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Album Review – Stabbing / Eon of Obscenity (2026)

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Houston, Texas-based masters of absolute brutality are back with their sophomore beast, out-slamming, out-blasting and utterly eviscerating anyone who crosses their path of gore and destruction.

When Houston, Texas-based Brutal Death Metal brigade Stabbing came together in 2021, the goals were simple. “We were really just having fun and wanted to emulate the style of the bands we really liked,” said frontwoman Bridget Lynch. “Old school 90’s and early 2000’s Brutal Death Metal bands like Disgorge, Deeds of Flesh, stuff like that.” Fast forward to 2026 and the indomitable Bridget alongside Marvin Ruiz on the guitars, Matt Day on  bass, and Aron Hetsko on drums are ready to pulverize everything and everyone who dares to cross their path with their sophomore beast, entitled Eon of Obscenity, the follow-up to their 2022 crushing debut Extirpated Mortal Process. Recorded by Ben Gott and mixed and mastered by Chris Kritikos at Southwing Audio, and displaying a brutally classic artwork by Rudi Yanto of Gorging Suicide, the visceral Eon of Obscenity out-slams, out-blasts and utterly eviscerates their debut album and basically their competition, with Bridget taking her spot as one of the genre’s most powerful and distinct voices.

Get ready to be absolutely pulverized by Stabbing right from the very first second in Rotting Eternal, with Bridget proving why she has become a reference in deep guttural. In other words, it’s Brutal Death Metal at its finest (and goriest), which also applies to Inhuman Torture Chamber, where she keeps barking the song’s Stygian lyrics rabidly (“Mercilessly beaten to a wet pulp / Violently reduced into a lesser form / Vehemently smashing and degrading / Deeper fall into a state of catatonia”) while her bandmates crush our spinal cords with their undisputed heaviness. Aron sounds like a machine gun out of control in Masticate the Subdued, adding an extra dosage of total carnage and chaos to the band’s already putrid sounds, whereas the title-track Eon of Obscenity perfectly depicts what Stabbing are all about, a ruthless, demented overdose of sheer brutality where the riffage by Marvin sounds heavy, caustic and demonic. And in Reborn to Kill Once More, as expected, Bridget vomits the song’s infernal words on our damned faces mercilessly in another blast of Brutal Death Metal.

There’s still a lot more fuel to be burned by Stabbing in the name of extreme music, starting with the short and sweet instrumental interlude Ruminations, setting the stage for the band to kill us all with Nauseating Composition, featuring Ricky Myers of Suffocation. Moreover, Aron sounds even more demented on drums, offering Bridget and Ricky exactly what they need to bark like two monstrous entities. If you think Bridget can’t sound even more inhumane, think again, as she reaches a whole new level of dementia with her guttural in Their Melted Remains, accompanied by the venomous axes by Marvin and Matt. Then we have Sonoluminescent Hemoglobinopathy, and if you don’t know, “sonoluminescent” is the emission of light from imploding bubbles in a liquid when excited by sound, while “hemoglobinopathy” is an inherited blood disorder where the body makes abnormal hemoglobin or doesn’t make enough of it. Put these two words together, and there you have the epitome of Brutal Death Metal. When you reach the last part of the album with Symphony of Absurdity, you know you’re in front of something special (aka the revamping of Brutal Death Metal), with Bridget once again stealing the show with her cadaverous guttural madness, flowing into Sinking Into Catatonic Reality, where inspired by all giants of the genre the quartet concludes the album on the most violent note imaginable.

Exceeding the term “Brutal Death Metal” with their undisputed violence and gore, Stabbing have plundered the crypts of claustrophobia and darkness, only to surface with Eon of
Obscenity, a benchmark for modern Death Metal. “It’s just more extreme,” commented Bridget. “It’s everything that’s extreme about death metal, just taken a little bit further. The vocals. The drums. The riffs. It’s just faster and more boundary-pushing.” Having said that, I bet you’re dying to put your hands on Eon of Obscenity, and in order to do that simply go to the band’s own BandCamp, or grab a copy of the album from the Century Media Records webstore as  a CD or as a stunning neon-violet LP, and don’t forget to also follow those masters of absolute violence and gore on Facebook and on Instagram, keeping an eye on their breathtaking live concerts, and to stream their putrid creations on Spotify. Bridget and the boys are ready to join the new army of brutality formed of bands like Frozen Soul and PeelingFlesh with their newborn spawn, aiming at global domination and, of course, being more than eager to destroy your frail bodies with their undisputed, first-class Brutal Death Metal magic.

Best moments of the album: Inhuman Torture Chamber, Eon of Obscenity, Their Melted Remains and Symphony of Absurdity.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2026 Century Media Records

Track listing
1. Rotting Eternal 1:24
2. Inhuman Torture Chamber 2:58
3. Masticate the Subdued 2:41
4. Eon of Obscenity 2:10
5. Reborn to Kill Once More 3:16
6. Ruminations 1:34
7. Nauseating Composition 3:09
8. Their Melted Remains 4:04
9. Sonoluminescent Hemoglobinopathy 1:52
10. Symphony of Absurdity 4:12
11. Sinking Into Catatonic Reality 3:33

Band members
Bridget Lynch – vocals
Marvin Ruiz – guitars
Matt Day – bass
Aron Hetsko – drums

Guest musicians
Ricky Myers – vocals on “Nauseating Composition”

Album Review – Oceans of Slumber / Where Gods Fear to Speak (2024)

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One of the must-see names of the Progressive Rock and Metal scene returns with their sixth full-length album, sounding like a dystopian western or a post-apocalyptic survival movie.

