Shattered at the knees and clambering atop a messily scattered subterranean hill of gnawed-smooth skeletal remains Madison, Wisconsin-based death metal trio OSSUARY depict a primordial lair beyond human sacrifice, a pit of mayhemic suffering which reeks of the ancient miasma of ‘old school’ death/doom metal they’ve been crafting for the last decade or so. A proper debut full-length album which delivers upon the band’s years of development ‘Abhorrent Worship‘ presents a natural refinement of morbid classicism and misery bound gloom which yet obsesses over the riff and its downward circling pathos. Though their work doesn’t set out to holistically tribute (or flatly replicate) the vast realm of classic death-doom sounds they’ve done well to develop and expound their own combination of select traits and wield them as strengths per this fleshed-out, more formal introduction.

Ossuary formed as a trio circa 2015 between a rhythm section best known for their work in Jex Thoth and guitarist/vocalist Izzi Plunkett who’d briefly featured in Sardonyx (see also: Tubal Cain) before starting this one. Their style is ‘old school’ death/doom metal inspired at a glance though their first demo tape (‘Cremation Ritual‘, 2015) used what I’d consider something closer to sludge/doom metal for its rhythm guitar phrasing, what I would describe as a post-‘Times Heals Nothing‘ hand of doom. Whether you’d caught their gig back in 2015 or picked up their new record today in 2025 you’re getting the same general skeletal form and conception wherein a cacophonic hiss directs spiraling mid-paced death and doom metal riffcraft in ranting waves.

Each release from the trio approaches with deeper elaboration upon the venomous and at-times cavernous traditional death/doom metal sound they’d introduced with greater confidence on their second demo (‘Supreme Degradation‘, 2019). That second tape was the one to send the masses churning for more though I have to admit I didn’t see what as all that special about their sound outright, there were a lot of not-there-yet death metal flinging around at the time and they were just another from my point of view. Their ‘Forsaken Offerings‘ (2023) EP still felt like the shape of things wasn’t fully there, jamming with a dead hand rather than cracking the whip. That said I’d appreciated the fixation of their riffs (see also: Desecresy, Cavurn, Runemagick) as the rhythmic threads woven on each recording only became more hypnotic with iteration. This is still their greatest strength on this new album, creating threads which the ear wants to see through even if there is no certain point of resolve down the road.

‘Abhorrent Worship‘ feels (eh, sounds) like an Ossuary record up front, a natural progression where we find the band’s performances tightened in commanding step and delivered with imposing, venomous cadence. If I had to sum the appeal of the band’s work in terms of a full-length sized experience I’d say glossier production values do well to enhance their relatively simple mid-paced death metal modus as they tie more complex meandering rhythms into knotted form. This is something fans of Vastum should appreciate outright Their rasped signature not only benefits from said production upsurge but also necessitates a more directly stated voice, no longer completely shrouded in effects. As opener “Volitional Entropy” roars in and begins to introduce each instrument into its building storm we are given a clear window to the atrocities ahead before the riffs take us there, the album sounds huge and only appears to continually expand within those first three-or-so minutes.

Sickening, frustrated, and lumbering through a pitch black corridor of fetid soil and chittering vermin “Inborn Scourge Unbound” is our first proper step through Ossuary‘s gateway to death, an elaboration of death metal’s impatient grooves with psychedelic doom metal’s quasi-bluesy call. The opening groove is a noisier circa ’94 death groove, punctuated in its step but quick in sourcing its circular variations ’til the use of pinch harmonics take us to more of a McEntee-level series of downturn. The wandering sensation any fan would expect is particularly strong here, a linear but not at all tuneful motion delivered with shambling momentum ’til the claws start to grip around ~4 minutes in. While it isn’t anything I’ve not heard before the ride through entertains, outlining their greater modus and showcasing a slightly higher riff count this time around. If you enjoyed this song outright and found it to be a highlight most of ‘Abhorrent Worship‘ basically repeats this formula with more (or less) doom metal riffs inserted into their movement.

In fact the best thing about this debut LP is its treatment of the traditional doom metal riff in the context of death metal. It isn’t necessarily the first Beyond Belief record in this sense and there are moments which carry some sludgy twang in their droop (see: “Instinctual Prostration”) but overall the more they’ve balanced blasting interruptions, mid-paced riff-nausea, and doomed refrain the better. “Forsaken Offerings (To The Doomed Spirit)” is probably the best overall piece here in this regard, representing all that Ossuary do best while also showing how much they’ve put into their gear beyond the still tentatively struck 2023 EP. The only issue I have with this album all blurring together into one morass of riffing and rasping gloom is that it feels like they’ve taken their sweet time getting to their more adventurous, tightly wound creations on Side B and only just find their next-level groove there.

The pick-scraping strikes that hit throughout “The Undrownable Howl of Evil” are a nice touch within one of the more galloping and knotted rants on the record but it is the soloing that starts around ~4:05 minutes in and trails on that kinda sets the whole album afire behind it, ‘Abhorrent Worship‘ needed a more of this type of shape defining accoutrement in general; Every song hits on this album and though it takes a while for Ossuary to find their way beyond signature slow-jogged grooves it feels like they’ve explored the possibilities in a satisfying, entertaining way. For a death/doom metal album in 2025 the level of fixation on the riff and atmospheric hulk of it all is impressive on a basal level but there is yet plenty of room to expand in terms of finer details and finesse overall. Again the core conception of the band that’d been there a decade ago still holds up as they reach LP worthy sounds here, in this sense they’ve delivered upon the promise of early material and developed a fixation which continues to compel. All that is missing from my perspective is some manner of hook or trait that stands distinctly apart without losing that idealized eerie ‘old school’ extreme doom trait. A high recommendation.

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