The obsidian blood of ancient horrors rains from above as neck-wound sprayed catalyst for the maw of the abyss to gape ajar and call upon the beasts of uncreation as Leipzig/Essen, Germany-based black/death metal duo HADOPELAGYAL describe the tainting of a no longer primordial ocean into a vortex of the end on this miasma summoned sophomore full-length album. Though the band’s noise-mongering, pitiless accost had been dependent on frayed non-directional coined drift in the past ‘Haematophoryktos‘ is a fully intentioned summoning of the endtime cataclysm, a ~45 minute sword dance down toward erasure in the void beneath. The repulsed bestial wrath and wave-buried screams unleashed herein collectively offer a treachery well worth following down toward the abysm which pools beyond.

Cast into morbid sentience circa 2016 by way of guitarist, vocalist, bassist and artist Hekla (Haemalharia, Pale Spektre) the general aim of Hadopelagyal appears to center around cruelly struck atmosphere, a deep and distantly called miasmic terror given an abstracted impact by way of harshened, raw guitar noise and dark black ambiance. In terms of demo-level work the noisome and erratically stabbed instrumentation on the initial trio’s first demo (‘XXXVI XXXI N XXV XXVIII O‘, 2018) was impressive for its time in maintaining its imbalanced, raw sense of bestial aggression. “Crawling in Infinite Void” is probably the song to truly sink the listener into their realm outright though their sound/render would mutate beyond 2019 as their trio configuration became a duo via drummer Augur (ex-Lihhamon, ex-Toxic Beast) and a couple of splits (w/Kosmokrator and Thorybos) before preparing a debut LP statement.

Expectations for that debut LP (‘Nereidean Seismic End‘, 2022) weren’t entirely squared away at that point as each split release felt decidedly experimental and somewhat different in scope than the first demo tape where I’d seen the band compared to everything from earlier Teitanblood to Impetuous Ritual and beyond as the consensus vaguely morphed around a highly atmospheric breach into the pool of war metal, or, bestial black/death metal. Hadopelagyal lived up to this idea on their first album with an organically stated and bluntly captured work bookended by even more ominous noise-built landscapes. I wasn’t all that sure I’d enjoy it based on their split releases (one of which I believe I premiered in MMXX) being somewhat all over the place but that debut was nothing if not focused on its subterranean crawl. This second album arrives with a different production sound, a somewhat more relentless riff attack and even more of a lean into their bestial-atmospheric hand applied to black metal stoked muse.

Described as a true breach of the abyssal layer with all that came before relegated to surface-level development ‘Haematophoryktos‘ is a reveal of skillfully crafted sonic textures wielded by increasingly adept hands and this applies to both the battery served throughout and its impossible to sever connection with the guitar arrangements otherwise. While this appears as a mundane observation the loosened war metallic interplay between the two musicians on opener “Swarthseleniasmos” cannot be reduced to the basic shapes which’re most readily apparent as a crank of the volume and a willingly possessed ear reveals some of the tightest and nuanced riffcraft on a Hadopelagyal release to date. While the band will continue to be known for their primal, distant scourging of the depths (re: atmosphere) and we won’t likely be calling this one a pure guitar album there are brilliant feats shaped into the guitar arrangements here for those seeking subtlety carved from surreal, abominant atmospheric values.

Comical as it might appear to mention subtlety up front in perusal of ‘Haematophoryktos‘ the death metal shaped grooves and empyreal tritonic drag of most movements found within the album do rely on numerous variants to evolve the shape of each song, only finding punctuation in either quick directional changes or some manner of atmospheric/cavernous death conductorial emphasis. In this way we escape the random strikes typically associated with bestial death and black metal and ensure the voice of Hadopelagyal is menacing and unreal by way of their rhythmus first and foremost. That said a song like “Promulgating Haematekchysia” probably has more in common with ‘Roman Acupuncture’ than say, Wrathprayer in its form-shaping hand. As that’d naturally suggest this is more of a linear, all-in-one go type of record and less a collection of singles or parts you’d want to cut out of the full context.

While Side A forms a contiguous and imposing glom of thundering dread we begin to see Hadopelagyal blur their hand and take on slightly more death metal heft as Side B groans into view. “Invocation of Abomination’s Excrements” specifically caught my ear with each successive full listen not only for its more abruptly death-stoked tumult but for the ringing pause given around ~2:41 minutes in as they provide a moment of crumbling spiritus before charging back in. The second half of the album amplifies the pacing alongside more frantic vocal details but does so in a way that reads as purely psychotic behavior, possessed and billowing three-part progressions which cull in stages (re: “Stampede of Exsanguinated Stygian Hordes”) until bursting through hard-blasted and shuddering movement. This collectively reads as increasing delirium, a frustrated release into the depths which only wails louder on the way to the exceptional ~9 minute closer “Halios Enthroned in Hyperdiluvian Kataklysmos”. That final piece acted as the waxen seal on this records claim as the band’s finest work to date for my own taste and despite some of its simpler-shot movements being slightly redundant an effectively flattened and eternally broad landscape is depicted there as a fine endpoint.

Whereas the previous LP from Hadopelagyal only appeared to wander toward its endpoint as an inevitability with ‘Haematophoryktos‘ the compositional fortitudes of the duo have advanced to the point that even colossal primacy finds a satisfyingly downcast shape within the general harass of the full event. This is all worth mentioned for the sake of the niche forms available to their work having been given enough torsion to read as diabolically personalized, shaped into a terrifying spiral of fantastical dread and nihilistic dementia and the residue of that feeling is a valuable chunk of its appeal beyond admiring some of their newly charged rhythmic prowess and sharpened, depth riddled production values. Though I won’t claim this record as pleasure listening there is some great satisfaction in the unholy drain upon the psyche which occurs when fully immersed into a too-loud listening session with it. A very high recommendation.

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