creates plenty of room for bassist Ziemowit Chalciński who flexes throughout the first few songs that introduce ‘Black Respite of Oblivion‘. Extra emphasis placed on the clarity and presence of the rhythm section is huge for this recording as their demented ancient prog-death toned warp manifests an intoxicating rush of prog-death rhythmic estrangement… an easy pit to fall into per my own taste.

“The Profanity That Creates an Expression of Pain at the Impossibility of Ascending to the Lower Realms” features the first of three guest spots from Will Smith (Afterbirth, ex-Biolich, et al.) as the all-pro vet with regard for the gurge n’ hoark style of vocal, a perfect fit for Toughness‘ gig. The snap of the snare, the repetitious whip between hip-hop beatcraft and brutal death crushed-out modes, this song isn’t that chaos that it seems at face value and at five and a half minutes it wears through its core idea quickly and thrives on the finesse of the rhythm section in developing that basal interest. That blunted kinetic abstraction isn’t the whole order here, in some sense their debut was about that obsessed with making simpler irregular waves but as we step into the title track “Black Respite of Oblivion” we begin to see a pattern where more of their oeuvre is explored as each piece drools forth from their cosmic maw. In simplest terms, we’re getting a brutal progressive death metal fleshed beast encased in a Demilich-type formae, a carapace proudly worn for the majority of the experience.

Throughout my time spent with ‘Black Respite of Oblivion‘ I found my ear repeatedly drawn toward Toughness‘ more meandering lead guitar work and the additional brilliance of the bass guitar presence and there is no better showcase for both working together in action than “Carrion Entrails (Lost Abyssal Disbelief)” a piece which contains some of the most prime violence on the full listen and yet another example of a gnarly, obsessively struck groove rooting the wilding action that surrounds. A pattern develops pretty quickly when analyzing each song and the number of riffs they pull out within each song, sure, but this matters less as the havoc of the full spin sinks in and each song creates its own echo-shaped groove, phasing in and out. I’d been readied for something different by the halfway mark and “From the Shroud of Human Disgrace” felt like enough of a shift to something groovier, tech-death adjacent moves and something more bass driven in its development of rhythmic texture. There is variety on the full listen but the rant that kicks off and rides through the first five or so pieces is the major frontage, the featured purpose of this album, and the showmanship developed within.

In terms of aesthetics and how Toughness best communicate their place in the realm of underground death metal’s rotten-chested muse the wild piece(s) from maestro Turkka G. Rantanen used for the cover art and booklet are brilliant signifier of intent which any ‘old school’ Finnish death fan should quickly recognize. Not only does this immediately signal where they’re coming from but it gives the eye an appropriate amount of hand-drawn detail to scour alongside the beastly presence of the band’s music; It is one thing to give a sheepish nod to the Finndeath classics, as so many do, but another to provide a serious level of worship which still has its own voice and potential to continue to expand. In taking the ride through the band’s discography thus far no doubt these folks have something of their own to contribute and on ‘Black Respite of Oblivion‘ it takes the form of brutality and auld prog-death sensibilites to the point of reasonable transformation. They could go deeper with it, work with more challenging tech and greater tempo-intensive rhythmic play in the future, but for a sophomore LP this is a fine and fitting point of characterization. A high recommendation.

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