heavy-metal-darkness: Species | Changelings

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Species | Changelings | 20 Buck Spin

Release Date: September 19, 2025
Format: CD/LP/Tape/Digital
Country: Poland

Formed in Poland, Species is a power trio that quickly drew attention with their debut “To Find Deliverance” in 2022. That first album marked them as an act unafraid of balancing technical finesse with a raw thrash heart. Now signed to 20 Buck Spin, the band — Piotr Drobina (bass & vocals), Przemysław Hampelski (drums, percussion), and Michał Kępka (guitars) — return with their second full-length, “Changelings”. Recorded across 2024 and early 2025 and finalized by Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studios, the album is a statement of intent: heavy, intricate, and uncompromising.

“Changelings” is a 40-minute surge of progressive thrash intensity, packed with inventive turns and executed with surgical precision. Across seven tracks, Species crafts a sound that is ferocious and unpredictable, building on thrash traditions while bending them into new, sometimes disorienting shapes.

The opening cut, “Inspirit Creation”, lays the groundwork for what follows: quick-shifting tempos, aggressive riffing, and basslines that command as much attention as the guitar. By the time “The Essence” and “Waves Of Time” arrive, it becomes clear that Species are more interested in creating a multi-dimensional experience than sticking to formula. Drums erupt with sudden barrages, guitars fracture into jagged patterns, and the vocals tear through with raw intensity.

Mid-album tracks like “Voyager” and “Born Of Stitch And Flesh” explore different textures, with the former incorporating guest synthesizers to widen the atmosphere, while the latter keeps the focus tightly on thrash violence delivered with pinpoint precision. “Terror Unknown” drives the aggression further, feeling like the most hostile cut of the set, before “Biological Masterpiece” takes over with its 10-minute expanse. This closer weaves together speed, tension, and moments of eerie calm into something that feels vast and final, like an odyssey concluding.

What makes “Changelings” stand apart is its balance between feral energy and organizational flow. Nothing here sounds accidental; every part fits as if designed for impact. It’s aggressive and chaotic on the surface, but deeply organized underneath — a duality that makes the album gripping from start to finish.

Score: 8.5