Review: Enthroned - Ashspawn (2025)
Enthroned’s Ashspawn (9/10). These Belgian Black Metal veterans return with a brutal, mid-paced masterpiece of demonic atmosphere and top-tier production. Read more!
Band: Enthroned
Album: Ashspawn
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Belgium
Label: Season of Mist
Released: December 5, 2025
Introduction:
Blasphemous veterans of the Belgian black metal scene, Enthroned has grim fully graced us with their return after a six-year absence with their latest album; Ashspawn.
Ashspawn
Being a longtime fan of Enthroned, I was ecstatic to hear when they were coming out with Ashspawn because it had been about six years since Cold Black Suns had come out. I was very eager to hear new music from this band, as they have evolved into a more brutal and mid paced black metal band, capturing the essence of their old sound of speed and ferocity where it mattered most.
The first track, “Crawling Temples”, offers a hellish landscape with demonic voices and chanting spells of the Devil to come and infiltrate holy temples. It rips into a mid paced melody of spewing vocals coupled with ferocious riffs and blast beats to make this ensemble evil in true Enthroned fashion. It is perhaps one of my favorite tracks on this album because it is a strong opener of the album.
Tracklisting:
- Crawling Temples
- Basilisk Triumphant
- Stillborn Litany
- Ashspawn
- Raviasamin
- Sightless
- Chysalid
- Ashen Advocacy
- Assertion
When diving deeper into the album, I find that each song on here does not disappoint! Each song may begin with a mid paced opener, much different than their previous material, but do not let that shy you away from this album. Mainly, the song will be more brutal than the other, keeping within spirit of how each Enthroned song is known to be. Another one of my favorite tracks on this is “Ashen Advocacy.” It starts with a sampler from the film “Warlock” and has this constant haunting mid paced riff with some industrial fused drum samples. This is the first time, on the album, that this song dares to be different with its character. Until finally about midway through the song it unleashes into something more brutal and hateful.
Production on this album is top-notch. No instrument really out does one another, and everything is mixed properly to the point I have no complaints about this album at all.
Conclusion:
It is always exciting when a favorite band comes out with new material after a few years in between one another, and they are stronger than the other. In this case, Enthroned exactly made the mark with Ashspawn being a strong comeback album, and it did not disappoint at all!
Rating: 9 of 10
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