{"id":672110,"date":"2026-03-21T19:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/672110\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T19:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:01:13","slug":"speglas-endarkenment-being-death-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/672110\/","title":{"rendered":"Speglas – Endarkenment, Being & Death Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It\u2019s not uncommon for death metal musicians to mellow and prog out the longer they roam this Earth. Far from a negative connotation, enough songwriting prowess can lead to a tasteful and potent way to carry out said development. One of many collectives in this category is the Morbus Chron<\/strong> expanded universe. These Swedes first went from classic death metal<\/a> to Sweven<\/a>, which eventually led to an even proggier Sweven<\/strong><\/a>. Now, in a further evolution following the Law of Increasing Hippietude\u2122, we arrive at Speglas<\/strong>. Although predating Sweven<\/strong> by some five years, it took until now for the debut full-length Endarkenment, Being & Death to come to fruition. Their goal of fusing death and black metal with heavy metal, however, has remained the same throughout. With two degrees of staff and sound separation between Morbus Chron<\/strong> and Speglas<\/strong>, where has all this evolution led to?<\/p>\n

The Sweven<\/strong> presence in the lineup of Speglas<\/strong> is noticeable from the get go. Isak Rosemarin (Sweven<\/strong>, ex-Morbus Chron<\/strong>) acts as half of the guitar crew and all of the vocal crew, lending the album a warm but powerful, raspy growl often reminiscent of Niilo Sev\u00e4nen (Insomnium<\/strong>). Jesper Nyrelius\u2019s (Sweven<\/strong>) drumming is varied and detailed (\u201cThe Spirit Postmortem,\u201d \u201cHitherto Awry\u201d). Alexi Hedlund\u2019s guitar and Victor Berg\u2019s bass round out the great performances of the lineup. Musically, Endarkenment\u2026 tends to fall somewhere between Inconcessus Lux Lucis<\/strong>\u2019s blackened Iron Maiden<\/strong><\/a> approach (sadly gone unmentioned on site until now) and Chapel of Disease<\/strong>\u2019s severely underrated<\/a> deathened dad rock from 2024. Fans of Tribulation<\/strong>\u2019s Down Below era might find a lot to like here as well. The songwriting builds upon their preceding EPs\u20142015\u2019s Birth, Dreams & Death and 2022\u2019s Time, Futility & Death\u2014but improves on all aspects, nailing down the vocals and crafting a memorable dual guitar tandem (\u201cIncessant Severance,\u201d \u201cDies Mali\u201d). And while the project\u2019s vision does precede Sweven<\/strong> by a lot, its instrumentation inevitably ends up feeling distantly related (\u201cDearth\u201d).<\/p>\n

Endarkenment, Being & Death by Speglas<\/a><\/p>\n

Endarkenment, Being & Death flows seamlessly from atmospheric to intense in various styles and tempos. Iron Maiden<\/strong> licks run amok throughout the album\u2019s dual-harmonized guitar work (\u201cDearth,\u201d \u201cRage upon the Dying Fire\u201d) of course, but they\u2019re not carrying the record alone. Gorgeous clean guitar parts (\u201cAiling,\u201d \u201cDearth\u201d) and sadboi tremolos (\u201cDies Mali\u201d) accompany the superb rhythm and lead guitar efforts elsewhere. Parts of \u201cThe Endarkenment\u201d even resemble Alcest<\/strong> by way of Spiritual Instinct\u2019s fantastic<\/a> post-black direction. All this leads to Speglas<\/strong> being progressive without it getting in the way of the music. In addition, a stellar production job only lifts up the band\u2019s great stylistic choices. Simon S\u00f6derberg\u2019s (whose production credits surprisingly include early Ghost<\/strong>) placement of drums and bass in the mix deserve special mention, as it makes an already good set of instruments sound incredible. Though not a massively layered or complex album, the combination of both songwriting and production depth makes for a highly repeatable experience.<\/p>\n

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Careful pacing allows Speglas<\/strong> to end their experiment with a triumphant bang instead of a whimper. Though the album could benefit from showing more teeth and grit at its most aggressive, the ending one-two punch of the album in \u201cDies Mali\u201d and \u201cRage upon the Dying Fire\u201d is a cornerstone hard to argue against. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if both end up being among my Song o\u2019 the Year finalists. As for its softer side, the beauty of \u201cWoe\u201d and \u201cAiling\u201d won\u2019t change the minds of people diametrically opposed to intros and interludes. Some will say Speglas<\/strong>\u2019s style is too watered down, others might think it\u2019s not watered down enough. But I think Endarkenment\u2026 strikes a great balance in between, the music being both heavy and beautiful, intricate and addictingly catchy as a result.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to reinvent the wheel to craft something that feels fresh and exemplary. Speglas<\/strong> took a long while to fine-tune their writing prowess for the debut, and it paid off in spades. Endarkenment, Being & Death succeeds in its primary goal as a superb example of progressive, deathened and blackened heavy metal. Despite not featuring any cowbell<\/a>, I reckon it\u2019ll be difficult for future 2026 albums to top this one come year-end. As the final recent n00b remaining who hadn\u2019t broken the Score Safety Counter yet, I\u2019m glad I held out this long for something remarkable. And I wasn\u2019t even originally in charge of covering it!<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: Excellent
DR<\/strong>: 8 | Format Reviewed<\/strong>: 320 kbps MP3
Label<\/strong>: Trust No One Recordings<\/a> | Bandcamp<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a>
Releases Worldwide<\/strong>: February 27th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:\n<\/p>\n