REVIEW: Anthrodynia - Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within

In a world so intent on pursuing sinful goals, Anthrodynia questions the limits of mankind's pettiness and triviality in the Edmonton-based duo's first album Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within. With the pair's impressive backgrounds within the alternative genre as a whole (Derek Orther appearing in the death metal band Begrime Exemious, Durrell Smith being a former member of both Mahria and Kuroi Jukai), they become a herald of the music scene. Combining squeaking synths and trigger-happy tremolos in a marriage of doom metal and death metal, the sound carries an underlying sense of emotion with it, allowing the band's first album to be poignant and purposeful. 

Opening with ‘Severed From Mundanity’, Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within is already a heavy hitter. A real sense of evolution is displayed through this track as it outlines the album's descent into mutiny, encapsulating the world with an audible sense of darkness. The instrumentals are thick, sending a ceaseless torrent of water trickling down the listener's mouth in the form of this steady bass, the intensity of it all being suffocating. A distinct tie to organised religion is present, through lyrics such as “where no light will follow, where no violins will sing” in a description of the world to come - if humanity continues with its selfish ways - that is eerily similar to biblical depictions of hell. It's morbid, nihilistic to the extremes, never flattering away from this aggressive stance on life. Derek Orther in this track produces a masterclass in audio manipulation, the effects being firm and consistent, layering together in a deadly cocktail that makes the whole album so venomously addictive. 

A deceptively simple yet disgustingly eerie bass is heard as ‘Engulfed From Grief’ begins. It is a song that seeps down into your very soul, reverberating around bones and flesh, eating you from the inside out. It builds and builds, anticipation being so thick in the air it is sickening before it comes crashing down into a climax. Masterful manipulation of instruments collide together in this impenetrable listening storm supported by the continuous trill of the drums (Durell Smith). The vocals take on this animalistic portrayal of grief, growling and hissing at times in an anthropomorphism of man overcome by the torment of anguish. Yet, at times, the vocals do seem pushed to the side and forgotten in a recurring theme throughout. The instrumentals are so strong that they overpower it, not slotting together exactly right. It is a nitpick of an otherwise solid album. The track succumbs to a tonality at the end, circling this one fazed out stabilising note, making it apparent that grief has won the fight. 

‘Cathartic Dissemination’ is instrumental. Lacking any vocals, it flourishes more than the other tracks as the deliberate layering becomes apparent. It possesses a tonal build-up, depicting the incessant repetitiveness of everyday life before dismantling it down into complexities, disfiguring and tainting the world with a borderline angelic harmony of instrumentals. Through this, ‘Cathartic Dissemination’ departs from usual motifs of hell that are commonly found engraved within the death metal genre. Anthrodynia in their work prefer to be more grey, rather than completely black or white. The track doesn’t paint a depiction of heaven or hell - that is made very much apparent by the synth that eventually picks up and overwhelms the static, angelic beauty, placing the audience in an excruciating purgatory. It ends with a cathartic release as everyday life is severed, a screeching sound being heard as if it were a car with worn-out brakes grinding to a halt, signalling the end of the journey. 

‘A Rotten Sun’ is complete whiplash from ‘Cathartic Dissemination’. It is full-bodied and deliberate, not being a simple stinging papercut but a full on dog bite, carrying a purposefully violent tone. Just like Dante's Inferno, it is short but spiteful, with a still impressive runtime of 04:44, which is significantly shorter than the rest of the tracks. It’s small, but deadly, displaying a solid, yet ongoing, evolution of sound with the steady backbone of the drums, the bass serving as the ribcage whilst the deep strumming guitars form arms and fingers of the grotesque, rotting beast that is Anthrodynia. ‘Suffering Pure Light’ carries on with this brutal crusade, the title being incredibly metal in an almost patronising way, with its juxtaposition of light with incessant violence in a condemnation of everything the world deems as ‘pure’. The track is the finishing garnish to an already impressive first album, tying it all together in a cyclical structure as it recalls the same intense elements present in the opening track, ‘Severed From Mundanity’. 

Whilst not exactly challenging the status quo with its stereotypical interpretations of both the doom and death metal genres and its, at times, surface-level lyrics, Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within is still an album that is sure to please fans of Disembowelment, Spectral Voice, and other major pioneers of the genre. Their, while not entirely unique, takes on the genre and their nihilistic sound, churned together with lyrics intertwined thickly with allusions of religion and belief, are sure to send Anthrodynia skyrocketing with success. 

Score: 7/10

Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within was released on August 15th 2025 via Nameless Graves Records. 

Words: Dylan Milton

Photos: Anthrodynia