One of the best things for me as a lifelong fan of Extreme Metal is being so blown away by new bands and albums I’ve never heard of before, and this is despite being firmly entrenched in the scene, keeping up with releases and the like!
Apolaustic from Switzerland, are one such band, who, in 2026, have come seemingly out of nowhere, and released their debut full-length album, ‘No Plenitude Without Suffering’.
The Swiss Black Metal scene is fairly diverse from what I have delved into of it, with of course Celtic Frost and Triptykon coming to mind. For mine though, the Swiss Black Metal bands that evoke the most profound feeling have an ear for melody and include Aara, Hån and Causam; bands that don’t nearly get enough recognition for what they do in the underground, at least in my estimation.
It is my hope in some capacity that Apolaustic can continue an upward trajectory based off this sterling debut and join their aforementioned countrymen in this regard.
‘No Plenitude Without Suffering’ is melodic Black Metal that has a rich, resonant production behind it, and for my money, an excellent flow of tracks, the occasional horn instrumentation and a catchiness and melody that stays with you, even after the album concludes after its 40-minute runtime.
With Black Metal in most of its forms being the most resonant subgenres within Extreme Metal for me, melodic Black Metal has many bands that “tick the boxes” for a fan like me when it comes to that approach, and legitimately, for their first release, Apolaustic have knocked theirs out of the park.
Amazing transcendental guitar work, from stunning solos to surging riffs; paired with superb throaty and wicked raspy vocals, and punctuated by thunderous and powerful drumming fill every track in a manner that demands the album truly be listened to start to finish to enjoy it at its utmost.
If one were to single out some tracks to recommend the album to someone unfamiliar, you would be hard pressed to not just recommend they listen to the entire album; it legitimately brings forth that urge for those wanting to have an experience in listening to an album from start to finish with no “weak” tracks.
However, for this reviewer, tracks like ‘Fragments From A Misty Journey’ and ‘Black Flame Reviver’ evoke such an incredible listening experience; the latter especially, as the use of horns brings to mind the work of Ukraine’s White Ward.
As I mentioned before with my review of Decipher’s ‘θελημα’ (‘Thelema’), where I posited that it was a strong contender for many End of Year album lists, I throw my full support behind this frankly stellar release from Apolaustic; a band of which I only recently became aware of based on the strength of this brilliant album; an album I can already see on my End of Year list, most definitively.
