Adept – Blood Covenant
Release Date: 24th October 2025
Label: Napalm Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metalcore, Post-Hardcore.
FFO: Annisokay, Elwood Stray, blessthefall, Our Mirage, Bury Tomorrow.
Review By: Mike Leighton
Post-hardcore and metalcore heavyweights, Adept, are no strangers to the scene and gearing up for one of the year’s biggest releases! Hailing from Trosa, Sweden, Adept formed in 2004, and their current lineup consists of vocalist Robert Ljung, guitarists Gustav Lithammer and Kasper Larcombe-Tronstad, bassist Filip Bradelius and drummer Gabriel Hellmark. Since forming, the band has released three Extended Plays and four full-length albums, including the hit Another Year Of Disaster in 2009 and Death Dealers in 2011. The band took a break from music during the COVID -19 pandemic and re-emerged in late 2024 for their 20th anniversary show before announcing their new album, Blood Covenant releasing Oct 24th, 2025 through Napalm Records. With that, let’s dive into this album!
The first single, Heaven, caught most fans utterly off guard with its sudden release. This was the first song I’d heard from these guys since the mid-2010s. After listening to Heaven on daily repeat, I began to crave more of Adept’s metalcore/post-hardcore blend, and I took a deep dive into their discography all the way back through the 2005 Hopeless Illusions demo, the infamous 2009 Another Year of Disaster, and 2016’s Sleepless and onward. These guys have been insanely consistent with their sound and releases to this point, and it seems they have a lot to offer listeners. Even if Heaven showed no signs of being anything more than a standalone single, I was excited for the future and hopeful for more.
Next, YOU was released, and it gave me even higher hopes for a new album or more music. The track expanded on the sounds introduced in Heaven and further defined this new era of the band. The riffs, atmospheric and symphonic elements, crisp vocals and emotional lyrics, YOU elevated the sound that Adept had spent the better part of 12 years crafting. Third single, Ignore The Sun, continued to introduce new elements to the mixture while also maintaining the sound we know. Ignore the Sun begins with an infectious riff before exploding into an all-out metalcore assault full of crushing guitars, pelting drums and an aggressive vocal delivery from Robert. The track does a great job of blending heaviness with melody throughout, all while leaving the listener wanting more. Parting Ways finally released and continued to add to the hype for Blood Covenant. The synth-y vocals in the beginning took some getting used to, but I quickly fell in love at how well they blended with the flow of the rest of the song! There’s plenty of heavy, melody driven moments that mesh well with the sung and harsh vocals.
First of the non-singles was Filthy Tongue, and it really stuck out to me! The track adds to the dynamic nature of the songs while sticking to the formula that made me love Ignore the Sun and Heaven. Filthy Tongue is one of the heavier songs on the album, and from a guitarist’s perspective, I loved the riff that runs throughout the foundation of this track, and into the buildup to one of my favorite breakdowns of the album. Battered Skin is next, and is heavy in both a musical sense and in lyrical composition. Covering topics like being trapped in current circumstances, blaming oneself for another’s mistakes, and not believing one can escape from a bad situation. I absolutely love the concept behind this song as it feels reminiscent of Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus in spirit, and musically this track shows that Adept are still performing at the top of their game. Guitarists Gustav and Kasper absolutely prove their mettle throughout this track and the rest of the album, again and again. Another solid track is Define Me. Define Me is a very high-energy song that still incorporates those heavy elements that are seen throughout Blood Covenant.
Time Is a Destroyer was a big shift in sound to more of a ballad-esque vibe. For me, it was a complete 180º as I was not expecting a softer track, but it was still Adept through and through. It didn’t take away from the album, instead creating a breath of fresh air before diving back into some of the heavier tracks like Battered Skin. The final track, The Rapture of Dust, was one of the longer tracks on Blood Covenant, and it was the amalgamation of everything we’ve heard so far on the album. The Rapture of Dust continued to highlight where these gents have come from since returning to the scene, as well as highlighting all the different sounds that were offered throughout the album: a perfect closer to a fantastic album!
Overall, Adept flawlessly adapted the sound of their older music and elevated it to the next level on Blood Covenant, while staying true to the sound that listeners originally fell in love with. Each track on Blood Covenant and the album as a whole feels like a storm, highlighting the beauty found in chaos. Adept, and their release of Blood Covenant, is definitely not something to sleep on! With their newly elevated, aggressive yet emotional sound, Blood Covenant was an album that I’ve looked forward to for some time, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. I very much look forward to the future of this band and what they bring to the table next, so if you haven’t, go pick up a copy and show them some love!
(5 / 5)
