Gaerea – Loss
Release Date: 20th March 2026
Label: Century Media
Bandcamp
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Metalcore.
FFO: Kardashev, The Great Old Ones, Møl, Trivium, Groza, Imagine Dragons, Linkin Park.
Review By: Malte Brigge
Loss is Gaerea’s fifth album and their first since signing to Century Media. 2024’s Coma was an absolute revelation which saw the band pushing their atmospheric edge into areas of rich emotional expression that didn’t blunt the blades of their singular sound. As early as 2020s Limbo we had already heard the shift into more melodic territory, performed deftly and adding vulnerable strength to their distinguished blackened aggression. Gaerea had an incisive, razor’s edge approach to the dark territories making up the content of their songs, and this later introspective shift was palpably felt in subtle sonic movements from album to album. Loss continues their curiosity in the dramatic, but, let’s get this out of the way, doesn’t carry the authentic weight that made those first four albums so outstanding.
Coma, their first album without Ruben Freitas at the mic, introduced clean vocals, to the surprise of many, but they were sparse, sometimes little more than a whisper. The assertiveness of the harsh vox is greatly reduced on Loss but not absent. Founder Alpha’s magnificent roar, a suitable replacement to Freitas, is almost the first thing you hear on Luminary, and it reaches violent expression on Hellbound and Uncontrolled, but on every song it’s counterweighted with intelligible fries and melodic refrains deeper than but reminiscent of Matt Heafy. Previously pained expression has become maudlin and melodramatic. It’s easy to imagine him sitting on the edge of his bed in a dimly lit room, staring at the floor, as he sings these songs. What was previously effective in its subtlety and called quietly from a dark corner is now front and center, demanding your attention. The fierceness of Unsettling Whispers is long gone, but even the emotional battery from Mirage and Coma has softened, the point has been dulled, and the effect abbreviated, from emotion to emo.
The problem isn’t that Gaerea are experimenting in a more accessible sonic palette—after all, their discography is a steady examination of various expressions of emotional states borrowing from and building on a range of genre standards—but more that they might be in a songwriting rut. Structurally, nearly every song begins with a soft, chorus-drenched, synth-sparkled sky for a few measures before the band, all at once, crashes in. The sing-along melodies lack originality: the call-and-response chorus of Phoenix has been done identically dozens of times (take your pick from Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, etc.). Gaerea’s once powerful and unique guitars, which supplied melodies and aggressive inspiration, take a backseat to the crowd-gathering vocals.
Exceptions to the Loss formula are LBRNTH, an interlude, Cyclone and Stardust, both of which feature clean, softly sung melodies and none of Gaerea’s black metal roots. Unfortunately, the singing is terrible. Alpha mumbles irritatingly and either the layered production creates glitches or, more probably, they’re autotuned. Harmonies sound computerized, the lyrics are schlocky, and there’s little indication of artistic investment in the development of the songs. Multiple emo drops between harsh attacks feel rote, lacking the nuance to justify these being the longest songs on the album. And what I’m about to say breaks my heart: the core sin of the album isn’t Gaerea incorporating sentimental metalcore as a central feature; it’s the Dan Reynolds school of songwriting and production. This is evident in the cosmic synthy airs, echoed claps and slow builds of Submerged, later in the uplifting major keys on Nomad, the stupid all-caps spelling of LBRNTH and the whole presentation of Stardust, a song I’ll be happy never hearing again.
There are good moments on Loss, moments that remind me of Gaerea. The guitar break alone on Hellbound will earn it a spot on my top 100 o’ ‘26 playlist, and the vocals are nearly savage in places. There’s the ripping opening attack of Luminary; the bright leads, brutal vocals and concussive groove on Uncontrolled; the super clean bass tone which breaks through the rather condensed mix on songs like Submerged and Phoenix. The swing into dark pop territory, though, doesn’t do Gaerea any favors. Aside from a few moments here and there, songs aren’t very distinguishable, too many aspects are mechanical, and as much as I respect the band for exploring their boundaries, it simply feels inauthentic. Gaerea might be reaching for new (more profitable) audiences with Loss, and will probably succeed, but I’m willing to bet real money that it will come at the cost of many confused longtime fans. Loss will be divisive to many, welcome by some, but to me it’s just disappointing.
(2 / 5)
