{"id":303257,"date":"2026-02-17T22:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/303257\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:48:12","slug":"phasma-purgatory-review-angry-metal-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/303257\/","title":{"rendered":"Phasma – Purgatory Review | Angry Metal Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sometimes an album comes around ye olde promo pit that looks and smells familiar, but plays like something else entirely. Today\u2019s entry into the \u201cwhat the heck am I actually listening to?\u201d hall of infamy is Phasma\u2019s Purgatory. The third record from the Greek\/US duo, and the first carried by a label\u2014our beloved Transcending Obscurity Records\u2014Purgatory continually subverted every expectation I had. In doing so, it became one of my biggest pleasant surprises in recent memory.<\/p>\n

While early Phasma works boasted a songwriting style and sound that evoked a grotesque Whitechapel<\/a>\/Vampire Squid<\/a> lovechild, Purgatory is a charred and venomous affair of only a tenuous relation to that concoction, and all the better for it. Conjuring a vision where Vimur<\/a>, Harms Way<\/a>, and Crypts of Despair<\/a>\u2019s first two albums merged into one mangled mass, Purgatory writhes and slithers through an unholy collection of brutal riffs, immolating tremolo flares, and swaggering grooves. While Phasma\u2019s vocal approach largely carries over from early works, pairing a guttural roar with piercing screeches, but minimizing previously prevalent items like subterranean gurgles and glass-shattering squeals, it takes on an altogether more intimidating character here. Instead of showing off the full range of technical skills and range as this unit had to prove on their self-titled debut, Phasma took Purgatory as an opportunity to be as mean and concise as possible.<\/p>\n

Purgatory by PHASMA<\/a><\/p>\n

Simplifying their song structures, doubling down on memorable hooks, and restricting technical expositions to a minimum helped Phasma achieve their goal, resulting in a work that feels genuinely terrifying. Opening duo \u201cI\u201d and early highlight \u201cII\u201d prove this within thirty seconds of their introduction, but also create a delightful deviation from the usual songwriting tricks I expect from one phrase to another. For example, \u201cI\u201d makes me think a huge breakdown is about to drop right at the start, only to blast into the shadowed iciness of black metal, then dive seamlessly into a gym-ready hardcore groove. Subverting my expectations becomes a regular occurrence in Purgatory. \u201cII,\u201d \u201cIII,\u201d and \u201cVI\u201d all venture deeper into doom-laden dungeons than I would\u2019ve ever anticipated from a record as evil and high-energy as this. Harmonized melodies and layered guitar pyrotechnics only enhance this effect when things transition between paces and moods in a snap (\u201cII\u201d). By thusly offsetting their stripped-down writing with constant fiery twists and gnarly turns, Phasma crafted a remarkably exciting and rich experience that is an absolute joy to experience over and over again.<\/p>\n

\"\"Despite its truncated 27-minute runtime, Purgatory burgeons with invigorating ideas all meticulously arranged, but initial spins suffer at the hands of a production of unforgiving loudness. \u201cIV\u201d in particular challenged my ability to appreciate the fantastic lead-into-chug-triplets and Vampire Squid riffs that bulge out from densely packed bass rumbles and glassy cymbals, in no small part because everything is so in-your-face as to flatten entirely. \u201cV\u201d feels a similar impact, though an eerie, bass-driven atmospheric break and subsequent Atrae Bilis<\/a>-esque bridge briefly alleviates that effect. Understanding that the intended purpose of Purgatory is to oppress and destroy, a little more headroom in the mix and master would\u2019ve allowed Phasma to hit harder and better highlight the myriad clever details distributed throughout.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the production isn\u2019t so ruinous as to make my experience with Purgatory anything less than a delightful treat. As I spent more time with it, I loved it more, craved it regularly, and found additional moments to take home. Memorable beyond what I anticipated, and more engaging than I dared hope, Purgatory is a resounding success in all areas other than engineering. In some circles, that one weakness won\u2019t matter much. In the end, it didn\u2019t matter much to me either, such is the strength of Phasma\u2019s songwriting. This is one trip to limbo you won\u2019t want to miss!<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating: Great!
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb\/s mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records<\/a>
Websites: phasmaproject.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/PhasmaProject<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes an album comes around ye olde promo pit that looks and smells familiar, but plays like something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[23197,14119,10179,87604,28492,72387,143198,5810,48051,93,135858,37998,639,143199,61,1042,60,278,143200,143201,563,564,32267,87611,91774,143202,143203],"class_list":{"0":"post-303257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-23197","9":"tag-4-0","10":"tag-american","11":"tag-atrae-bilis","12":"tag-black-metal","13":"tag-brutal-death-metal","14":"tag-crypts-of-despair","15":"tag-death-metal","16":"tag-deathcore","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-feb26","19":"tag-greek-metal","20":"tag-hardcore","21":"tag-harms-way","22":"tag-ie","23":"tag-international","24":"tag-ireland","25":"tag-music","26":"tag-phasma","27":"tag-purgatory","28":"tag-review","29":"tag-reviews","30":"tag-technical-death-metal","31":"tag-transcending-obscurity-records","32":"tag-vampire-squid","33":"tag-vimur","34":"tag-whitechapel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}