Review: “Abyss Calls To Abyss” by Skulld

Born from a love of Old School Swedish Death Metal, Crust Punk and Stenchcore, as well as a desire to create songs with a deeper, politically charged and socially aware meaning Skulld formed in Romagna, Italy in 2019. Their debut EP “Reinventing Darkness” surfaced a year later and was well received thanks to a raw and original sound laced with themes of suffering and occultism. However the band wanted more and in 2024 they issued “The Portal Is Open“, an album with shamanic and esoteric overtones, all rooted in a strong feminist, anti-fascist and anti-racist stance. Once again the records ambitious nature gained them much praise as they explored pagan traditions, mythology and feminine archetypes with Blackened Death Metal sonic abrasions. They even mention “Mysteries of the Dark Moon” by Demetra George, “La Dea della Montagna” by Michela Zucca and “La torre d’avorio” by Paola Barbato as being part of their inspiration…

Make no mistake, “Abyss Calls To Abyss” by Skulld is very much an album which gives plenty of pause for thought after the ears have stopped ringing and the fierce nature of the harsh uncleans from vocalist Pamela will mean you will want to review the lyric sheet that accompanies it. Opening track “Healing the Wound” serves as a rude awakening, fusing Death Metal and Hardcore together with style and grace, galloping drums providing a racing undercurrent for tremolo picked moments with a crunchy outer coating. Lyrically there is a theme of Shamanic feminine power running through its veins, something that is also touched on later on because while there are something like five concepts running across the eight tracks to keep you locked in tight. “The Blink” for example muses on pagen mythology and using the dark arts for purposes of vengeance. It plays out at the tempo of the damned, starting out with a brutal roar before cranking up the heat with skull smashing drums and raging razor sharp riffs. The almost tribal drum patterns of the mid-section bring the work of Igor Cavalera to mind while the spoken word feels like it was issued by Tarrie B Murphy from My Ruin. There is no escaping the blood and thunder of this one and the whammy bar drop solo is the icing on the cake. “Accabadora” takes things a step further, discussing death as a transformative force within a non-linear, cyclical concept of time while at the same time smashing your cranium to pieces with its bone crushing intensity and slick riffs. Any self respecting Metal head will no doubt find themselves fighting the urge to bang their head on the first spin, that’s how immersive and captivating the experiance is just three songs in. Embracing cosmic themes “Wear the night as a Velvet Cloak” is pure evil, the sinister urgent riffs getting the adrenaline pumping before the scorching vibant solo breaks into blast beats, leaving your ear canals bleeding.

The tarot cards are turned for “Le Diable and The Snake” as Skulld point blank refuse to put a melodic break in their album, instead combining death growled backing vocals and two step energy to create a thumping anthem that is ridiculously good. The audience is going to need to work on their collective stamina to keep the mosh pit going during this five minute surpasssing belter when it gets played live, the energy of it is pure insanity even if it slows to a triumphant crawl before its conclusion. That paves the way perfectly for “Mother Death” to punch with the force of the steel fist of The Terminator as Skulld embrace the energy of Hardcore with the strength and fury of Death Metal once more. What’s impressive about this one is that aside from the incredible banshee wails from Pamela, they have some tasty groove laden moments in between the busts of blast beats. Deviant motherhood and the dark side of love are behind the brutality that is “Drops of Sorrow“, rapid fire staccato riff breaks helping to create a brooding malevolent mood. A whirlwind of percussion soaked in buzzsaw riffs keeps the discerning listener on the edge of their seat, the vicious vocal tirade of blood and venom leaving them gripping the pillow tight. The white knuckle ride has one more fierce anthem to give us in “Sacred Fires“, once again returning to Shamanic and archetypal feminine power as a theme but this time sounding like it was born of the Massachusetts Hardcore scene with a Death ‘n Roll quality to it. Hell in 2003 this would have been labelled Metalcore and thrown into the fire with the likes of Bleeding Through and Unearth but in truth there is so much more to this record… [9/10]

Track Listing

1. Healing the Wound
2. The Blink
3. Accabadora
4. Wear the night as a Velvet Cloak
5. Le Diable and The Snake
6. Mother Death
7. Drops of Sorrow
8. Sacred Fires

“Abyss Calls To Abyss” by Skulld is out 30th January 2026 via Time To Kill Records and is available over at bandcamp