“Ontological Mysterium” is the band’s most progressive/technical album to date, but it also infuses plenty of heavy metal riffs in the song structure. Many fans who have been following the band since the 2012 debut “The Chills” can sense the evolution. Particularly, the guitar department weaves plenty of catchy rhythms and melodies throughout the opening of “Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn)”. Skillfully, Horrendous displays its focused take on melodic solos, technical guitar riffs, and high screeching vocals, the fretless bass guitar is another example that comes along with the whole package.

Horrendous seems to be more reflective on the level of technicality and instead of the brutal riffing. They emphasize the significance of the melodic guitar work, some clean vocals in the chorus show the abilities of the vocals to bring some dynamic. The quirky Voivod-esque alongside the riff is garnered by the complexity of the composition, thus, signifying the intricate detail of the guitars in “Neon Leviathan” and the short instrumental song “Aurora Neoterica”. The songwriting itself is highly influenced by Death’s album “The Sound of Perseverance” and the band Cynic.

The songs are composed by a fluid lead guitar section during the opening moments of the latter track. The technical and progressive influence previews these highlights of the guitar department in the track “Preterition Hymn” which in my opinion is one of the best tracks in the album. It begins with a catchy bass guitar and streaming guitar leads are insanely infectious. And despite the well-crafted song structure the music surely has a progressive/melodic feel to it, the addition of the clean vocals and the slow melodic chords at the very end of the song features some intricate textures.

Due to the innovative aspect, the fifth album proves how Horrendous’ style changed over a decade, the pure talent in the guitar leads, and the shredding solo sections are damned catchy. “Ontological Mysterium” extracts its creativity as it spans many emotional moments from the beautiful guitar chords for an album such as this. “Cult of Shaad’oah” shows the unadulterated death metal riffs. Although none of the songs are played straightforwardly in the style of death metal, the songs also take some elements from the band Atheist.

Clocking in under forty minutes Horrendous wastes no time in unnecessary swaggering instead bassist Alex Kulick, and guitarists and vocalists Damian Herring and Matt Knox have managed to inject technical brutality and while the drumming of Jamie Knox is mostly played in the mid-tempo style, the band shows its incredible talent and musicianship in the track “Exeg(en)esis“.

This, in my experience, is one of the best moments of the album that boast some dark and eccentric rhythms, there is no denying that the performance is top-notch every instrument including the bass guitar is given space to shine. There is a greater emphasis on technicality and the sonic prowess of the band that makes the album unconventional. The band’s signature sound hasn’t changed much since the previous album, but the fact that Horrendous has hit the bulls eye with its incredible guitar work. The album’s title track “Ontological Mysterium” combines some brutal chugging power chords, and grinding double bass drums, with the guitars delivering plenty of powerful death metal riffs.

The virtuous quality of the riffing in the final track “The Death Kneel Ringeth” is a mid-tempo bludgeoning death metal exercise. It somehow sounds technical but also maintains its raw nature, and the up-tempo sections are full of pummeling madness and offbeat riffing that simultaneously sounds coherent and memorable due to its unique style of riffing.

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