Style: Progressive Death Metal (Harsh Vocals)
For fans of: Blood Incantation, Ulcerate, Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Death
Country: USA (Vermont)
Release: April 17, 2026
Label: Pulverised Records Duration: ~40 minutes (5 tracks)
Blind in Abyssal Realms is a debut that doesn’t feel like a first step. Ordh — made up of former members of Barishi — present a sound that combines progressive death metal, Lovecraftian* atmosphere and an intense sense of cosmic horror. Their starting point lies in their sludge/prog past, but here the result is much darker, much more intricate and with a clear identity.
Paolo Girardi’s cover art works as a compass for the whole album: a spiraling, chaotic vortex that is also captured in the music. The title track opens with atmospheric chimes and winds, before the band submerges the listener in a journey full of guitar layers, abrupt transitions and death metal attacks. Ordh constantly build a “sonic tunnel” of alternating melodies, harmonies and distorted lines that appear and disappear like fractals.
Tracks like “Apis Bull”, “Moon of Urd” and “Hierothesion” move between downtuned, sludgy rhythms and more angular death metal riffs, with an aesthetic that recalls Inter Arma at their heaviest. The vibrato in the opening riff of “Moon of Urd” creates a sense of panic, while the blastbeats in the middle of the album intensify the sense of threat.
The acoustic transitions are among the album’s most impressive elements. Ordh move from chaotic death metal explosions to serene, clean guitars in a natural, almost organic way. “Phlegraean Fields” opens with a bluesy, clean melody that offers a brief breather, before the intensity returns. Jonathan Hébert’s growl performance works as a permanent reminder that calm is temporary.
- See also: DEATHCRAEFT – On Human Devolution
Graham Brooks’s guitar work is the album’s center of gravity: melodies that evolve, repeat, change form and return in a new version. The synths act like an electric field around the sound, while Dylan Blake’s drums give direction to every rhythm change. At the acoustic points, his doom‑like approach gives weight and character.
With five tracks and a duration of a little over 40 minutes, Blind in Abyssal Realms is a single unified work, without unnecessary repetitions and without filler. The rhythm changes, the acoustic breathers and the thematic melodies keep the album coherent and alive. It’s a debut that shows a band with a clear vision and the ability to realize it.
The result is a progressive death metal album that balances between chaos and order, the violent and the atmospheric, the earthly and the cosmic. A work that demands attention, but rewards those who immerse themselves in it.
Score: 7.7/10 Highlights: Apis Bull, Moon of Urd, Phlegraean Fields
| Joshua Smith | Bass |
| Dylan Blake | Drums |
| Graham Brooks | Guitars, Vocals (backing), Songwriting |
| Jonathan Hébert | Vocals |
Guests: – Hannah Hoffman – Additional keyboards & synths
Lovecraftian : Lovecraftian horror, or cosmic horror, is
a subgenre pioneered by H.P. Lovecraft and emphasizes the fear of the incomprehensible and the insignificance of humanity in an indifferent, alien universe.
