heavy-metal-darkness: Elsinore | The Vengeful Ghost/Tombstone Hex

Thursday, November 27, 2025

Elsinore | The Vengeful Ghost/Tombstone Hex | Caligari Records

Release Date: 5 December 2025

Format: 7”

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Italy

Elsinore is a fresh banner raised by Giorgio Trombino, a long serving figure in the Italian underground who has already left fingerprints through Assumption, Bottomless, Shrieking Demons, Haemophagus, Undead Creep, Thysia, and a long list of related projects. The idea for Elsinore surfaced during a Denmark tour in 2025 while Trombino was deep into Hamlet, and the name reflects the English form of Helsingør. With this new outlet he returns to the earliest strain of death metal, the kind that erupted in the late eighties with Death, Vampire, Repugnant, and Death Breath. “The Vengeful Ghost, Tombstone Hex” arrives through Caligari Records on 7 inch vinyl and presents the project in its first raw blast.

The EP wastes no time showing its intentions. The sound is crude, serrated, and charged with the kind of dirt you only get from someone who has spent years digging into the roots of the genre. Trombino handles the recording and mixing himself, and that do it yourself approach gives the music a lived in character, gritty without slipping into parody. The guitar tone is like a rusted saw, the vocals claw their way forward, and everything comes together with the sort of immediacy that suits a two track release with zero padding.

“The Vengeful Ghost” lunges forward with a classic death metal stomp, built around riffs that rotate with simple, violent rhythm. It is energetic and compact, shaped for impact rather than ornament. “Tombstone Hex” goes straight for the throat, shorter and more manic, almost like a bar fight captured on tape. The two songs complement each other well, one leaning on weighty churn, the other attacking with frantic motion.

What makes the EP work is the honesty in the delivery. There is no glossy coating, no attempt to hide raw edges. It sounds like a musician feeding off the same spark that ignited early demo era death metal, and that spark returns here with satisfying force. The release is brief, although that brevity suits this project, since the music lands quickly and leaves a strong aftertaste.

Elsinore starts their journey with something blunt, direct, and full of dirt under the fingernails. It is not aiming for sophistication, it is aiming for impact. As a first statement it succeeds, and if the upcoming full length expands on this foundation, the project could become one of the more exciting throwbacks in the Italian underground.

Score: 7.0