Spiine - Tetraptych - review
Spiine - Tetraptych - review
Tracklist
01. Myroblysiia02. Glaciial
03. Oubliiette
04. Wriithe
A review by
X-Ray Rod June 18, 2025
I’ve been a huge Virgin Black fan for more than 15 years (fuck, I’m aging fast). One of the main reasons is Samantha Escarbe, the band’s guitarist and one of the main composers alongside Rowan London. Samantha is simply a genius, an incredibly underrated and overlooked guitarist with her very own style, partly because her second instrument is the cello, and you can clearly hear the weeping, slow melodies of a cello throughout her guitar solos. Just listen to the songs “A Poet's Tears Of Porcelain”, “And The Kiss Of God's Mouth”, and “...And I Am Suffering” to get a taste of her special gift. This talent has been put to good use, as the corrosive riffs in Tetraptych are gigantic and punishing beyond measure. Her slow and touching leads appear every now and then, hinting at the gothic doom vibes from Virgin Black. The style of Spiine goes into a much darker territory, however, with black and death metal influences setting the tone for the riffs, as well as funeral doom metal for the pacing throughout this agonizing album. Piano, choirs, strings and synths also play a major role during key moments of this dark album. These are also elements that any fan of Virgin Black could easily pick up.
Spiine is Samantha’s brainchild, but it would be unwise of me to disregard the valuable contribution of the other musicians involved. To be honest, I’m not a Ne Obliviscaris fan but I gotta recognize the talent that Marc Campbell has. His growls carry so much emotional weight on them, and his high-pitched screams and howls seem to come from a tortured demon. I actually think Spiine is a better fit for him than his previous band was; his vocals perfectly match the style of extreme doom metal. The two guests also come from high pedigree projects: The heavy low end of the bass was created by My Dying Bride’s Lena Abé, and the drums by Opeth’s latest drummer Waltteri Väyrynen. Waltteri’s drumming is what you would expect from slow doom metal, but he also unleashes excellent blast beats when the crescendos call for it. My favorite percussion part is that special moment at the 8:22 mark of the opener “Myroblysiia”, when one can hear a constant hollow beating, like hitting wood, that somehow reminded me of the disturbing scene in the movie Hereditary where the possessed mother is banging her head against the attic’s door. This is just me projecting images, but that disturbing scenario is a great match to Spiine’s dark music.
Each song is roughly 15 minutes long; while the band nails all the styles of extreme doom metal, be it blackened doom, death/doom, or funeral doom, the songs do not differ much from one another. The strength of Tetraptych instead lies mainly in how perfectly the ambience and structure of the songs are crafted. For any fan of extreme doom metal, Tetraptych should be one of this year’s highlights. While lacking some variation, Spiine’s music is immersive, and the effective performance enhances the brooding, mournful atmosphere.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
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