Belgium's Moss Upon the Skull presents an interesting amalgam of metal. They have their roots in a progressive type of death metal with Gorguts and Morbid Angel nuance. Yet, even as good as it sounds on paper, they up the ante with swaths of melodic and black metal. The Brussels quartet then brilliantly covers all of these styles with a lyrical sheen of esoterica, alchemy, and spiritualism. All of these ideas aren't new to metal, but it's how Moss Upon the Skull uses these tested ideas in their debut album that makes them so promising.

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In Vengeful Reverence packs a lot into its runtime, but in particular, the album's closing track, "Unseen, Yet Allseeing," triumphantly puts a bow on this record. A big galloping riff sustains much of its five and a half minutes. At various moments in the track, spurts of technical prowess shine through, like the guitar solo around the 2:30 mark.

Beneath the riffs and feverish drums, the finale taps into cosmic horror and existential crisis. In a couple excerpts from the track, there are malevolent bellows of: "Before the Genesis / Beyond the terminus / Awaits merciless fate / Ever watchful / Righteously irate / Never ceasing to perceive / Never failing to bereave / Hidden behind the veil / Cosmic matter transforms / Into spectres unseen / Yet they remain allseeing."

Listen to an exclusive stream of "Unseen, Yet Allseeing" now. In Vengeful Reverence arrives October 19th through I, Voidhanger Records. Pre-order the CD from Bandcamp now. Rest in Power to founding member, Tristan Van Dorsselaer.

In Vengeful Reverence by MOSS UPON THE SKULL