#katatonia — Public Fediverse posts

Add Autumnblaze to the list of long-standing bands you’ve likely never heard of. Formed in 1996, this German duo found inspiration in early Katatonia, though their vision has changed throughout the years. Glut will be their ninth full-length album,1 and their third with Argonauta Records. In the years before signing with Argonauta, when they were with Prophecy Productions, they added a few tricks to their bag from fellow labelmates, Empyrium, and still view them as an important influence today. Their last two releases reflect the diversity in their approach, from the acoustic and gentle Welkin Shores Burning (2020) to the light gothic rock of Auf Zerfetzten Schwingen (2024). What drew my attention to Autumnblaze was the mentions of The Vision Bleak and Paradise Lost, along with Katatonia, in their promo materials. At 13 songs, is Glut too much of a good thing, or will it have you happily gorging on their vision of sadboi gothic metal?

Glut trends much heavier and more metal than anything they’ve released for Argonauta. While harsh vocals were present very rarely on their 2024 release, here they are a prominent feature. Vocalist Eldron slips back and forth between cleans and growls, which serve as effective foils for the harsh/gentle dynamic on the record. His growls, more raspy than deep-throated, lend a violent darkness, while the melodic tilt of his cleans brings a tender melancholy. The catchy chorus on “Kerkersonne” will have you singing along and seeking to brush up on your German to better understand the words tugging at your heartstrings.2 The guitar tone is also louder and heavier than on prior releases, and Arisjel sets an energetic, brisk pace on the drums that keeps things from growing too dark or saccharine. Autumblaze mix the gothic melodicism of Katatonia and The Vision Bleak with a more blackened, almost shoegaze-y edge on the guitars and vocals to create an impassioned record that is simultaneously joyful, angry, and sad.

Unlike the prog of Katatonia or the more unpredictable nature of Weird Tales, Autumnblaze favor a much more formulaic structure that proves both a boon and a bane. “Licht Aus” sets the general template for most songs, beginning harsh and heavy before Eldron’s cleans soften the tone for a more palatable chorus. This formula is a comfort, as Eldron’s cleans prove a balm to soothe the harshness of his growls—whether intentional or not, there is a sort of harm/heal dynamic to the music. Of course, where the formula proves a comfort, it also grows a touch repetitive. Glut is an incredibly pleasurable listening experience, yet hearing the same formula across 13 tracks becomes tiresome. It also doesn’t help that Autumnblaze write largely standard rock riffs without any melodic leads to help songs stand apart from one another.

When Autumnblaze mixes up their formula, it also comes with mixed results. “Glut” features some arpeggios that are a nice change of pace, while “Mondmann” forgoes the growls in favor of a pleasantly poppy, but still heavy, metal song. In other ways, their nuanced alterations to the formula prove nuisances. There’s an unfortunate focus on spoken word elements, with “Heilung,” “Glut,” and “Geisteskind” all using them in place of the growls. On top of that, instrumentally, the music is weakest during the spoken segments. “Heilung” and “Geisteskind” both opt for low-energy, uninteresting instrumentals during these moments, but they grow more enjoyable when the cleans kick in. “Heilung” in particular wastes a pretty terrific performance from Arjon by splitting half the song with the tedious spoken parts. Despite these issues, Glut’s strengths weigh favorably enough to make it more enjoyable than not.

Glut truly is a pleasant listening experience that effectively touches on a range of impassioned feelings. Autumnblaze have honed in on a successful formula that works for most of Glut’s 42-minute runtime, even if it starts to bow under the weight of its 13 songs. Having revisited their past stuff, I feel that Glut is the best they’ve ever sounded, both from a production and songwriting perspective. While it’s true they may have injected a little more variety in the past, their earlier stuff didn’t really stick as Glut does. So, sure, there are a few issues to work out, but if 30 years later you sound this fresh, that’s a win.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Argonauta Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: June 26th, 2026

One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered as a music reviewer is trying to describe a band’s musical aesthetic when their discography is all over the place. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Blut Aus Nord, and you would be correct, but at least there’s an intangible thread connecting the various gnarled branches to their undulating, pulsing roots. Vaarwel, the mastermind and sole proprietor of Russia’s Frozen Ocean, takes his project to where it needs to be, and how he feels it should be delivered, musically. Over the course of 11 albums, as well as various EPs and splits, Frozen Ocean follows their own muse, without any musical correlation between them. It’s a big toss-up what you’re going to get per release, and I can’t help but respect the hell out of that.

I just wish it connected with me as well as The Prowess of Dormition did. Whereas Dormition was melodic black metal with a trip-hop undercurrent, Askdrömmar instead flirts with DSBM, rubbing shoulders with a trippier Lifelover bent. Opener “Mangata” leads off with some ambiance before a simple repeated melody takes over, followed by simplistic programmed drums, and finally other instrumentation. Vaarwel adopts more of a black metal rasp this time around, and just as the song starts to go somewhere, everything fades out, and you hear a sample of a young woman talking. Believing this would build to something, it instead leads into “Bortkastade dödsrunor,” the following track… which leads off with another sample.

The majority of what follows is a “wash-rinse-repeat” cycle among the remaining eight tracks, as they all follow a particular pattern: either a sample or piano twinkling, followed by a riff that’s more than a little reminiscent of mid-era Katatonia (“Kottkvam”), an atmospheric moment that sounds like a tremendous build-up that only goes back to the main riff, and then a sudden ending. Things start to get interesting when “Långt lopp genom mörkret” arrives, with its hyperactive keyboards and lively, energetic rhythms, but that’s track #8 of a nine-track album, and that’s just too far in the tracklisting to turn the ship around. Up until then, it’s just too formulaic and repetitive to leave a lasting mark.

