Style: Avant-garde black metal, dissonant black metal, technical black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ad Nauseam, Blut Aus Nord, Vale of Pnath, Mare Cognitum
Country: Italy
Release date: 14 November 2025

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The forms in Joonas Räsänen’s biomorphic abstractionist painting drip with an alien organicity befitting of Strigiform’s debut Aconite. At a glance, a heart, a ribcage, a fetus, and a spine materialize, but those images are the wishful thinking of a human brain designed to thoughtlessly fill patterns; Aconite’s cover is still uncomfortably body-like, painted in the reddish hue of an inside-out human. Strigiform, formed from members of Vertebra Atlantis and backed by I, Voidhanger Records, live in the same realm as their debut’s cover art. 

Strigiform are fluid, with recognizable motifs and styles in the periphery while rarely stagnating into something wholly distinct. Tight angular riffs define Aconite, yet the transitions between them are smooth as polished bone. Just as you can spot elements resembling body parts in the cover, so Aconite is also an  “I spy” of inspiration taken from several different weirdo black metal bands with very distinctive riff styles. “Scorched and Hostile” begins with barbed riffs clambering up and down the fretboard in disharmony in a manner similar to Thantifaxath—Strigiform’s contribution to the twisting scale exercises collide is an unnerving clean guitar that peeks above the top. The cosmically massive tremolo picking on “Obsecration” brings to mind Blut Aus Nord’s masterful Disharmonium duology. It gives the track an imposing sense of scale, an atmosphere unmatched across the rest of the record. “Prismatic Delirium” takes cues from both Mare Cognitum—the scorching guitar tone is similar to Solar Paroxysm—and SkyThala—at around four and a half minutes into the track, the riff is the closest I have ever heard to the Tennessee black metal group’s insane style.

Although Strigiform borrow from their legendary peers, Aconite is never derivative or larcenic. Strigiform merge their intricate technicality with atmosphere better than any of the above. This mastery of both aspects is on display in the weighty closer “Knell of Nethermost Withdrawal,” which begins with hyperventilating tremolos behind Modern classical piano work, before jumping headfirst into dizzying dissonance. In one channel, the first guitar ascends and descends the scale, while in the opposite channel, the second guitar pops in and out at will with chaotic timing in order to combat with the first in strange intervals. In contrast to the challenging riffing, the longest melodic section is the guest solo courtesy of album producer Gabriele Gramaglia on “Hypnagogic Allure”—it’s dreamy, as the title suggests, and his tone is a fantastic throwback to 90s death metal. 

The biggest separator between Strigiform and their peers is Strigiform’s wholehearted embrace of the bass. With a strong presence in the mix, the fat bass takes the lead all over the place, allowing the band to have contorted threesomes of string parts all across the sonic range. Everything glides forward at a technical death metal pace, too, and the drum performance from Morte Rossa is notable for how well it glues together the mercurial guitar parts. Everything sounds crisp as a fall morning, too, organic like leaves beginning to decay. Gramaglia did a stellar job; the bass and lead guitars, in particular, sound better than about any dissoblack album I’ve ever heard. 

The French get a lot of (deserved) credit for avant-garde metal, leaving the Italian scene sneakily underrated, but if more bands like Strigiform emerge, they won’t be underrated for long. Two of the absolute best avant- metal labels are Italian, I, Voidhanger Records and Avantgarde music, and bands as diverse as Ad Nauseam to Bianca to Bedsore hail from the boot of Europe. The land of pasta, pizza, and over-the-top Euro power metal is also an absolute hotbed for dissonant weirdo music, and Aconite places Strigiform right at the forefront. Beautiful, violent, organic, and alien, Aconite is a trip worth taking and among the best avant-garde/dissonant metal releases of 2025.

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Recommended tracks: Scorched and Hostile, Hypnagogic Allure, Knell of Nethermost Withdrawal
You may also like: SkyThala, Thantifaxath, Fleshmeadow, Vertebra Atlantis, Hebephrenique, Aseitas, VoidCeremony
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: I, Voidhanger Records

Strigiform is:
– Saprovore – Songwriting, guitars, synths, vocals, lyrics
– Aiakos – Bass
– Morte Rossa – Drums, lyrics
– N – Vocals
With guests:
– Gabriele Gramaglia – guest solo in “Hypnagogic Allure”