Artist: Antropomorphia
Country: The Netherlands
Label: Testimony Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025
For me, Dutch Death Metal veterans Antropomorphia are a textbook example of one of the most underrated bands, not only on the international stage but maybe even more so on its native Dutch soil. Although the band’s earliest steps were solid and capture that early 90’s underground charm, it was with the band’s resurgence in 2009 that Antropomorphia really started to take shape. A shape of a deathly beast that both holds the old school aesthetics in high regard and offers a refreshing take on contemporary Extreme Metal at the very same time. With ‘Devoid Of Light’, the sixth full-length album, the band strikes back after a few remarkable silent years. But for anyone who even remotely shares my perception of the band, those six years of silence were worth the wait.
Although I thought the band’s previous output, ‘Merciless Savagery’ was slightly less intense and overwhelming than the three grandiose Death Metal monuments, ‘Evangelivm Nekromantia’ (2012), ‘Rites Ov Perversion’ (2014) and ‘Sermon Ov Wrath’ (2017). With having heard ‘Devoid Of Light’ a good couple of times now, I think it is fair to conclude that this newest piece of work is right on par with these phenomenal records.
And why? First of all, it should be mentioned that the massive and crushing sound of the four preceding recordings is continued on ‘Devoid Of Light’ too, which makes it all the more clear that Antropomorphia is perhaps the most consistent Death Metal band in the current scene. Much of that comes to the credit of drummer Marco Stubbe, who was responsible for all of these technical aspects of the album, with only Dan Swanö handling the mastering job. This all resulted in an album that’s brought to you in a flawless and astounding sonic presentation. Definitely a huge part of Antropomorphia’s musical identity.
But, while the previous four albums are almost mirror images of each other, ‘Devoid Of Light’ is the first one that shows a slight shifting in focus. Although still thoroughly recognizable as an Antropomorphia record, we are now presented with a tad more melodicism and overall dynamics in terms of changes of pace. Occasionally the band definitely slows down, showing a more melodic and almost doomy side, and as a whole the echo of Black Metal, that has been a part of the band since their resurrection, is a bit more prominent. Something that fits very well with the overall (non-musical) presentation of the band and propels its dark and brooding atmosphere to even more staggering depths. Again props to the vocal antics of F., who once more passionately pours his guttural throat into battle and with it proves to be among the world’s best Death Metal vocalists.
It might have taken a few years to have the band back in action, with ‘Devoid Of Light’ they are back with a vengeance. Not only have they slightly reinvented themselves by sticking true to their own unique and recognizable musical fingerprint and just reshuffling all existing ingredients, they surely have delivered a strong contender for many end-of-the-year-lists.
