heavy-metal-darkness: Diespnea |Radici |Code666

Monday, January 26, 2026

Diespnea |Radici |Code666

Release Date February 13^th, 2026
Format CD/LP
Genre Avant-Garde/Black Metal
Country Italy

Diespnea started back in 2014 as a solo outlet for Wolke before morphing into a two-man operation with Anxitudo around 2019. They dropped their first full-length "Pneuma" in 2020, which stayed closer to the atmospheric black metal playbook. For this new one, "Radici", they decided to trash the standard blueprints. The band handled every bit of the recording and mixing themselves to keep the sound from getting castrated by some outside producer who doesn't get their vision. They’re tapping into a vibe that’s less about frozen forests and more about the sun-scorched, dusty rot of a Mediterranean wasteland.

If you’re looking for another "Transilvanian Hunger" clone, keep walking. "Radici" is a weird, jagged trip that trades the typical snowy mountains for a blistering, arid hellscape. It’s got that unstable energy you’d expect from fans of "666 International" era Dødheimsgard, where the riffs don't just tremolo-pick you to death, they twist and turn in ways that make your skin crawl. The production is raw and lacks any of that digital sheen that ruins modern metal, giving the whole thing a grit that mirrors the dry, rocky ground the lyrics obsess over.

The songwriting on "Radici" is pretty damn fearless. You can tell these guys stopped caring about what a black metal band is "supposed" to do. Tracks like "L'Abbraccio Del Serpente" and "Mescalynia" bring in a level of dissonance and strange timing that makes the music feel like it’s warping under the heat of a desert sun. It isn’t always easy on the ears, and it shouldn't be. The vocals are caustic, and the way the analog dirt mixes with the digital tinkering creates a tension that stays sharp through the whole runtime.

This isn't a perfect album, as some of the experimental parts can get a bit indulgent, but the attitude is 100% there. It’s an ugly, honest, and dusty piece of work that actually has a personality of its own. It’s rare to find a band that can step away from the northern clichés and make something that smells like burnt earth and ancient, forgotten rituals without sounding like a total mess. For a second album, Diespnea are definitely carving out a very strange, very specific corner of the underground for themselves.

Score: 7.5