Soothsayer – The Unbinding
Release Date: 3rd July 2026
Label: Apocalyptic Witchcraft
Bandcamp
Genre: Atmospheric Blackened Doom Metal.
FFO: Candlemass, Primordial, My Dying Bride, Negura Bunget, Cnoc An Tursa, Vemod.
Review By: Malte Brigge
Soothsayer has no hurry. Formed in 2013 in Cork County, Ireland, these five feral cù-sìths released two EPs, one split and a live album before (!) their first full-length, 2021’s Echoes of the Earth, resounded with much of the listening public. If the past five years have been silent, it’s only on our end: I’m pretty sure the band spent that time in a Nebuchadnezzar-like state of deliberate derangement in wildernesses we normies steer well clear of. The Unbinding might be more than just a title; it’s a description of what happens when you walk out into the barrenest outreaches, look fate in the eye, and say, “Hey you — wanna fight?”
The album threatens a mood-setting introduction but mercifully changes its mind eighteen seconds in to smack you with a punchy snare fill. There’s little time to adapt to your new reality as Marc O’Grady and Con Doyle load the space with distinctive guitars, one a thick, fuzzy tone (panned completely right), mostly holding down riffs and rhythmic foundations, the other more blade than bludgeon (panned sharply left), taking on clean picking, tremolo speed runs, and vocalization. I’m not sure which one is what one or what one is whom, nor is it clear who sometimes drives up the middle with upper-neck ostinatos and melodic leads. Working at different paces in different tones creates a sense of different voices calling from different directions but filled with common purpose. Rare is the moment when they lock into the same pattern at the same time (The Vine is an effective example of how their tones combine to create such lattice work). Pavol Rosa’s thrumming bass binds the musical tapestry of The Unbinding into a single, legible weave.
Hughes, though, is an entirely different beast, and I don’t use beast figuratively. Channeling tortured variations (if not in tone, then persona) of Jim Morrison, Seb Alvarez, Jaz Coleman, Chrisom Infernium, Danzig, and the Tasmanian Devil, his caustic vocals blend anguish and rage to produce wrath. He does not create ritual but preaches prophetic visions born from the madness of wandering isolation. You can see his tattered clothes when he barks and feel the spittle as he howls and shrieks. He’s got a big, deathy roar that emotes in a blackened idiom but rarely stays in one register, breathing various fires with the passion of a man who zealously believes. Occasional clean croons remind you these are words in a recognizable language, not a possessed spirit rasping in tongues. His production feels live and partially improvised, and the way he turns his voice between timbres is like listening to a one-man performance of many characters in an epic, blood-laden narrative. Lyrics like
“We rode to the Sabbath
Dressed skyclad for desire
But I failed to see the tragedy in front of me.
Come, come, come to purge
Bathe in the blood – the fruits of the scourge”
can only be performed with the wild, bilious savagery born of frightening experience. His delivery is never subtle, always convincing, and fascinatingly rewarding.
The same can’t always be said for the music. While on The Vine you can hear how intricate the guitarwork can be, Endless Shesha demonstrates a willingness to lean on the learner-level simplicity of first ideas. Song length (none of the five fall below seven minutes) necessitates repetition, which can sometimes be drawn out, but to their credit Soothsayer usually develops ideas before too much fatigue can set in. The block chord plucking on closer A Vague Shimmer against Hughes’ throat singing is instantly memorable, but takes quite a long journey before it reaches a power chord uprising, then returns for another two minutes. From there, though, A Vague Shimmer moves through various stages of ceremony, frenetic vocal interplay midway through sliding into an almost Celtic chording pattern that ramps up before falling into a discordant, thorny wreck. It’s an excellent payoff not only for the song but the album as a whole.
Admittedly, my first listen of The Unbinding wasn’t positive; my impression was that it didn’t go anywhere. I would have been wrong to leave it at that, because time spent has allowed the album to tighten its coils. Despite a few less inspired moments, its tortuous paths eventually reveal meaning. I’m not sure how high it will climb in eventual estimation, but for now each new listen brings new appreciation for its hydrophobic wailing and great gnashing of teeth. If they tighten the screws in places, the spell Soothsayer is casting might just ensnare me for good.
(3.5 / 5)
