{"id":67902,"date":"2025-08-14T15:07:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T15:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/67902\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:07:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T15:07:08","slug":"beheaded-ghadam-review-angry-metal-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/67902\/","title":{"rendered":"Beheaded – G\u0127adam Review | Angry Metal Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I\u2019m not sure which is worse: to release terrible or forgettable albums. Unfortunately for Maltese death metal outfit Beheaded, it has been the latter for the vast majority of their career. Always releasing competent material but nothing that sticks, their tenure within these hallowed halls has been rife with mediocrity, both 2017\u2019s Beast Incarnate<\/a> and 2019\u2019s Only Death Can Save You<\/a> lauded acknowledged for sounding like brutal death metal by the inimitable Kronos \u2013 the definition of \u201cmixed\u201d territory. Even 1998 highlight Perpetual Mockery has been covered up by the sands of time. This is precisely why G\u0127adam is such a monumental release for this death metal stalwarts.<\/p>\n

For G\u0127adam, Beheaded becomes \u201cil-kittieb\u201d of their own horror \u2013 both lyrically and musically. Nearly forsaking all brutal tendencies without sacrificing its bite, the quintet focuses instead on channeling its heritage. The songs are entirely in Maltese, each track named after and capturing the storytelling of local horror writer Anton Grasso: the songs grapple with folk horror, local struggles, and the supernatural, and reflect the nation\u2019s troubled history with religion and Christianity. For the first time in Beheaded\u2019s history, it feels as though the band is writing their own music rather than regurgitating what brutal death ought to sound like. While the album is imperfect, G\u0127adam is a motion from a band previously stuck in the muck of their own habits to rise from the dead and make the future bright again.<\/p>\n

G\u0127adam by Beheaded<\/a><\/p>\n

While elements of Beheaded\u2019s brutal death peak through periodically, G\u0127adam is remarkably atmospheric and dread-inducing. Drawing from Maltese folk music, the melodies here give an otherworldly flare, conjuring horrors both tangible and surreal. While the opening title track and the concluding instrumental \u201cIrmied\u201d feature harp guitar that sets the tone for a more focused and streamlined affair, the meat of G\u0127adam is ominous, dense, and foreboding. From dirging riffs layered with doomed menace and vicious vocals (title track, \u201cI\u0127irsa\u201d), the kickass guitar work amplified by wild solos (\u201cIljieli bla qamar,\u201d \u201cJid\u0127aq il-lejl\u201d), or the blackened tremolo and subtle synths that add a whole new dimension of intensity (\u201cB\u2019niket in\u0127abbru l-mewt,\u201d \u201cIx-xjaten ta\u2019 mo\u0127\u0127i\u201d), riffy motifs and haunted leads are streamlined and consistent across the board. Cleans are used sparingly, but utilize a mournful mumble that adds to the desolation of the atmosphere. Ultimately, Beheaded feels reborn into a sound that feels very much theirs, despite newfound comparisons to God Dethroned, Belphegor, and Angelcorpse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Given highlights and individual song identity, the structure of G\u0127adam feels more intentional than Beheaded has offered before. Most notably, the track \u201cIl-kittieb\u201d serves as a centerpiece not only for being the fifth track in the nine-track album, but as a sonic eye of the storm; while it utilizes the same tricks as its surrounding tracks, they are weaponized in a slow-building crescendo whose climax serves as the most satisfying moment of the album. Intertwined dissonant leads and ethereal solos collide in a 6\/8 timing that feels like a waltz through hell. Even last full song \u201cJid\u0127aq il-lejl\u201d feels like a culmination of the two tracks preceding it, a riffy and ominous trek through dark territory. This structure makes it easy to forget the weak links, such as the frenetic and anchorless (\u201cXtrajt l-infern\u201d) or the forgettable (\u201cB\u2019niket in\u0127abbru l-mewt,\u201d \u201cI\u0127irsa\u201d). The spoken word passages scattered throughout are also hit or miss.<\/p>\n

Beheaded has forsaken their long-time forgettable signature in favor of something that ironically suits them better. G\u0127adam is imperfect in its experimentation, but is surprisingly realized regardless, a consistent thread of viciousness and menace woven into all its movements gives exposure to its homeland, a culture tragically neglected in the annals of history. While \u201cMaltese death metal\u201d would have traditionally conjured images of brutal death\u2019s relentless pummeling in Beheaded or Abysmal Torment, G\u0127adam\u2019s sinister and atmospheric approach to blackened death metal tinged with local dark lore and haunting melodics, even if imperfect, sets Beheaded out onto a new and unforgettable path.<\/p>\n

Rating: 3.5\/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb\/s mp3
Label: Agonia Records<\/a>
Website: facebook.com\/BeheadedMT<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: July 25th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m not sure which is worse: to release terrible or forgettable albums. Unfortunately for Maltese death metal outfit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4891,25471,53931,53932,53933,64,63,53934,53935,53936,25474,11492,134,53937,53938,10617,53939,136,228,229],"class_list":["post-67902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-4891","tag-3-5","tag-abysmal-torment","tag-agonia-records","tag-angelcorpse","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beheaded","tag-belphegor","tag-blackened-death-metal","tag-brutal-death-metal","tag-death-metal","tag-entertainment","tag-ghadam","tag-god-dethroned","tag-jul25","tag-maltese-metal","tag-music","tag-review","tag-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}