Gold Spire – Steps into Shadow | Metal Territory

Country: Sweden

Genre: Progressive Death Metal / Smooth Jazz / Death/Doom

Release: 19 June 2026

For fans of: Rivers of Nihil, Kenny G, Black Crown Initiate, Bohren & der Club of Gore

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REVIEW | Metal Territory

Gold Spire return with Steps into Shadow, a record that moves between progressive death metal, death/doom and dark smooth‑jazz atmospheres. The comparison with Rivers of Nihil is expected, since the saxophone has become almost a “rule” in prog death in recent years. The difference here is that Gold Spire try to integrate it more organically — sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

In the heavy moments, the saxophone truly works. The ending of the title track has a wild, restless energy that meshes perfectly with the doom buildup. On “Liberation”, flute and saxophone move together with the riff, while “Crown of Disfigurement” brings a cleaner death metal style with nice intensity. “A Clarion Call” gains weight thanks to the warm, wooden sound of the wind instruments.

The problem appears when the band puts metal aside and moves into purely atmospheric jazz moments. There the saxophone sounds more “polished” and flat, recalling smooth jazz without much character. Three of the eight tracks are essentially instrumental jazz interludes, which cut the flow and don’t offer anything substantial to the whole.

The new singer Arvid Sjödin has impressive low growls that fit perfectly with the record’s dark style, but his absence from several tracks takes power away from the result. On the death/doom track, Gold Spire move in a more “atmospheric” logic, with riffs that have a nice mood but not much development. The result recalls a more restrained version of Sweven: beautiful, but without the depth that would elevate it.

Steps into Shadow has ideas, has atmosphere and has identity. What it lacks is clear direction. The band needs to decide whether it wants to become more progressive or more direct. The short tracks with big sax breaks don’t work as they should and leave the record hovering somewhere in the middle.

An album with a strong concept and nice aesthetics, but with an execution that doesn’t always reach where it aims.

Final score: 5/10