Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
Release Date: 18th August 2023
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
FFO: Death, Morbid Angel, Pestilence.
Review By: Jeff Finch
My phone labelled this new Horrendous record as something I’ve not seen before: Heavy Arena Death Metal. Now, when a phone, by way of the program used to import them into said device, decides to label something without input, the results can be jarring. But here, it must be said, the phone, the program, they were right. This new Horrendous record deserves to be blasted in arenas for all it brings to the table.
Thrashy riffs, punchy bass that almost literally pops out of the speakers, and drum fills to make your head spin, Horrendous brought an energy to this new record that is palpable from the word ‘go.’ While the opener track is really just filler to prep the listener for what’s to come, the first main track Chrysopoeia is an exercise in how to perform killer progressive death metal: tempo shifts and transitions to bewilder and awe, bass that would make Geddy Lee proud, frenetic fretwork, and a pummeling percussive assault, Horrendous threw everything into this track that fans of theirs expect.
Never ones to simply rehash songs throughout an album, Preterition Hymn and Exeg(en)esis sound like experimental exercises in restraint, simpler riffs and melodies engaging the listener, the former still hitting hard with double bass and fretwork gymnastics, bass continually popping out of the speakers as it follows the guitar lines nearly note for note, regardless of pace, its presence a reminder of how important the bassist really is in keeping the rhythm; while the latter track finds the vocals equally restrained as we near the finish, where brutal, throat shredding screams obliterate the listener as a shred-fest occurs behind the scenes, the maelstrom leading us as we fade to black, this track having taken us on a journey into bedlam.
Penultimate, and title, track Ontological Mysterium holds the crown as the best song on the album; swift tempo changes, off kilter time signatures, riffs borne of early thrash, a chaotic burst of catharsis around the three-minute mark, as the group unleashes a ripping solo, drums taking a beating as everything is cranked to 11, before transitioning back into the main groove to bring the track to a close. It’s a helluva ride, and it showcases, much like Chrysopoeia, just what these gentlemen are capable of. Dare I say this track reminds me of the legends Death, that’s how masterfully crafted it is.
Album finisher The Death Knell Ringeth closes out the record on a high note, a maelstrom of musical notes unleashed halfway through the track, both chaotic and a great deal of fun to listen to. Bass and drums fire at dueling intensity, the track maintaining a mid-tempo pace, broken up by moments of cacophonous fury, a false ending preceding a brief shred-fest, fancy fretwork ending the track on a high note as we fade to bells, the death knell having rung.
Put simply, this new Horrendous record is anything but: these progressive death metal gents have brought to the table an album that, as mentioned previously, truly deserves to be blasted in arenas, each instrument shining as they did on this record. If you fancy yourself a fan of death metal, progressive metal, or even thrash, there will be something for you on this record, and it’s highly recommended a spin, or two, be given, to really grasp that Horrendous is keeping death metal fresh with this release, never resting on their laurels, always pushing themselves. 
(4.5 / 5)
