Album Review: Rothadás - Töviskert... a kísértés örök érzete... lidércharang
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Well that’s a mouthful of a title, roughly translated into English, Rothadás’ latest album is called Garden Of Thorns… The Eternal Sense Of Insult… Ghost Bell. We’re looking right across continental Europe to Hungary who have seen their own share of extreme metal be released and this time round, we refine our attention upon death/doom act Rothadás. Formed in 2019 out of the Hungarian town of Csongrád, Rothadás have one or two releases so far. A Demo was out the same year as their formation and, two years afterwards, released their first full length work: Kopár Hant… Az Alvilág Felé. That was back in 2021, prior to that opus and this new release the band had done nothing of the sort but fans patient for more shall finally be sated as Rothadás come back for their second album outing. This shall be the band’s first work released via Pulverised Records due out for March 21st and, curiously, this is the kind of band who write and perform all their lyrics and track titles in their native language, so it’s bound to be a fascinating lingual experience. I saw this recommended by a dear friend of mine and thus here we are now ready to dive in.
Given that the lyrical content is sung entirely in Hungarian, unless you’re from Hungary or are taught in their tongue and have an intimate grasp on the language you’re not likely to understand too greatly what is being said. Then again, this isn’t necessarily a issue in extreme metal when we are typically more geared towards the instrumental side of things, the vocals thus becoming an additional element to instil their strength. Therefore we must view the vocals as an atmospheric, immersive element; owing to the style of Rothadás’ songwriting, the steadier tempo they play with, its rather effective in bringing us deeper and closer to the band’s performance since we understand we need not pay too close attention to what is actually being said. Its for this reason why people love global metal since we can experience extreme metal exactly as it comes without feeling like we haven’t picked up on some critical vocal segment. The performance itself here is great and excellently entwines us firmly within the band’s doom-laden yet towering aesthetic; this is not a doom record that just sits quietly and mewls to itself. Their sound comes and goes in ferocity but you can always feel the vocal delivery be this strong indicator of where their songwriting is taking us next.
For a death/doom band its great to note how Rothadás make it abundantly clear, and early on too, that their songwriting can’t be penned down to a single tempo or style of songwriting throughout a single track. The band make don’t mistake us here; their strengths certainly lie within the more median forms of tempo wherein their performance can be easily followed but there is still more than enough momentum behind their songwriting to prevent their performance from becoming a hollowed, dragging experience. Whenever the band are playing, you always feel like you’re on the move. This is especially important for a band like Rothadás since audiences will know they aren’t expected to put up with trudging songwriting. What’s more, the band easily slip into more rapid pacing time and again without the differences in tempo becoming an unnecessary detriment to their sound. They showcase a ease in weaving together numerous, changing tempos and tones across the record whereby the feel of their soundscape suddenly jumps from methodical and introspective, to a darker butchery. Given their proclivity for longer tracks too it gives additional purpose for such choices; its needed to keep us on board and wholly engaged.
One interesting observation I believe is how the band have this immense array of power lined up for you but you’ll feel like they don’t throw everything at you at once. The result of this is much needed breathing room when a lot of death/doom automatically vies to crush your senses into nothingness without second thought. Rothadás are able to subject you to quite the resounding atmosphere that refuses to dissipate just because they decide to ramp up the pace. Regardless what track you decide to listen to, even at random, the band will have you in their clutches and I believe its because they know when to hit us and thus the severity of such a performance. Yet again it’s how the band demonstrate an acute understanding of pacing and the importance of not subjecting us to the full might of their death/doom right away. Possessing a polished and nicely coherent record is an additional way of ensuring this factor, for a dirtier production would have hindered the the band from conveying their songwriting to the fullest extent towards us. However, its also not so clean that any extra injections of force are lost on their way to us; Rothadás have struck a perfect middle ground between songwriting, production and speed that gives this record a sublimely easy listening experience.
If someone were to state what the purpose of drums are in a band, they’d likely give an answer of: to maintain timing. Now, given the band’s intimate knowledge of providing quality pacing we turn to the drums as one reason why this record feels like second nature to listen to, in spite of the lingual differences, in spite of a great many people being new to the band entirely. When able, listen keenly to the drums, for they rarely stop for a moment. This doesn’t mean they’re constantly spraying out blast beats or double bass drums, though these are each present in great volume, but the background of the record behind the riffs and vocals is thoroughly commanded by the drums. The band may have this incessant drive entwined within their performance, always moving towards a conclusion when a track starts, but the overall atmosphere is far from choking. You’ll be able to easily do other tasks whilst this record roars away all the while equally throwing as much attention towards its tracks. Each track has some particular moment from the drumming where you’ll feel like it was worth remembering, with variations of patterns and licks that benefit the band in whatever moment they find themselves in. That smoother production will also ensure nothing from the drums is missed, imparting every strike and inference without hindrance.
In conclusion, being able to write and deliver six long, death/doom focused tracks in succession, without losing us nor our attention waning whatsoever, is no small achievement. Death/doom is littered with records that go too hard on their audience or try to unload their full arsenal at once, whereas you have Rothadás who understand the art of patience. The record is bursting full of energy and grit but it knows when exactly to pull back its onslaught and to allow the band’s naturally atmospheric immersion take centre stage. Even as the band pull out their near-ten minute closer I felt like I could have started this album from scratch all over again, demonstrating how easy this album was listen to, and the entertainment derived. For those curious how the Hungarian language comes into play, I can happily assert there is nought to be tentative about for once their songwriting is underway you’ll experience and interpret this record like you would any other extreme metal work from the US or Western Europe. One could say the band do little to innovate their style of metal, however they do it well and I believe Rothadás legitimately have much more to give. You might not get a complete reinvention of death/doom with this record but its undeniable that Rothadás have something to say and it absolutely stands tall amongst this year’s extreme metal thus far.
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