Somewhere within a nebula, seventeen million lightyears away from earth, a wormhole spits out a contorted mess. Disfigured and rearranged by the unknown forces of interstellar space, a new Astriferous record has emerged from within this crushing inhospitable cosmic realm. Exactly three Earth years have elapsed since last this voracious extraterrestrial monster released their debut full-length transmission. The initial offering saw their vessel emerge as an impressive player within the human old school Death Metal bastion. Merging spacetime horrors with fairly technical performances, the band, hailing from the Earthly land mass of Costa Rica, were not necessarily reinventing the stylistic launch pad, so much as arising as a formidable soldier within the traditional genre’s ranks. Full-length number two here, which is entitled ‘Atavistic Unraveling’, doubles down on the band’s warped and ugly galactic meditations for another quasar-inducing batch of OSDM terror.
Immediately evident is the band’s penchant for pummeling, murky guitar compositions, and, in particular, their cavernous dual vocal bellows. I liken their reverb-heavy oration to the light-devouring power of a black hole’s event horizon. A track such as ‘The Floating Catacombs’, feels so instrumentally massive and far-reaching that, if played at a sufficient volume, may strike fear into the antennae of distant martians. The Incantation influence is evident, and I enjoy how the band manipulates this source of inspiration when summoning their own breed of abstract astral horror. I love how the track ‘Dissolution of Eternity’ continues this all matter-devouring rampage before slowing to a crawl around its midsection and then marching onwards with a desperate and insatiable sense of cruelty.
‘Arcane Demonomania’, ramps up the tempo with its powerful opening drum segment and tension-inducing guitar riff switch-ups. The bass drums on this track add an extraordinary amount of lower frequency force, almost like a comet obliterating anything that crosses its blazing path. The universe devouring eight minute track ‘Resonance Cascade’ closes out the record. Beginning with a slower trudge through doomy powerchords, the percussion gradually rallies the band back towards their wall of galactic matter-devouring sound. As the song progresses towards its latter moments, the band alternates between doomier sections and some of the most enormous, loud, and terrorising ideas on the whole record. It is a satisfying extraterrestrial behemoth to close out such a colossal tracklist.
Atavistic Unraveling improves on the riff-craft of the previous Astriferous record and simultaneously elevates the production quality into a new dimensional plane. Whilst the band aren’t necessarily attempting to reinvent the core ideals of this genre, they’re simply an outfit that has a clear identity and a particular sound that they do with an obvious, unrelenting confidence. This is a very good Death Metal record, with exciting compositions that are often eyebrow-raisingly brutal. I see this appealing to fans of classic groups such as Immolation and Incantation, but also to fans of more recent entities such as Mutagenic Host and Replicant. (Huw)
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Costa Rica’s Astriferous return with ‘Atavistic Unraveling’, a seven-track assault that clocks in at just over 36 minutes and finds the band pushing their Death Metal further into dissonant and increasingly elaborate territory. Released through Singapore’s Pulverised Records on June 26, 2026, the album is a confident follow-up to ‘Pulsations From the Black Orb’.
The first thing that stands out is the sound. The production gives the guitars enough definition for the riffs to register without sanding away the dirt and weight that Death Metal needs. The drums hit with authority and the vocals sit properly within the mix rather than being buried beneath the guitars. It is a clean enough production to expose the playing, but thankfully never crosses into the polished and sterile territory that can drain character from Extreme Metal.
Musically, Astriferous are not interested in reinventing Death Metal. The foundation remains firmly rooted in the old-school, but the band keeps introducing angular riffing, dissonance, shifting tempos and more intricate arrangements into the framework. Tracks such as ‘Carriers Of The Curse’, ‘Dissolution Of Eternity’ and ‘Arcane Demonomania’ show a band that understands how to make technicality serve the atmosphere rather than simply turning the record into a display of musicianship.
That said, ‘Atavistic Unraveling’ is not without its limitations. The more elaborate structures occasionally work against the immediacy of the riffs. There are moments where the band seems reluctant to let a good idea simply hit hard and move on, instead stretching the arrangement into more complicated territory. The eight-minute ‘Resonance Cascade’ is the clearest example of this approach. It is ambitious and atmospheric, but not every passage carries the same impact as the album’s sharper and more direct moments.
Still, the ambition is welcome. Astriferous have enough control over their instruments and enough understanding of Death Metal’s language to make these detours worthwhile. The cosmic and Lovecraftian atmosphere is present throughout, but it never becomes an excuse for sacrificing the physical brutality of the music. The result is dark, dense and hostile without becoming an indistinguishable wall of noise.
‘Atavistic Unraveling’ ultimately succeeds because Astriferous understand what they are trying to achieve. This is recognisably old-school Death Metal, but played by musicians who are willing to push beyond the most obvious template. It may not completely escape the shadow of its influences, and a little more restraint in the songwriting would have made the record even stronger, but there is enough personality and conviction here to make the album stand on its own.
A solid and well-executed second full-length from a band clearly moving forward rather than simply repeating their debut. Pulverised have another worthwhile Death Metal release on their hands, and Astriferous have delivered a record that should reward repeated spins without pretending to be something it isn’t. (Deen “Brother Darkness” Gabriel)
