Shabti – Haze, Cacophony, And White Light
Release Date: 21st August 2026
Label: Contemn Light
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Thrash.
FFO: Death, Atheist, Pestilence, The Chasm, VoidCeremony, Cryptic Shift, Tomb Mold, Ænigmatum.
Review By: Steiner Metal
Fans of the Portland, Maine 3-piece have waited seven long years for the follow-up to their ‘19 EP, Trembling and Shorn. Despite the long interval and an absence of new material, Shabti still consistently perform to a rabidly loyal fanbase throughout the Northeast, playing over the years alongside notable acts such as Immolation, Necrot, Absu, and Blood Incantation. Originally formed in ’08, their latest album, Haze, Cacophony, And White Light, is set to release on August 21st through Contemn Light.
The band hails from New England but the origin of their name comes from ancient Egypt, where Shabti figurines were entombed with the deceased in the belief they would provide an eternity of servitude in the afterlife. It’s on terrifying themes like these that the album’s lyrics form a dense, darkly poetic climate that blends religious critique, personal trauma, occult ritual, mythic underworld journeys, and dystopian science fiction. The tone is consistently bleak, accusatory, and fatalistic, with vivid, often grotesque imagery. Humanity is frail, exploitative, self-deluding, and ultimately parasitic—whether through faith, family, ritual, or technological ambition. It’s unsettling but thought-provoking. The messaging matches the music perfectly too.
Existing fans will quickly find familiarity in the soothing psychosis of Shabti’s direct brand of thrashy, blackened, technical chaos. The band is most certainly back, and proceedings are still securely bolted to a death metal chassis, albeit with a discernible progressive angle to the insanity. It’s not overly prominent or even immediate, rather it’s cleverly layered-in to subtly expand on existing themes and augment the ambience.
Take, for example, the album’s 2nd track, A Weary Creation. If the nearly-10-minute runtime wasn’t premonition enough to trust the ol’ progressive metal trope (if just for this once), then the gradual four minute build-up at the beginning will have listeners completely transfixed. It’s both hypnotic and foreboding but it’s also an enchanting section, gently dissonant at times, that wouldn’t seem out of place on a recent Aethereus or Pronostic release.
The album’s 5th track, Sojourner, doesn’t shy away from adventure either. At about the 3-minute mark we’re treated to one of the ear-wormiest blackened harmonies of the year. In addition to being captivating, it also sounds surprisingly post-black in style. Of course, all this comes on the heels of nearly three minutes of monstrous bass guitar masterclass. Turn it up because Brendan Hayter (Obsidian Tongue, Fires in the Distance, Blood Chariot) brings some of his best work to this particular track. His contributions throughout the entire album are substantial though. It’s a highlight of the release.
From beginning to end, nearly every track has memorable moments. In that regard, Haze, Cacophony, And White Light is a welcome and triumphant return for the veterans. It develops on Shabti’s earlier efforts without any loss of aggression or authenticity, while introducing new and inventive means to amplify and build feeling. A broad subset of black, death and progressive metal fans will likely gravitate towards this release, all for different reasons. It’s deserving too. There’s nothing necessarily ground-breaking or pioneering here, but that never feels like the objective. This is just a rock solid death metal album that confidently rides an attractive line between multiple layers of extreme metal.
(3.5 / 5)
