The Holeum - Ensis - Metal Epidemic

The Holeum – Ensis
Release Date: 20th March 2026
Label: Lifeforce Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Doom, Post-Metal, Doom.
FFO: Sounds of Delusion, Helge, Evoked Eclipse, Glare Of The Sun, The Ever Living.
Review By: Mark Young

If there is an award for release with the best song names, Ensis simply must be in that conversation. Just have a look below at them and then see how they spark your imagination as to how this album sounds.

Pretty good, as it happens. As much as it has moments of class, it also drives you nuts at the same time. The third album from The Holeum, is prog but on a grand scale, choosing to look to the cosmos for their inspiration without resorting to super long songs that repeat the same idea over and over. That is not to say that some of the songs could have done with a little attention, but these are minor/dependent on your personal preference. What it does do is garner your attention from the off, engaging you in an intelligent mix of light and dark approaches, not content to use one way all the way through.

From a personal standpoint, it’s difficult to point to a high point given that each of the songs are a match for the others, but I would give the nod to Macrocosm + Microcosm which squeezes every drop of oomph from its near 8-minute run time. From the position of what would be the jumping on point for them here, that is difficult because of how they change shape from song to song. They may share a common theme but not a common form of execution. It’s the kind of music that benefits from repeat listens, and it sounds fabulous, especially through quality headphones, a crystal production that works with them as they move between high and low ends, it’s just an all-round top effort. It shows to me that there are bands out there who will not allow themselves to be pigeonholed in one form or another, and sometimes you are reminded in the most amazing ways that there are still stories to tell like this.