Asphagor
“The Aphotic Vortex” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2025)

It has been a while since I last sat down, peacefully, and allowed myself to be taken into the whirlpool that is Black Metal. Truth be told, I have preferred to go for something easier to digest, quicker to analyse. This does not mean that most releases are weak and “simple”; it means that I have not been able to address the core of Black Metal lately. However, to my surprise, Immortal Frost Productions sent out an email, informing that Asphagor was releasing a new record, and unaware of the band as I was, I gave it a go.

I had never heard of this Austrian band up until “The Aphotic Vortex”, on Immortal Frost Productions. I still manage my “to listen to” list, a bit by the cover/artwork, which at times means I will be listening to utter piles of shite. In this case, it was not the artwork that grabbed me. The music is quite interesting. Should we call it Black Metal, per se? At times, at times, I reckon. They do have bits and pieces of Death Metal, but never stepping into the Hybrid stage, thankfully… “Gates of Manifested Hell” is a very, very overwhelming piece.

And here is where I honestly get puzzled. Labels like these are working on a sort “second league” reality?! Come on! IFP has released bands like Infinity and Pyre, which are amazing, but hardly ever mentioned. And here is where things get unfair. Will this record get the attention it deserves? Their music is very interesting and would very probably be of interest to more people, if their name would be read more frequently. Well, I guess it happens with all bands…

As mentioned before, this is the band’s 5^th album, and what an album it is. A little over 30-minutes, and we go back at it, and back at it, and back at it… it has melody, and it has power, it has plenty of elements to make it sound dynamic and always interesting. I feel it drifts away from what IFP has been putting out in the last few years, but Surtur has shown us he knows what he is doing, so, I trust the mate. Back to the music, I forgot to mention the album has these short interludes, that fuse perfectly with the before and the after tracks, making this perfectly done transition. I had to check the list to confirm it, but it came out so good! “Conditio Inhumana” is this massive piece of heaviness and melody and groove – almost! It has Black Metal, and it slays!

Overall, I am glad this came in the mail, as it turned out to be very entertaining listening sessions, and I will go back to this, positively. Just to wrap it up, I am still trying to find out where the band better stands in terms of genre. Oh well, in the end we want good music, and we have it here.

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