Unverkalt – Héréditaire
Release Date: 27th February 2026
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Experimental, Doom Metal, Progressive Black Metal, Folk Metal.
FFO: Cult of luna, Myrkur, Sylvaine, Julie Christmas, Alcest, Oathbreaker.
Review By: Rick Farley
“Unverkalt are drawn to the edge. Since emerging from the underground, the Germany by way of Greece post-metal band have balanced boundless atmosphere with suffocating heaviness. Their third album and first since signing with Season of Mist doesn’t continue in that direction as much as it plunges into the darkness that’s always been awaiting below. Héréditaire lifts the veil from our cursed existence. What emerges is Unverkalt’s heaviest and most heartfelt offering.”
For better or worse and depending on what kind of fan is listening, Héréditaire’s strengths and weaknesses are the same. On the surface this is a beautiful/vicious representation of extreme genre blending with a deep embrace that welcomes both the darkness, and the light equally. The true issue that holds me back from being submerged by the many moments of pure emotive intensity either way is the albums suffocating, overwhelming nature. On one side of the coin the vicious black metal, and doomy atmosphere coinciding with mysterious, post droning is ethereal and filled with loads of tension. On the other, the record is a difficult listen that takes a considerable time to fully latch onto. Its complexity is its own enemy. By the third listen, I was feeling overly fatigued as opposed to hearing new layers being revealed from the colossally dense soundscape. Everything is here to consume, but the amount of energy it takes to digest it all is tiresome. In my humble opinion there’s just too much going on too often. Albeit good but too much.
That’s not to say this is a bad record because it surely is not. The world created by Unverkalt is vast, gorgeous, mesmerizing, and barbaric. Massive thick walls of blackened guitars and witch like shrieks crash down one second only to be followed by folky cleans with post-rock exuberance. The coinciding worlds of the nasty and the enchanted works extremely well. You can clearly tell these are skilled songwriters, but the gas pedal is floored in every direction it takes. Even its airy softer passages are moments of dense complexity. It just doesn’t let up. The struggling push/pull keeps the record from ever feeling cohesive.
So, with all that said, it’s still difficult to not like a lot of this record. There are several tracks that are straight brilliance. If you’re in need of a written visual to understand, think Isis fronted by Björk writing black metal. It’s way more involved than that, but it gives you a starting idea. Deathly growls, black metal shrieks, and spacey female vocals all create a disjointed tension that you will either love or feel nerve shredded by. The music itself goes in every direction from post airiness to progressive tendencies to radiant silkiness and the utterly vicious.
There is way too many production credits to list off here, but the record sounds incredible. It’s huge sounding with clarity and power. The denseness comes from the layers of the songs but even then, the production itself still is highly comprehensible. The vocals hang below and above the tracks when necessary and adds so much more atmosphere to the already world building, journey filled soundscape. Personally, this is a record that I think will take a lot of effort to fully enjoy, but that’s the beauty of bands like this. It’s not meant to be an easy experience. I absolutely will put this on when the mood strikes and because I’ve invested the time, I will enjoy it as music that fills a subconscious need for the visceral. If you’re willing to put the time in, Héréditaire will eventually connect. Check this out and decide for yourself, the right ears will undoubtedly love this.
(3.5 / 5)