More than a decade has passed since the release of Aetherial, the debut album by Houston, Texas-based Progressive Metal/Rock band Oceans Of Slumber, and a lot has changed since then for this “Dark Cinematic Metal” outfit. After recruiting Cammie Gilbert (now Gilbert-Beverly) in 2014, the crew’s trajectory took a natural, upward tilt, fueled by the hugely positive response received by second album, Winter, released in 2016. Monuments to a restless creative spirit, the band’s third, fourth and fifth albums, The Banished Heart (2018), Oceans Of Slumber (2020) and Starlight and Ash (2022), raised the stakes ever higher. Recorded at Estudios Audiovision, produced, mixed and engineered by Joel Hamilton at Studio G, mastered by Maor Appelbaum at Maor Appelbaum Mastering, and displaying a classy artwork by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design, their sixth full-length opus, titled Where Gods Fear to Speak, sees the band exploring new heights, therefore sounding even tighter and more compelling than before, proving why vocalist Cammie Beverly, guitarists Alex Davis and Chris Kritikos, bassist Semir Ozerkan and drummer Dobber Beverly have become a reference in the style.

The album kicks off with the darkly embracing title-track Where Gods Fear to Speak, where the heaviness in the guitars by Alex and Chris make a stunning paradox with the powerful vocals by Cammie, blending Progressive and Groove Metal with the obscurity and heaviness of Doom Metal, followed by Run From the Light, featuring guest vocals by the one and only Mikael Stanne of Swedish melodeath legends Dark Tranquillity, another avalanche of intricate guitar lines, harsh and clean vocals, and the always groovy beats by Dobber, sounding like several songs in one. Then a smooth intro boosted by minimalist background synths evolves into a beautiful ballad titled Don’t Come Back From Hell Empty Handed, where Cammie obviously steal the spotlight with a phenomenal vocal performance, whereas Wish is another solid tune by the band showcasing the always massive beats by Dobbie supported by the classic bass lines by Semir. And Cammie will steal your heart in the captivating tune Poem of Ecstasy, presenting the band’s trademark hybrid of Progressive Rock and Metal in a beyond thrilling way.

The Given Dream presents hints of R&B added to the band’s core rock essence, feeling very delicate yet profound and somber, with once again all background elements sounding beautifully haunting; while I Will Break the Pride of Your Will is even more experimental and progressive than its predecessors, with Alex and Chris taking the lead with their stylish riffs. In Prayer we face the dark and evil harsh roars by the iconic frontman Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell clashing in great fashion with Cammie’s embracing, delicate vocals, with all acoustic elements making the song even more detailed and complete, followed by The Impermanence of Fate, showcasing another jaw-dropping vocal performance by Cammie to the classy sound of the piano by Dobber, who also hammers his drums, exploding into sheer savagery while sounding like classic Death Metal in a multi-layered and bold aria of heavy music. And lastly, we have their stunning rendition of Wicked Game, originally recorded by Chris Isaak in the 1989 album Heart Shaped World (check the original version HERE), a more than gorgeous icing on the cake to close the album on a perfect note.

“This album is a dystopian western or a post-apocalyptic survival movie, somewhere between The Handmaid’s Tale, The Dark Tower and Cormac McCarthy,” states Dobber. “The whole idea is that Where The Gods Fear To Speak is a movie, and we’ve written the soundtrack. If the world was taken over, like in movie The Book Of Eli, and Gary Oldman had found the Bible and the true power of it, and he was wielding the power of the lord over everybody, those people that were maybe just into their traditional spiritualism or people that were not religious at all, they would be the defectors, so the record is written from the viewpoint of the defectors. The ending credits are our version of ‘Wicked Game’ by Chris Isaak. We wanted to take it back to when the music in movies set the tone for everything.” Hence, if you want to join Oceans of Slumber in this thrilling cinematic ride, you can follow the band on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, listen to all of their beautiful albums on Spotify, and of course purchase their new album by clicking HERE or HERE. Where Gods Fear To Speak proves that Oceans Of Slumber will not let the occasional setback put them off their creative stride, and I personally can’t wait to see what’s next to one of the must-see names of the progressive scene worldwide.

Best moments of the album: Where Gods Fear to Speak, Poem of Ecstasy, The Impermanence of Fate and of course Wicked Game.

Worst moments of the album: I Will Break the Pride of Your Will.

Released in 2024 Season of Mist

Track listing
1. Where Gods Fear to Speak 6:25
2. Run From the Light 5:15
3. Don’t Come Back From Hell Empty Handed 8:28
4. Wish 3:53
5. Poem of Ecstasy 6:33
6. The Given Dream 3:36
7. I Will Break the Pride of Your Will 5:27
8. Prayer 5:03
9. The Impermanence of Fate 6:20
10. Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover) 5:26

Band members
Cammie Beverly – vocals
Alex Davis – guitars
Chris Kritikos – guitars, synths
Semir Ozerkan – bass
Dobber Beverly – drums, piano

Guest musicians
Mikael Stanne – vocals on “Run From The Light”
Fernando Ribeiro – vocals on “Prayer”