I wasn’t sure what to expect when I blindly hit ‘play’ on Bexadde, on Germany’s FDA Records after getting the CD in the mail along with the new Slaughterday. With that moniker, I was maybe expecting some fuzzed-out stoner doom? But I certainly not modern atmospheric/post-black metal, not exactly what FDA Records is known for.

But with the trio’s third effort, FDA Records has found a genre standout to add to their stable of death metal/ doom and grindcore as Bexadde is a pretty damn good effort of the genre for fans of early Deafheaven, Ghostbath, and fellow germans Downfall of Gaia.

4 songs covering 43 minutes of well-produced, slightly despondent, tremolo-picked black metal with lots of atmospheric and post elements, Bexadde isn’t an immediate quick listen, though it gets right to the point with immediate opener “Asche”. The rangy songs cover a wide span of sounds and emotions from furious, 6/8 riffs, subtle synths, and restrained bridges layered with pained shrieks, more somber semi-clean wails, and chants in the varied vocal department. All of these things come together within the 8 to 13-minute songs. They don’t do too much building or patient ebbs, but rather inject short introspective moments in the framework of the songs as heard in “Lowest Servant”.

Closer “Molten Gold” is the album’s longest, most ambitious, and standout track but still, there’s never quite a full…… ‘release’ or crescendo to the riffs and builds within the songs, that the genre often has. The track comes close about 9 minutes in but doesn’t fully deliver. When it’s all said and done I’m more apt to reach for the new Soul Dissolution album for this style right now.

Still, a nice, ‘out of their comfort zone’ release for FDA Records, who keep growing as a premier label.

[Visit the band's website]

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