🌶️ To The Teeth: Blood Abscission's brilliant sophomore record

Plus: Epica, Messa, Imperishable, Slough Feg, In the Woods, Gabestok, Putrid Offal, Turnstile, Katatonia & much more!

Apr 11, 2025

Welcome to the To The Teeth newsletter! Your weekly update of new heavy music. You can listen to (most) everything in the playlist on Spotify. If you like what you read, go to Patreon (receive a patch!) & Bandcamp (buy a patch!). Peppers are hot 🌶️!

If you missed it last week: I’ve opened up the possibility to support this newsletter financially, to cover my time and the few expenses I make. Much more readers than I expected already made use of it, thank you so much! <3

“The AOR part of our career is kicking in.”

New Albums

🌶️ Blood Abscission

Atmoblack, ??? (Debemur Morti Productions)

FFO: Mare Cognitum, Fluisteraars, Darkspace

This might be the best atmospheric black metal album of the year. I don’t know where they’re from or who they are (just that one ‘Astor Solis’ is the songwriter), and their fantastic 2023 release I came from out of nowhere. No promotion, no nothing, but it found it’s people: a beautiful, overwhelming explosion of intense riffs. Their new album is even better. It’s like a really hot shower, where the notes hit you on every nerve and activate all emotions at once. It’s life affirming and completely cathartic.

🌶️ Epica

Symphonic, The Netherlands (Nuclear Blast)

FFO: After Forever, Leaves’ Eyes, Lacuna Coil

Symphonic metal was my second love, right after nu metal (yes, it’s a miracle I’m still here). And like any first love, it never really left. I still fall hard for those beauty-and-the-beast bands like Epica, who continue to deliver quality music. They haven’t strayed far from their path on this new release, and honestly, I wouldn’t want them to. I’m usually the first to cheer on bold, progressive bands that evolve without caring who they leave behind. But with this band, this subgenre, I prefer it just the way it is. That’s not to say they’re stagnant. They experiment, they evolve but all within the boundaries of their own world. And I’m all in for that.
I had an interview with Simone and Mark about the new album (in Dutch, paywalled), in the house Mark was born in and where they once lived together - pretty special! They were welcoming, warm and open, and I loved meeting them. It is that I was in a hurry to go, otherwise Mark would’ve made me a peanutbutter sandwich.

🌶️ Messa

Doom, Italy (Metal Blade Records)

FFO: Pallbearer, Windhand, SubRosa

The sound Messa has been sharpening since Belfry (2016) is not particularly unique, and still you recognize everything immediately. Of course the gorgeous voice of Sara Bianchin is an important factor, but it’s also the compelling riffs that fold around her. The new album was recorded in a 500-year old villa, but they sound completely contemporary (and stunning). Can’t wait to see them play it at Roadburn next week.

🌶️ Imperishable

Melodeath, Sweden (Hammerheart Records)

FFO: Entombed, At The Gates, Dismember

There’s nothing I can tell you that you couldn’t already deduce from what I’ve written above. It’s melodic death metal from Gothenburg, Sweden - and it’s good.

There’s more: Slough Feg (🌶️ heavy, USA), Gabestok (🌶️ black/punk, Denmark), Neptunian Maximalism (weird shit, Belgium), In The Woods… (black/gothic, Norway), Putrid Offal (🌶️ death/grind, France), Ghörnt (black, Switzerland), Moonfall (black/doom, Finland), Fryktelig Støy (black/doom, Norway) and, as if we didn’t have enough diacritics, Håndgemeng (stoner/sludge, Norway). The rest is in the playlist!