BLACK SPIKES · Ydos | DIGISLEEVE CD

CD in digisleeve.

Background information about 'Ydos'

Lithuania has been quietly building a metal underground worth watching, and Black Spikes are the latest name to step out of it with something genuinely strange in their hands. "Ydos" is their second full-length and their first for Napalm Records, arriving on the back of a double nomination at the M.A.M.A. Music Awards, and it uses that momentum to do something most modern progressive metal bands are too cautious to attempt: it treats the seven deadly sins as a song cycle, then drags trap beats, rap cadences and orchestral dread into the same room as blastbeats and growls.

The opener "Pasaka" sets the tone beautifully, a ticking clock that swells into strings while vocalist Agnis pushes her high register against shrieks lurking underneath. Then "Motina" detonates, starting as a lullaby before collapsing into growls and razor-sharp riffing. From there the quintet gives each human failing its own track, and the range is startling. "Melas" folds trap and rap into a framework that never stops being metal, while "Mara" plays calm against storm and somehow lets both breathe. It is ambitious, theatrical and occasionally unhinged in the best way.

What keeps "Ydos" from becoming a gimmick is the songwriting underneath the concept. These are real riffs, real dynamics, real hooks buried in the chaos. Black Spikes sound like a band that has studied their influences closely and then decided to ignore the rulebook anyway. A bold, restless record from a group clearly hungry for more.

For fans of: Jinjer, Spiritbox, Igorrr, Devin Townsend, Zeal & Ardor

Track listing

1. Pasaka
2. Motina
3. Melas
4. Mara
5. Zelvar
6. Revana
7. Apatija
8. Aurea
9. Senas Demonas
10. Dulkės

Manufacturer: Napalm Records Handels GmbH, Hammerplatz 2, 8790 Eisenerz, Austria , Contact: napalmrecords.com