A duo (featuring two mainstays of the Hungarian scene who have played in bands such as Coffinborn, Cryptworm, and Ahriman amongst others) formed only in 2019, Rothadás exude a particularly potent form of doomdeath that walks a fine line between atmospheric burbling and gravedirt stomping. It's sure to delight the ears of any depraved devotee of the particular subgenre, not least for how wholeheartedly the band hand out batterings, eight-minute opener Urnaszellem... szentek csontpora ("Holy spirit... the dust of saints' bones") quickly reaching blackened speed before slowing back to an especially invigorating groovy rattle. And the band allow you few pauses for breath at all as they ply their style, something of a mixture of Asphyx and Bolt Thrower skilfully across the six lengthy pieces here, the latter most audible on the hypnotic dirge-like riffing of Vértükör ("Blood count").

Rarely does this feel repetitive or as though the band are treading water, however, the duo skilled enough songwriters to make songs feel different from each other as moments such as the slower, gothic-drenched opening to Sóhajok kapuja (“Gate of sighs”) shows. As you may have come to expect at this point in the tracklisting, later in the song there's a bloody gallop into blackened territory but it feels earned rather than shoehorned in, thrilling rather than eye-rolling. The focus throughout is on the doom, however, and there are plenty of slower moments to contrast well with the shifts into speed - even though shortest piece present (at just six minutes plus!) Sikoltó füst ("Screaming smoke") has one of the finest barrelling assault sections on the album.

Those with an ear for the more atmospheric, darker side of the genre should head straight for nine-minute finale Az örök isten Lucifer ("the eternal god Lucifer") for a rather unnerving piece of bleak doom-death that focuses on the whirring riffs to build an almost industrial-feeling monolith of dark sound. The bass is particularly audible and effective in this track, increasing both the sense of technicality and gloom, and towards the end of the piece we get the sole use of clean singing on the album, incredibly hard-hitting with an epic choral feel that suggests some light at the end of this deep, dark tunnel.

Perhaps a little more experimentation would have propelled this album even higher in your reviewer's estimation, yet by sticking closely to the doomdeath formula and performing it extremely well the band have made themselves very notable for those similarly enthralled by the subgenre. At just Rothadás' second album and already at this high level of skill, Töviskert... a kísértés örök érzete... Lidércharang ("Thorn Garden... the eternal feeling of temptation... a ghostly melody" - couldn't decide between three titles, guys?) is well worthy of your time and ears.