Smohalia are a duo from France that plays a very progressive and avant garde form of black metal and this is a review of their 2025 album "Ruina Draconis" which will be released in October by I, Voidhanger Records.
A very dark yet heavy sound starts off the album while the keyboards also add in some symphonic touches. Vocals are a mixture of black metal screams, growls and avant garde style clear singing along with the faster sections of the recording also adding in a lot of blast beats and some of the tracks are also very long and epic in length.
Melodies are also added into a lot of the guitar riffing while the songs also add in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. All of the musical instruments also have a very powerful sound to them along with the solos and leads also being done in a very melodic style and some tracks also add in ambient and electronic sounds.
At times the music also gets very progressive sounding along with the faster riffing also adding in a decent amount of tremolo picking. A couple of the tracks are also instrumentals as well as the album also having its experimental moments, one song also adds in a brief use of spoken words. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in French and cover dark and metaphysical themes.
In my opinion Smoholia are a very great sounding avant garde and progressive black metal duo and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Ecclessia Obsessa" "Cantica Servi Sufferentis" and "Homunculus". 8 out of 10.
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ruina-draconis
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