The production also doesn’t help matters any, as it’s squashed and flat. The programmed drums sound like they were mixed a bit too far back, whereas the guitars, keyboards, and vocals are in-your-face, and those sound compressed within an inch of their existences. The biggest hurdle of this album lies in its conception and how it ties in with the Frozen Ocean discography. As a fan of Blut Aus Nord, I know mainman Vindsval will write whatever the fuck he feels like, and because of that, BaN’s discography runs the gamut of sounds and styles. However, the big difference is that you can still hear it’s BaN. Vaarwel doesn’t quite have that distinction when it comes to his music, as his releases are so spread out style- and quality-wise that it’s tough to find an underlying thread connecting any of it.

And that sucks to type, because I remember being impressed by The Prowess of Dormition when it released almost a decade ago. While I wasn’t expecting a repeat of that EP, I also wasn’t expecting to be bored by what’s on offer here. Vaarwel is a talented musician with great ideas, but I’m waiting for those ideas to land. With Askdrömmar, I will continue waiting.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 319 kbps mp3
Label: Apocalyptic Witchcraft
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: February 13th, 2026

THRÆDS – Impermanence Review

By Owlswald

Adding to my list of bands with irregular monikers, German progressive post-metal/rock group THRÆDS (pronounced “Threads”) is the latest to fall under the scrutiny of my wide-eyed gaze. Formed in 2019 as a solo project by guitarist Angelos Tzamtzis, THRÆDS has since grown into a multi-national five-piece.1 Their 2021 Akasha EP garnered the attention of Octopus Rising—an imprint of Argonauta Records—which is now releasing their debut full-length, Impermanence. The promotional material for this Berlin-based quintet bills itself as a seamless blend of progressive post-metal alongside atmospheric rock, claiming to fuse the sounds of giants like Gojira, Tool, and Porcupine Tree into a diverse and unique style. Call me cynical, but whenever descriptions throw about such high-caliber names, the reality seldom matches the hype. And, unfortunately, THRÆDS proves to be no exception.

A pervasive sense of familiarity permeates Impermanence’s forty-eight minutes. While “Devolve” delivers a half-time L’Enfant Sauvage stomp with Gojira’s trademark pitch shifts and tracks like “Einstein-Rosen Bridge” and “Clockworks” evoke some of the moody melancholia of Porcupine Tree or Katatonia, THRÆDS ultimately leans too heavily on well-trodden modern rock crutches to convey their moods and textures. As a result, the material on Impermanence is largely standard and unremarkable, offering little in the way of presence or impact. Chuggy palm-muted guitar riffs, delay-heavy arpeggios and gallant distorted chord strumming drive Impermanence during its drawn-out instrumental sections. Celso Borralho’s vocals dither between solemn whines (“Sole Survivor”), gravelly Chester Bennington-esque frys (“Reflections”), and high, soulful croons (“Nothing Good to Say”). While these hint at Borralho’s considerable range, they generally also fall short of his full potential. Despite the self-produced effort registering a mighty DR 10 and Barnabás Mihály’s playful basslines providing some much-needed aptitude, Impermanence exhibits a vanilla disposition with little novelty or energy.

THRÆDS relies on familiar modern rock clichés to drive their songwriting. Rock anthem “Reflections,” with its big, sing-along chorus and radio-ready polish is well-composed but employs repetitive chord progressions and melodic structures a myriad of modern rock groups have used a million times over. Similarly, “Sole Survivor” and “Timeless” lack novelty with formulaic compositions that contrast quiet, delay-saturated post-rock verses with heavier down-tuned choruses filled with garden-variety guitar riffs, foundational rock beats, and cornerstone vocal belting. Borralho frequently toys between his high and low registers, sounding unassured and whiny rather than passionate and introspective as his voice warbles above the melodies. His range and high register are his greatest strengths, yet he seldom leans into them with enough conviction to improve THRÆDS’ simplistic approach. Compounding matters is the sheer length of Impermanence’s songs as “Devolve,” “Timeless,” and “Reflections” all clear six minutes while closer “Story in Reverse” pushes eight, primarily to accommodate Alegros Gramma’s sax solo. Even the shorter “Einstein-Rosen Bridge” contributes to Impermanence’s sense of bloat, stretching thin ideas into wandering Maserati-like post-rock.

Predictably, Impermanence’s stronger moments appear when THRÆDS trim the fat and venture outside of well-trodden tropes. A prime example is the solemn “Nothing Good to Say,” where the quintet crafts a condensed, cohesive, and engaging offering with Borralho’s high, soulful croons floating above playful drum and bass grooves, all enveloped by an eerie, atmospheric feel. Mihály’s bass performance is noteworthy, driving a deep pocket with his rhythmic pulses while capably utilizing space with high-scale runs that explore the full range of his fretboard. Likewise, the chorus in “Story in Reverse” and the verse in “Einstein-Rosen Bridge” point to a more favorable stylistic direction, as THRÆDS momentarily recalls the grunge-saturated sounds of Alice in Chains amid stretches of otherwise tedious material.

From start to finish, Impermanence struggles to find its footing, delivering an unremarkable collection of songs that is more often bland and forgettable than original and engaging. Displaying brief flashes of promise, THRÆDS defaults to the comfort of well-worn rock sounds, resulting in an overly long debut that lacks the confidence one would expect from a group aspiring to stand alongside the giants it name-drops. Ultimately, Impermanence rings hollow, forcing progressive and post-metal fans to look elsewhere for novelty and imagination.

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Argonauta Records
Websites: thraeds.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/threads.project | instagram.com/thraeds.band/
Releases Worldwide: June 6, 2025

Show 1 footnote

1. Members originate from Chile, Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, and Portugal. ↩

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