Following on from 2023's very impressive Threads of Unknowing, this mini-supergroup of underground stalwarts (now lacking Philippe Allaire-Tougas of Chthe'ilist and Charles Koryn of Ascended Dead and replacing them with Crimson Massacre's Jayson McGehee and live Atheist drummer Dylan Marks) have taken a path for the leftward with their brand of experimental prog-death, increasing the avant-garde leanings and deliberate oddity that previously crept in at the edges in a far more self-conscious way. Very spacey intro Inevitable Entropy is the first hint of this, keyboard trills and ambience before the sludgy barrage of Veracious Duality begins, riff piling on riff to the point of confusion. This does make Abditum a little harder to enjoy than its predecessor, as it asks for more from the listener; hooks are virtually entirely absent in favour of instrumental chaos, as close to jazz fusion at points as traditional death metal, particularly in the guitar soloing.

Some, of course, will welcome this, although it makes this a harder recommendation to more conservatively-minded death metal folk. And it does take a lot of listens to really get to grips with the album as a whole - the nightmarish way that, say, Seventh Ephemeral Aura mixes Immolation and Mithras-esque torrents of riffing in a near-stream of consciousness style is even more brain-melting than the most complex moments from previous albums! Touches like interlude Dissolution are necessary for simple breathing room. There's much that is immediately impressive about the album, too. The tech-thrash meltdown that is Despair of Temporal Existence is stunning, mixing Atheist and Deeds of Flesh in a bassy, flourish-full display of technicality that does more in well under two minutes than most tech-death bands can do in double the time. Failure of Ancient Wisdom indulges in some almost funky interplay toward the end but incorporates it flawlessly and makes the band's show-offery much more fun than it could have been.

And with enough listens, Abditum genuinely is fun, a tight and taut exploration of death metal technicality that wields its musicianship as a knife in your ears. The widdly leads and driving aggression of instrumental Silence Which Ceases All Minds is constructed well enough to make the lack of vocals entirely forgotten, and fits in nicely alongside such gripping bursts of dramatic underground metal as Gnosis of Ambivalence, at first seeming the most traditionally death metal piece present before the shifts in tempo and aggression start to take their toll, as do the shimmering lead guitar bursts, turning into a tech-death workout par excellence by the end of the near-six minute piece. That's the second longest track on the album, which is the band's shortest to date, and one seemingly designed to show off their less-is-more approach, determined to cut all the fat from their songs. And it's an approach that works; by the time outro piece Elegy of Finality plays you out with its piano and synths, the main instinct is to start Abditum again from the start, to peer into its darker corners with more focus and try to get to the bottom of this particular puzzle box. It's difficult to decide if this is actually a better album than Threads of Unknowing, yet it's certainly at least its equal, and is more than deserving of sitting beside it in an already impressive discography this far in. Recommended, again, and a highlight of 2025 for sure.