Skulld – Abyss Calls to Abyss

Skulld – Abyss Calls to Abyss
Release Date: 30th January 2026
Label: Time to Kill Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Hardcore.
FFO: Venom Prison, Landmine Marathon, The Red Chord, Misery Index, Bolt Thrower.
Review By: Malte Brigge

Someone on Discord mentioned that too many bands these days describe their albums as “rituals”. Having done a considerable amount of (amateur) secondary anthropological research on the concept, I can only agree and conclude that most of these bands don’t know what they’re talking about. Take Italian conglomerate Skulld, for instance, who say their second LP, Abyss Calls to Abyss, “can be perceived as a shamanic path through shadow, where each track represents a threshold, an archetype, an initiation, or a revelation.” If you want to turn people off from listening to your album, this is a first step. But I implore you, dear listener, to ignore this claptrap, because their second LP, Abyss Calls to Abyss, is some of the most riveting crusty death metal I’ve heard in a long time.

Skulld’s six punks from five cities have created a searing thirty-four minutes of whiplash. Pamela’s (ain’t got no time for surnames!) ice-wind shrieks are steeped in the rhythms of hardcore, backed by (and sometimes double-tracked with) her terrifying gallows roar. Grace Perry and Larissa Stuparare fair comparisons, but Pamela’s diabolical anger is all her own. Unusually for a femvox band, the vocals are more presence than spotlight. As impressive as she is (re: very), it’s the trident attack of guitarists Monti, Rappo and Moqi that has me visiting the chiropractor. Whether it’s piercing, outta nowhere solos (The Blink, Wear the Night as a Velvet Cloak); stupefying triplet chugs (Healing the Wound, Drops of Sorrow); bar chord picking (Accabadora); thrashy powerchord hammering (Drops of Sorrow); deadly tremolo runs spiralling off like fireworks (Accabadora); perfectly timed, grin-inducing powerpick slides down the E string; whether they come together for a pummeling wall-of-sound (Mother Death, Sacred Fires) or snake off into polyrhythmic patterns, the guitar work on Abyss Calls to Abyss is just fucking awesome, and you should listen to it.

I have no idea who mixed the album, but dai un aumento a quell’umano because with all the wonderful noise the guitars are making (oh, yeah, and their tone is gorgeous), Ciufs’ bass is simply institutional, thick enough to give you CTE. Shout out to Teo’s drumming, too. I get the impression dude never wears a shirt and never sits down, popping at the kit as he redlines these songs, tight as a tourniquet, blast beats or d-beats, straightedge groove or cyclone destruction. Yet he’s got a deft touch that gives moments on The Blink and Mother Death that little something extra, like a dash o’ poison on the tips of the mace being used to beat you into a concrete wall. On Le Diable and the Snake, I believe he wants to cause you physical harm. Lovingly. 

Abyss Calls to Abyss is urban warfare, a Molotov cocktail of songs spilling into each other with hardly any gaps because they’re in a hurry, and you’re in the way and now your frontal lobe is cracked. On casual listens, it’s easy to lose your bearings and then be violently surprised when it screeches (literally) to a halt. The second half slows things down slightly, but few songs stand out. A lot of moments do, there’s plenty of “fuck yeah!” on this thing, but without my notes I can’t remember what’s where (except that killer opening gambit). There’s little to distinguish traditional verses or choruses—rad in a non-proggy way, but it’s hard to say “this is my song of the year.” Lotta riffs o’, but in the same way the airblast from a freight train knocks you off your feet and keeps you plastered to the ground as it roars by, this album zooms past, and many cars look the same. But I don’t see this as a major problem, because never once do I feel like I’ve had enough. I want more, and plenty more, of what Skulld here offer.

Maybe these are songs about the “essence of being” or “archetypal symbolism”, I don’t know. Maybe the lyrics are super deep and philosophical. I applaud that. Never once did I have an out-of-body experience or consider moving to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, though. Abyss Calls to Abyss instead makes me want to jump into a mid-90’s mosh pit and get problematically bruised. I cannot sit still while listening. Songs like Healing the Wound, The Blink and Mother Death set my blood ablaze and make me unbearable to be near. This album is pure carnal chaos and Skulld unleash energy severe enough to break your bones and the system.

(4 / 5)