heavy-metal-darkness: Morbikon | Lost Within The Astral Crypts

Monday, November 24, 2025

Morbikon | Lost Within The Astral Crypts | Tankcrimes

Release Date: November 21^st, 2025

Format: CD/Digital/Vinyl

Genre: Black/Thrash Metal

Country: United States

Morbikon began as the project of Phil “Land Phil” Hall, known from Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse and Iron Reagan. Wanting a vessel for frostbitten aggression and melodic chaos, he teamed up with Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns of Finntroll and launched a path straight into the darker corners of Scandinavian, early ninety style black and death metal. Their first album “Ov Mournful Twilight” arrived in 2022 and quickly built a name for its speed, its cold atmosphere and its old school spirit. Morbikon refused to stay behind studio doors, taking the material on the road with Exhumed and Skeletal Remains appearing at several extreme metal festivals. After all this movement and noise, the band returns with “Lost Within The Astral Crypts”, an album shaped by Hall’s intention to dive deeper into harsher territory.

“Lost Within The Astral Crypts” opens the door to Morbikon’s darker imagination and keeps a firm hand on intensity throughout the entire run. The album sticks to fast riffing, icy melodies and harsh vocals, giving the songs a constant forward motion. The guitars switch between slicing tremolo runs and heavier, stomping strikes, and the drumming stays active enough to push everything along without drifting into chaos.

Vreth’s voice is ragged and hostile, matching the themes and giving the album a cold personality. The guest contributions, especially the lead guitar work, add extra fire without distracting from the main direction. The music moves in a straight line, driven by riffs, aggression and a harsh, nocturnal atmosphere, the kind you’d expect from a project openly rooted in older extreme metal but played with fresh energy.

The production is raw enough to keep things abrasive while still allowing the riffs to hit clearly. Morbikon’s songwriting stays consistent, heavy and aggressive, moving between fast blasts and mid tempo hammering in a way that keeps the listener hooked. Nothing collapses into chaos and nothing softens the edges, the whole album moves with determination and dark energy.

“Lost Within The Astral Crypts” lands as Morbikon’s strongest and most violent release so far, sharpening the direction they began on their debut and pushing it harder, colder and more confidently. It feels like a statement of where the project wants to go next and shows that Morbikon is ready to stand firmly in the harshest corner of their field. Anyone who follows modern expressions of old school blackened death thrash will recognize something powerful here.

Score: 7.0