SPIRIT POSSESSION – CATHEDRAL SPEECH

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Sep 292026
 

(Andy Synn prepares to worship at the altar of Spirit Possession, whose new album is out on Friday)

Allow me to begin this review with a semi-spoiler, if I may?

Because, if nothing changes between now and December, there’s a very high likelihood that Spirit Possession‘s third album will be taking one of the highly-coveted slots in this year’s “Critical Top Ten”.

But, then, something like that has been on the cards for the Portland-based pairing of Steve Peacock (vocals/guitar) and Ash Spungin (drums) ever since their self-titled 2020 debut, with the subsequent release of 2023’s stunning Of the Sign… only serving to expose even more people to the band’s riveting and instantly recognisable blend of frenzied, finger-picked riffage and equally frenetic, effortlessly fluid, drum work.

And now, with the imminent release of Cathedral Speech, it feels as though the dynamic duo are, finally, right on the verge of being accepted as true masters of the black arts.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DARK PLAGUE, PYRE OF DESCENT, LA BESTIA DE GEVAUDAN, MATAVITATAU, SPIRIT POSSESSION, SKELETAL SERPENT

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Aug 142026
 

(written by Islander)

As many of you will know, I usually post a column at NCS on Sundays with recommendations in the expanding orbit of black metal. I wasn’t able to do that last Sunday due to leaving home on the early side of the day for what turned out to be a cool birthday celebration in a forest for a friend. I had made some choices for the column by then, and wanted to carry through with them whenever I could this week, while adding a couple of songs I’ve discovered since last weekend.

But it took me nearly all week to get this finished. It comes to you on another day when I’m about to depart from home and computer for most of the day; I have a ridiculously early start on a journey to the Seattle airport for a long weekend vacation. I’m doubtful that I’ll be able to assemble the usual new-music roundups for this coming Saturday and Sunday, but we shall see.

In the collection you’re now looking at I’ve interwoven an album, an EP, and four singles. Continue reading »

SPIRIT POSSESSION: “OF THE SIGN…”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Mar 202023
 

(Here we present Hope Gould‘s evocative review of the new album by Oregon-based Spirit Possession, which is nearing its March 31 release by Profound Lore Records.)

The year is 1987. You’ve got weekend plans to take your girl to see Dirty Dancing and the world isn’t even close to being sick of Rick Astley. Not long ago, Venom unleashed their brand of Satanic alcohol-sodden proto-thrash upon England. Soon after, a kid from Sweden built upon that sound by infusing the epic mid-tempos of Manowar and really hammered home the Satan-thing in a little project called Bathory. Hellhammer stripped it all down with their raw, punky approach, a German band called Sodom played speed metal riffs with a similar primitive execution, then Celtic Frost pushed all the limits with a more sophisticated songcraft that managed to keep all the bite.

It is this moment in time, upheld by raw aggression and suspended between definitive genres, that Portland’s Spirit Possession have set their flux capacitor. Continue reading »