Enthroned - Ashspawn (2025)

After a six year hiatus, the legendary Enthroned is finally back with one of their most hard-hitting releases to date. “Ashspawn” delivers nine tracks and over 50-minutes of demolishing Black Metal. Nornagest and company showcase that the band still has that vicious edge and craft one hell of a ride filled with massive drums, blistering guitars, and a hefty dosage of hellish screams.

Opening with the pummeling “Crawling Temples”, we get a barrage of riffs alongside pummeling drums and Nornagest’s highly energetic screams. The band’s vicious approach to the genre leaves the listener very little room to breathe as the onslaughts continue with crushing tracks like “Basilisk Triumphant”, “Stillborn Litany”, and the Death-metal-ish album title track and its chugging riffs.

Perfectly blending that old-school rawness and naivety, with a clean production and some more modern ideas, the band’s sound is explosive, in-your-face, and yet dynamic enough to keep it fresh as tracks like “Raviasmin”, “Sightless”, and “Chysalid” blast away. The album's best track has to be the dissonant “Ashen Advocacy” and its masterful combination of despondent guitars, dramatic atmospherics, and a very decadent and piercing tempo.

Returning to form with “Ashspawn”, Enthroned has managed to deliver one of the best Black Metal albums of 2025 thanks to their incisive and ravaging sound. The music is both raw and powerful, making this release one of the most unexpected highlights of the year. If you are a fan of sinister BM in the vein of 1349, Dark Funeral, Tsjuder, etc., do not miss out on this excellent album.

Label: Season of Mist

Release: December 12th, 2025

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Belgium