Review: Hatchling – Spectral Contingency
Style: Technical death metal, melodic death metal (Harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Archspire, Job for a Cowboy, Obscura, Necrophagist
Country: United States (Indiana)
Release date: 4 September 2026
Over the hills and far away, specifically one hour from Reading, lies the steadfast Stonehenge. While UK weather patterns uncharacteristically morph into prolonged periods of hellfire, Earth’s axis remains almost entirely unchanged and preserves a unique tradition at the Bronze Age ceremonial site: ushering in the autumn equinox.1 Robe-clad druids, cornucopian pagans, and athleisure tourists patiently gaze past sacrificial slabs towards the horizon where the Sun positions exactly above the equator. From then on, days grow darker, frostier, and shorter; Gaia once again slumbers in stillness. Yet in the silhouette of spring and summer’s days of harvest and jubilation, a phantom force was incubating, ready to hatch.
Hatchling’s Spectral Contingency brewed in the shadows for ten years, to be exact, emerging as the Indianapolis quintet’s sophomore LP. The group probably also holds the record for the longest period between a single and its ultimate album release, with “Haunter” being dropped in 2017. On the back of the pensive The Sleep Scriptures, which showed experimental promise, the decade-long wait undoubtedly ramped up the pressure to deliver. And deliver they did. Spectral Contingency stirs melodic death metal into a cauldron rich in the finest ingredients for summoning forth whatever the fuck lives in Eddie Inman’s (Found Hanging) vocal cords. Waltz-ready neoclassical shredding? Check. Vicious breakdowns interspersed cleanly and appropriately used? Double check. An atmosphere of lingering doom and old school horror just in time for Halloween? We’ve got an album of the year contender.
Hatchling’s grotesque symphony wastes no time flaunting a captivating style that juxtaposes refined gothic elements and frantic death metal runs on “Schematics to a Resurrection Apparatus”. Fittingly, the opener is the blueprint to the band’s success across the runtime. Rhythm and lead guitars flood the spacious mix with baroque harmonies, aided by a very present bass that arpeggiates, ups the tempo, and catapults into tight technical riffage with a regal, classical dancehall levity. Impressive pacing control remains on display when breakdowns organically slot in between speed demon passages without undercutting the momentum, which is a real pain point for overindulgent deathcore-inspired artists post-”Into the Hellfire”.2 And I will argue that Spectral Contingency provides added charm in nods to MySpace-era deathcore runs straight out of the As Blood Runs Black playbook (“Haunter”). In support, modern vocal Olympic-worthy performances by Inman range from Predator noises (“Schematics to a Resurrection Apparatus”) to just sounding like he’s choking on blood (“When I Was Plasma”)—in a good way, of course.
Despite the ghoulish sonic landscape, ascendant instrumentals are abundant and offer a hopeful tune in contrast to the brutal onslaught. On “Hinshi”, the guitar work mirrors the airiness and restraint of Plini, drifting into djenty staccato territory to bridge into the chorus. The track’s hook itself matches the instrumental’s grace with a layer of flute pad synths whistling a catchy “oriental” lead.3 The experimental choices in the composition are equally likely to throw a grin on the more progressive metal-minded listener. Before “So It Rains”, the concept of salsa making a cameo in technical death metal seemed a stretch, a trick with no replay value; however, after one minute and thirty seconds of acoustic Latin strumming, fusion guitar noodling, and funky bass hopping, I’m a believer. Importantly, diverse touches like Hatchling’s best Satana impression naturally complement any given track’s motif, so chiptune outros (“Through Vortices Continuous”) hardly feel like a novelty.4 Rather, these connective sinews elevate the album as a whole and encourage religious listening to pick up all the small details.
If I were to nitpick slightly, Spectral Contingency comes to a relatively anticlimactic conclusion on “Enigmatic Apparitions”. The second instrumental track and evident grand finale pulls its weight in tying together the album’s neoclassical overtones and haunting inspiration. Yet the muted piano waltz does not fluidly segue from the crushing outro of “When I Was Plasma”. A bridging ambient passage or a slow monitor hang would, from my vantage point, link the two more cleanly. Then again, one transition does not make an album and certainly does not impact the gorgeously spooky conclusion.
Hatchling’s formula on paper seems run-of-the-mill: technical, melodic, brutal. I’ve read that many times on Bandcamp descriptions. On Spectral Contingency, the band conjures a visceral and emotive performance in dialogue with higher—or lower—powers. The individual performances are stellar, avoid nonsensical wankery, and collide into superb, chaotic songwriting. Those curious about melodic death metal and long-time connoisseurs alike should not skip out on this listen. They’ll find themselves pleasantly entranced.
Recommended Tracks: Schematics to a Resurrection Apparatus, So It Rains, When I Was Plasma
You may also like: Goreworm, Carnosus, Brainblast (if you DO want more wankery)
Final verdict: 9/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook
Label: Independent
Hatchling is:
– JD Sims (bass)
– Steven Harrell (drums)
– Ian Inman (guitars)
– Derek Steele (guitars)
– Eddie Inman (vocals)
- In the forthcoming tens of thousands of years we’ll almost certainly have a different axis as the Earth’s tilt alters ever so slightly. ↩︎
- This very song triggered a compositional revolution, for better or for worse. ↩︎
- The melody here sounds like open fourths, hence the Westernized “oriental” denotation, but I am open to being corrected. ↩︎
- There is a pun here. Please laugh. ↩︎
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