Originally rooted in 90’s death metal and steadily fractured into a more general modern death metal group over the last two decades Fgura, Malta-based quintet BEHEADED arrive upon their seventh full-length album via a compelling and authentic theme without having fully pursued a matching idiosyncratic sonic personae. This means ‘Għadam‘ speaks loudly of folk horror, religious disillusion and posits a unique identity on paper yet only just barely delivers upon the idea with relation to the groove driven, somewhat technical death metal that flows throughout its channeling. With that said I’d found this to be one of the more compelling releases from the band since the late 2000’s in terms of sleekened action and stylized atmosphere, a record readied to take a deeper step into their own personage, and for that reason alone deserves bolder iteration in the future.

The story of Beheaded up ’til this point presents an evolutionary lineage which traces back to their founding as a trio circa 1991 between folks who are no longer a part of the band. Frequent line-up changes beyond that point granted an early classics-inspired brutal death metal sound on their first official demo (‘Souldead‘, 1995) and debut LP (‘Perpetual Mockery‘, 1998) where a slight technical edge and a raw intensity readied them for a run of three full-lengths which are yet some of the best available to that pre-2005 era of moderately technical brutal death metal. For those who’d followed them back then the name still commands some respect though all was drastically changed in the 2010’s where three more albums followed with a shift towards something like a modernized vision of death metal, losing their niche traits steadily ’til ‘Only Death Can Save You‘ (2019) manifested as a curious in-between, a more general extreme metal sound beyond a decade of adaptation. From my perspective ‘Għadam‘ chooses to go even further away from the band’s (early) signature sound in order to forge a new modern death metal identity which is rooted in place, horror, and culture.

If I can manage a perspective entirely removed from the past at face value ‘Għadam‘ reads as a difficult sell for today’s “underground” death metal fandom as a record that speaks to a polished, matured and of course somewhat generalized read on death metal traits. Upon closer inspection Beheaded‘s latest work initially appears to be some kind of folken tech-death per the introduction and oddly swaying trample of the opener/title track (“Għadam“) and its barreling, groove-driven choruses yet this is (partially) for the sake of Maltese folk music and isle-specific horror literature as the band names Anton Grasso‘s work in presenting the concept of this album. They are telling a number of stories, illustrating the terrors available to those afflicted by blind faith and superstition through uniquely semi-melodic, almost blackened death metal.

You may or may not’ve noticed they’ve deployed the Maltese language exclusively for this record, a unique tongue which serves notable difference in the diction/cadence of vocalist Frank Calleja, particularly when a song calls for a cleaner sung or less barked-out moment where his accent/inflection is most clear (see also: “Ihirsa”). While I’m still here primarily seeking Beheaded‘s riffs and blasting intensity this folk-horror theme speaks to ancient old world superstition in such a unique way that it almost supersedes the actual death metal content here in terms of what sends the imagination reeling into a largely new realm. This is especially effective as the first four songs on the album make the best case for this blend of technical death metal, something like more recent Hideous Divinity and maybe popular Polish blackened death metal (note: album was mastered by Wojtek Wieslawski at the infamous Hertz Studio), wherein their vehicle is something like the uneven evolution of Nile in terms of incorporating brutal intensity around vaguely folken movement. Our first taste of this hits most directly around ~2:52 minutes into “Xtrajt I-infern” but begins to reach a sprawling point of confidence within the brilliant “B-niket inhabbru I-mewt”, arguably the song that makes good on conveying the theme and folken step within the gamut of its movement and vocal expression.

As these details emerge and repeat within more focused listening sessions the “plain” groove built aspects of Beheaded‘s riffcraft becomes more of an issue, the mundanity of death metal song structures (generally speaking) becomes the limiter. The band’ve promised both hymn and harmony in developing the distinctly Maltese character of this album and in this sense these elements never truly explode across the album’s contained narrative chunks. Sub-genre relevance appears to be holding back increasingly grand compositional gesturing within the simple counts and rushed through motioning of “Ihirsa”, maybe the first song to rely on simpler grooves for effect and this is less than thrilling for my own taste. That said, the use of backgrounded chorales provides some notable detailing on the piece. There is yet some grandeur managed on the album’s second-act standout “Il-kittieb“, particularly within the narration of the second half, and I’d found around this middle portion of the album ‘Għadam‘ makes its case best as a somewhat unique article. From that point the experience reads more as a modern death metal album built around heavier, simpler grooves (re: “Iljieli bla quamar”) as we step into the final few songs which largely thrash through their work without generating the first half’s unique atmosphere or movement save for the closing moments of “Jidhq il-Ieijl”.

While I’d gone in expecting an “epic” folk music imbued brutal death metal album from ‘Għadam‘ per the description of theme alongside the band’s past but instead I’d found a work of personal foundation, a grasp at a more genuine identity which is not so stuck in past niche. In this sense Beheaded have served an impressive conceptual undertaking with fine production values which has yet to make the argument for specificity in relation to death metal -or- their bent upon past works. There is yet an alien beauty to the experience, a maze of restless rhythmic surges presented with some eerie tension around the edges, yet it all ends up feeling like a starting point which has yet to find the outright tuneful angle or statement which its design demands. A moderately high recommendation.

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