Comatose — The Unhallowed Congregation Review
Comatose, a Death Metal entity forged in the Philippines in 2003, unleashed their third full-length invocation, “The Unhallowed Congregation,” on February 11th, 2025—an independent release steeped in sonic ruin. The album was later co-released via Satanath Records and Malevolent Sound on May 21st and July 4th, respectively, marking its passage from underground rite to international damnation.
The First Three Sins, The Summary
The Fourth Sin, Overall Discussion
The First Hymn: Descent Begins with Scrolls of Profanity
The sonic journey commences the instant the play button is engaged. A primal roar erupts with the opening hymn, Scrolls of Profanity. This hymn assaults the senses with an immediate, relentless instrumental barrage. Technically, intricate chord passages weave a tapestry of chaos. Then, a brutal vocal emerges from the maelstrom, a raw, unearthly bellow that signals the true descent into sonic damnation.
Nine Hymns of Necrotic Delirium: A Ritual Beyond the Album
This is merely the prelude to eight more hymns of auditory obliteration. Each subsequent hymn promises to shred the ears and rattle the very spine. Comatose itself is a monolithic entity, a thirty-minute exploration of extreme music. It expertly fuses death metal’s guttural aggression, thrash metal’s frantic energy, and blackened metal’s icy desolation. This nine-track recording guides the listener through a terrifying descent into necrotic delirium.
This release transcends the definition of a mere album. It is a potent rite of sonic damnation, a ritualistic invocation of the abyss. The guitar riffs gnash and grind with the ferocity of bone scraping against ancient tombstones. The drums are furious and primal. The vocals howl with the spectral lament of souls lost in a necropolis of despair.
Raw Devilmanship: Chaos, Precision, and Infernal Architecture
Comatose’s production and overall sound reveal a deliberate rawness. The mix is far from polished, eschewing the slick veneer of modern recording. Yet, it is not simply lo-fi noise. This approach deliberately preserves the untamed spirit of the underground. Each instrument is allowed to punch through the dense sonic fog, creating an atmosphere that is at once quirky, unhinged, and refreshingly rough-edged.
The devilish artistry within Comatose is executed with flawless precision. The devilmanship is solid and remarkably tight. It sounds as if it were forged in the infernal depths of the nine circles of hell itself. The compositional structure is equally impressive. The instrumental passages are so intricately arranged, they evoke the very architecture of the inferno.
It is a congregation of pure chaos, meticulously stitched together. This unsettling tapestry is woven with threads of venomous intent and fervent ritualistic energy. The band actively embraces chaos. Strange, jarring breaks and abrupt tempo shifts are employed to keep the listener perpetually unbalanced, never quite finding comfortable footing
Strings of Dissonance: Riffs as Ritual Entities
Comatose‘s guitar work, skilfully handled by Bellz Lee and Milojan Mondejar, conjures riffs that are a constantly shifting entity. They oscillate between the relentless gallop of thrash, the crushing chug of death metal, and the razor-sharp tremolo runs characteristic of black metal. Listeners should anticipate angular, disorienting transitions. Unexpected breaks punctuate the relentless assault.
Ritualistic dissonance adds another layer of unsettling texture, particularly evident on tracks such as Eternal Life Eternal Lies and The Unhallowed Congregation.
The guitar tone itself is undeniably gritty. A prominent mid-range crunch evokes the raw sound of early 2000s Southeast Asian underground metal. This sonic signature adds a distinct, primal character.
The Bedrock and the Barrage: Bass and Drums in Ceremonial Combat
Serge Enso‘s bass playing forms the unshakeable anchor to this sonic chaos. Its low-end is thick, serpentine, and deeply resonant. It’s not about flashy technique; it is the foundational bedrock upon which the entire structure is built. The bass often mirrors the guitar riffing, but it injects a crucial layer of depth and undeniable weight. This is especially palpable during the slower, doom-laden passages, like those found in the hymn Condemned to Darkness.
Jan Llever’s drumming is a furious and unrelenting force. The performance is remarkably tight, yet retains a primal, untamed energy. The live-room feel of the recording imbues the drumming with a ceremonial urgency. Expect a relentless barrage of blast beats, thunderous double kicks, and punk-inflected fills that propel the music forward with relentless momentum.
Vocal Maledictions: Snarls of Anti-Salvation
Bellz Lee’s vocals are a visceral assault. They tear through the lyrics and the music with guttural snarls. The delivery hovers somewhere between a death growl’s raw power and a black metal rasp’s icy malice. The lyrical themes are steeped in imagery of decay, ritualistic damnation, and outright anti-salvation. The vocal phrasing is frequently syncopated, introducing an additional layer of tension and unpredictability to the already volatile mix.
Sacrament of Sonic Ruin: Philosophical Rejection and Regional Necromancy
This is not merely sonic obliteration—it is a philosophical rejection of redemption. Comatose offers no salvation, only the ecstatic embrace of ruin. A fruit of art, forged in ritual flame, The Unhallowed Congregation is not an album—it is a sacrament of sonic ruin. Let no aficionado of extreme music pass it by unscathed.
“Hellhammer and Sarcófago may echo through the mix, but Comatose’s rite is carved from Southeast Asian soil—feral, unrepentant, and steeped in regional sonic necromancy.”
Closing: No Redemption, Only Ruin
As The Unhallowed Congregation reaches its final moments, its most intense and haunting passages dissolve into ritual silence—not an end, but a lingering echo of sonic ruin. Before we descend into the final three sins, we offer our deepest gratitude to Satanath Records for granting us the honour of reviewing Comatose’s latest invocation.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish
Comatose
Bellz Lee — Guitars/Vocals
Milojan Mondejar — Guitars
Serge Enso — Bass
Jan Llever — Drums
Hear The Music
Reviewed by Kristian — editorial architect and ceremonial crafted. © Athenaeum of Sin Reviews.