Heiden – Cma
Release Date: 24th April 2026
Label: Epidemie Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Black Metal, Post Black Metal, Blackgaze, Sludge, Post-Rock.
FFO: Master’s Hammer, Dark Gamballe, Opeth, Hauntologist, Groza, Enslaved.
Review By: Rick Farley
Originally formed in 2003, Czech Republic pagan black metal project Heiden was rooted in the Carpathians. Never allowing themselves to be confined by genre boundaries, their music stands as representation of the brooding reflection, heavy sorrow, and quiet dread, born from stories of the borderlands of occupied Czechoslovakia, where humanity slowly eroded under the pressure of fear and hatred.
Cma being released on Epidemie Records marks the bands tenth full length release and is a direct continuation of their previous chapter Andzjel, released in 2022. With a darker path travelled this time around, Cma proves to be a harrowing refinement of their sound using tension and oppressive atmosphere. The floaty airiness of the hypnotic tracks enhances the post elements while the sludgy, heavier guitars on most tracks give the record a more menacing feeling. Truth be told Heiden is not exactly a traditionally sounding black metal band in many ways these days, their highly experimental albums in 2015 and in 2019 furthered the band’s sound to include strong progressive elements of folk, doom, and synth wrapped in a shell of indie rock music with little black metal in sight. Not necessarily a terrible thing but vastly different from their pagan black metal roots. 2022’s album release brought a larger meld of all of their sounds in one place, still light on traditional black metal sound but back to heavier elements. I tell you this so that you are aware that you’re not getting many blast beats or fiery tremolo picking. This is more a thinking man’s progressive black metal band with synths and layered atmospheres instead of the overly technical prowess of typical prog metal or the faster paced ugliness of black metal. Honestly if I could think of a better genre to compare this to I would, but alas it is represented as such. It’s a dark, brooding riff based album, offering murkiness through its rock intensity. Harsh raspy vocals, heavy doomy guitars, with a blackened edge create melancholic dread through ominous soundscapes that look to envelop you with mysterious fogginess rather than just straight steamroll you. A solid amount of catchy groove helps keep it from being too unpredictable or overly ethereal and directs the songs to be individually distinct.
All songs were originally composed and recorded by Heiden. With too many other production credits to fully list, I will just state that Cma is full-bodied, clear toned and mixed well. The crunchy guitars have a bit of bite to them, and the cleaner atmospheres feel organically rich. The bass composed and recorded by the bands friend Murky has a slinky, yet boomy sound strengthening the thick foundation. The drums, while well executed and represented, don’t have a lot of snap or liveliness to them, it’s more of a dull thud which is still fine, but some better dynamics would freshen them up in my opinion. The music is layered well with complexity that is easy to grasp, and the records production is warmly inviting.
Cma ended up being a tough one for me to score because on the surface, everything is beautifully written and executed. The songs are mostly intriguing and memorable enough to listen to repeatedly, but there’s seems to be a lack of defined focus. It’s harder to digest as a full album as opposed to just listening to my favourite tracks; that not to say there’s a lot of filler but the songs that I like the most are considerably better than the others, I found myself skipping around after a few spins. This one feels like a listen and decide for yourself.
(3 / 5)
