Reviews: Gaerea, Hanging Garden, Vreid, Monosphere (Spike & Matt Bladen)

Gaerea – Loss (Season of Mist) [Spike]

I’ve spent the better part of my time listening to this trying to figure out exactly what happened to the Gaerea I thought I knew. For years, this masked Portuguese collective was the gold standard for that specific brand of "anonymous" cathartic black metal, all soaring dissonance and high-velocity grief. 

But with Loss, it feels like the masks haven't just changed; the entire anatomy beneath them has morphed into something else entirely. It’s a record that seems to be in a constant, violent argument with its own heritage, trading the obsidian grit of the past for a sheen that feels uncomfortably close to modern metalcore.

The record opens with Luminary, and the shift is immediate. The production is massive, clinical, even, stripping away the atmospheric fog that used to make their music feel so immersive. It’s a technical, high-energy start, but there’s a melodic sensibility here that feels "off." 

By the time you hit Submerged and Hellbound, you realize the "black metal" tag is being held on by a very thin thread. The riffs have a rhythmic, bouncy quality to them that wouldn't feel out of place on a Parkway Drive record, which is a jarring pill to swallow if you were expecting a descent into the abyss.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the record is the sense that the band is trying to be three different things at once. Uncontrolled and Phoenix feature these soaring, almost anthem-like choruses that feel at odds with the "anonymous" persona. 

It’s "odd" is the only way to describe it, a band that used to thrive on mystery now seems desperate to be understood, leaning into a polished, theatrical sound that robs the aggression of its teeth.

The middle stretch, featuring Cyclone and the vowel-less LBRNTH, is where the "experience" really starts to feel disjointed. There is a lot of technical skill on display here, certainly, the drumming is a heart-attack pulse of precision but the songwriting feels fragmented. 

It’s a collection of modern metal tropes dressed up in black metal's clothing. For a band that used to excel at long-form storytelling, these tracks feel more like they’re chasing a specific "modern" vibe rather than building an atmosphere.

The finale, Nomad and Stardust, tries to bring back the epic scale, but by this point, the identity crisis has done its work. Stardust is a sprawling, melodic closer that leans heavily into the cinematic, yet it lacks the raw, bruised-rib honesty of their earlier work. It’s a beautiful sound, technically speaking, but it feels like it belongs to a completely different band, one that prefers the spotlight to the shadows.

Loss is going to be a divisive one. It’s a record of high production values and undeniable talent, but it’s also a record that feels like it’s lost its way. Gaerea have chosen to morph into a different beast, but in doing so, they’ve traded their unique, haunting voice for a sound that’s far more common. 

It’s an interesting experiment in genre-blending, certainly, but for those of us who liked the mystery, it feels like a step toward a much more predictable light. 7/10

Hanging Garden – Isle Of Bliss (Agonia Records) [Spike]

Nine albums in, most bands are content to paint the same atmospheric walls a slightly different shade of grey. Finland’s Hanging Garden, however, have used Isle Of Bliss to perform a bit of a structural demolition. 

Known for a brand of "dreamlike" melancholy that leaned heavily into synth-laden layers, this new full-length represents a sharper, more sinister pivot. It is a record of bare-bones compositions and a ferocious, "rawer" intent that proves the band is far more interested in the "death" part of their melodic death/doom heritage than they’ve been in years.

The shift is evident from the six-minute opener, To Outlive The Nine Ravens. While the sombre DNA is still there, the drum work has a physical, snapping presence that grounds the atmosphere. By the time you hit Eternal Trees Of Turquoise and the title track, Isle Of Bliss, the "shimmer" has been replaced by a much heavier approach.

The true highlight of this evolution is the vocal dynamic. While Riikka’s aetheric cleans remain a staple, Isle Of Bliss sees her weaponize her capability to scream. 

These death metal duets with Toni create a visceral friction on tracks like To The Gates Of Hel and The Death Upon Our Shoulders. It’s a stark, violent contrast that adds a layer of genuine peril to the compositions, making the transition between the "introspection of the core self" and the "ferocious side" feel entirely earned.

As the record moves through the rhythmic gloom of The Blights Nine and Arise, Black Sun, the landscapes shift from dense forests to the "eternal voids" of dying stars. The guitars of Her Waning Light are jagged and urgent, leading into the final, six-minute descent of Beneath The Fallen Sky.

Instead of a comfortable resolution, the record ends on a note of sustained, heavy-set tension. Hanging Garden haven't just made a darker album; they’ve found a way to make their melancholy sound dangerous again. It’s an honest, unvarnished look at the spaces between life and death, delivered with a level of professional craft that justifies their place at the top of the Finnish underground. 

It’s a heavy, dark-edged reminder that sometimes the most powerful noise is the one that invites the darkness in rather than trying to keep it at bay. 8/10

Vreid - The Skies Turn Black (Indie Recordings) [Matt Bladen]

After a five year gap Norwegian band Vreid return after a period of reflection where they questioned their direction and their future, after 30 years could they still carry on as they were? 

These doubts are bound to creep up now and again but Vreid have managed to overcome them and shape them into an album that is built on resilience and a renewed focus on who they are and what they want to play.

So with The Skies Turn Black Vreid still play black metal but with additional moments that make them a different beast all together. A track such as Kraken for example showcases their affinity for the dramatic and cinematic. A soundtrack for a film of the same name it's an ambient synth song with a slow propulsion that reflects the massive squid it's named for.

This embracing of slower movements is key to discovering new soundscapes for the band they embrace doom, hard rock and even prog on Loving The Dead where Agnete Kjølsrud from Djerv adds eternal and unworldly voices to a cut that could feature on Stranger Things as Echoes Of Life has Vreid going a bit Ghost.

Inspiration for the album came from all over but especially Ozzy Osbourne, heard in their arena ready choruses and theirs also some reliving of their early thrash moments on tracks such as Smile Of Hate, while the finale, The Earth Rumbles is a grooving, organ fuelled closer as Flammen reminds everyone that Vreid are a black metal band at their core.

A record that pulled Vreid back into being and sees them at their most creative, The Skies Turn Black is a welcome return. 8/10

Monosphere - Amnesia (Self-Released) [Matt Bladen]

It takes a certain kind of band to open for the mighty Between The Buried And Me however German band Monosphere have been doing just that recently.

So I'm sure you can guess their musical habits before even listening to a note, especially when you consider they have also supported Karnivool and The Ocean, they are prime fodder for the Euroblast/ArcTanGent/Radar Festival audience.

With complex arrangements, where intricate jazz (Allusion) and crushing metalcore, mix with ambient post-rock and blistering black metal (Nadir), to drag you into a realm of avant-garde but focussed intensity, where what popular is often visited but rarely full embraced. 

The band have been taking their own path since the pandemic put them on the path to create a debut album that was ripe with experimentation, their live activity resuming on the path to a sophomore album that brought more sophistication.

Each touring run gained them a bigger audience, with international shows and festival appearances, but with Amnesia they are taking all of the lessons they've learnt over the last few years and have crafted a record that is undeniably theirs, rejecting major labels in favour of self releasing a third album that they can have full control over.

This lack of inhibition and outside interference means that the piano powered dissonance on Idiomorph, builds into the technical brilliance of Zenith, both feel so different but flow naturally into one another. 

Lovers of BTBAM, The Ocean, Devin Townsend will find that Monosphere's Amnesia is an album they will want to remember. 9/10