Baest – Colossal
Release Date: 15th August 2025
Label: Century Media
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Old School Death Metal, Swedeath, Heavy Metal.
FFO: Morbid Angel, Unleashed, Entombed, Wayward Dawn, Lik, Bloodbath, Blood Red Throne.
Review By: Rick Farley
“Are you ready to rock? Something Colossal is coming…”
Denmark’s death metal heathens Baest are back with a refreshed, retooled sound and a badass battle jacket attitude for their fourth studio album, the aptly titled Colossal, releasing on Century Media records August 15th, 2025. This album rips, tears, spits, and pisses serious fucking coolness from beginning to end. Sorry I spoiled it so quickly but if you haven’t been paying attention to all the singles being dropped, this is some top shelf death metal full of spirted, glorious heavy metal influence and rock “n” roll swagger. So now you’re in the know even before you read the rest of this review. This absolutely rules, unless you’re a pricky death metal purist and hate fun. And to that I say, bite me.
For anyone new to Baest, these Scandinavian savages have been putting out high quality classic flavoured death metal since 2018’s flesh grinding, buzz sawing debut Danse Macabre. Kind of an influenced cross between Bloodbath, Cannibal Corpse and Unleashed just for the purpose of written familiarity, these Danes have been putting a modern spin on OSDM, carving out their own brutish, bone breaking sound. Easily identifiable as a band, but still lots of the good stuff we already know and love. Tons of lethal hooks, ugly tones, monstrous vocals, and preposterously heavy death metal. If you know who these guys are, it’s almost a guarantee that you already like them. An impressive feat to say the least.
2025 brings us the bands fourth full length album Colossal, which for some will probably twist some nipples the wrong way with the bands fresh celebration towards introducing classic metal flourishes into their sound. Pieced together in the aftermath of the world shutting down and fine-tuned over the last couple of years, the record has become a hostile death metal monster that somehow infuses a rocking, fist pumping, guitar shredding, heavy metal style that harkens back to metals golden days.
It takes all of about thirty seconds of the explosive first track Stormbringer to figure out where Baest is headed with their revitalized sound. Somewhere between the years 1986 and 1990 where bands like AC/DC, Obituary, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, and Kreator could all exist under one title, heavy metal. Before hundreds of subgenres started emerging, it was acceptable to be a metalhead and be a fan of all these bands. Colossal is still 100 percent rampaging death metal, but with a “don’t give a fuck attitude” towards cutting the restraints and unapologetically rocking the fuck out. Letting those early influences from Dokken to Maiden shine through while the beastly crushing of skulls commences, has brought a joyous anthemic nostalgia to this magnificent record. Death metal, Viking metal, classic metal, thrash, and rock ‘n’ roll, it’s all here.
Of the numerous highlights here, one track sticks out as a universal badass, the kiloton of force that is Colossus. Ridiculously heavy crunch, giant grooves and a verse melody that reminds me of Slayer Seasons in the Abyss before it explodes itself into a thrash frenzy of chainsaw riffs. It shifts back to the hooks and brings a sickening Morbid Angel vibe into the picture. The track just screams mosh pit destruction. Another straight-up killer is Imp of the Perverse. Death “n” roll anyone, Entombed would be proud. The chorus is a sing along, throw your fists in the air and worship the gods of metal type of sound. Don’t sweat it, though, the blast beats and growling violence ensue heftily, making the chorus that much more effective as a momentous hook. There is no lack of heaviness or death metal for that matter, but this is done with a new energy that makes this album incredibly infectious. Add some 80s Jake E. Lee and Dokken inspired riffs in Misfortunate Son, a silky guitar forward metal instrumental Light the Beacons and a Maiden influenced progressive banger Depraved World that also visits the bands earlier sound and you my friend have a death metal album that’s insanely catchy, brutal, and simply just fucking rocks.
This is an already amazing band that’s releasing a legit fresh record to the masses. Don’t be late to the Colossal party and by all means check out their entire discography, you cannot go wrong.
(5 / 5)
