Band:	Rothadás
Album:	Töviskert... A Kísértés Örök Érzete... Lidércharang
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	March 21, 2025
A review by:	F3ynman

01. Urnaszellem... Szentek Csontpora
02. Vértükör
03. Sóhajok Kapuja
04. Tetemek Tava... Lidércek Tánca
05. Sikoltó Füst
06. Az Örök Isten Lucifer

Rothadás’s second album delivers a solid doom-death combo with a satisfyingly evil vibe.

Töviskert... A Kísértés Örök Érzete... Lidércharang. Thorn garden… the eternal sense of temptation… ghost bell. I'm not sure why this Hungarian death doom band can't settle on one album title… or why they seem so obsessed with ellipses… but what Rothadás lack in concise naming, they redeem in musical output.

Signed to Me Saco Un Ojo Records (which is quickly becoming my favorite go-to for underground, cavernous heaviness), Rothadás play a nice mix of doom and death metal, whose consistent groovy pace makes their sophomore full-length album an enjoyable experience.

I don't have enough knowledge of Eastern European death metal to be certain, but, with my exposure to bands like 71TONMAN and Eternal Rot, it seems that the further you go east, the more brutal the death and doom bands get. Now, to be clear, Rothadás aren't “brutal” in the strict sense of the subgenre “brutal death metal”. Rather, their combination of doomlike heaviness gives their death metal side an additional boost of viciousness, resulting in a formidable approach. All these elements would make for a harrowing assault on the senses, but Rothadás also incorporate catchy songwriting to keep the listener continuously engaged rather than overwhelmed.

The periodic switching between groovy mid-tempo and fast pace accentuate the evil riffs and intimidating atmosphere, rounded out by the nicely guttural growls. Amid the, for the genre, expected level of heaviness, Rothadás’s newest effort does a good job of slightly standing out from its pool of competitors, which all too often produce slow, monotonous, and uninspired music. Instead, they improve on their debut effort, releasing six songs steeped in menacing aura, with enough groovy riffs to leave fans of doom-drenched death metal satisfied.