Superior Rage — In Memoriam Review
Superior Rage is an Italian symphonic/raw black metal entity. On 23 January 2026, the band released their fifth EP In Memoriam, released via WormHoleDeath Records.
Superior Rage, In Memoriam Review: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production.
The First Three Sins, The Summary
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Razor-edged tremolo riffing with raw, mid-heavy saturation — claustrophobic yet expansive, where old-school black metal aggression is interwoven with restrained symphonic and ambient layers. The Second Sin, The Vocals: High-pitched, ghostly rasp delivered with spectral intensity — an unanchored presence that hovers above the instrumentation.The Third Sin, The Percussions: Relentless, measured drumming — blast beats driving the hymns with controlled urgency, forming a consistent backbone.
The Fourth Sin, Overall Discussion
Opening Threshold
From the moment the listener presses play, they are submerged in just under nineteen minutes of concentrated extreme music. Spread across five hymns, In Memoriam is flawless in balance, blending raw aggression with spectral, symphonic undertones and dark, epic ambient textures.
It is a work that exists in the doorway between the past and the present — standing as both a fierce continuation of the project’s history and a sombre reflection on its own internal mythos.
Memory, Ghosts & Resurrection
According to the band, In Memoriam is a work about memory, ghosts, and the project’s own past. It is not merely a collection of past works but a powerful statement of resurrection and refinement. The EP features re-recorded classics alongside two brand-new, previously unreleased hymns: The Death of the Red Dragon and Soleright.
Crypt Presence & Haunted Composition
In Memoriam offers a musical composition that feels intensely claustrophobic yet spiritually vast — as if it were written and composed in a small, stone-walled room. It is the sound of a crypt, a cellar, or perhaps a rehearsal space turned into a shrine.
Crafted through a lone devilmanship and supported by session members, the record is shaped by a pervasive atmosphere where old-school black metal rawness meets symphonic shadows that rise and fall behind the primary violence.
There is an undeniable sense of being haunted throughout these nineteen minutes — haunted by history, by lingering spirits, and by the weight of the project’s own artistic past.
Swarm of Razors & Melodic Lament
The guitars on In Memoriam act as a swarm of razors, cutting through the EP’s nineteen-minute span with a frantic sense of urgency and palpable decay. The tone is mid-heavy and saturated, dominated by relentless chord progressions and dark, suffocating tremolo picking that anchors the record in old-school black metal soil.
Yet, rising from this jagged foundation are melodic lines that appear as haunting transitions. These leads are performed in a melodic, almost mournful style, adding a layer of profound emotional depth. They do not soften the blow; rather, they provide a funerary elegance to the violence, making the spectral elements feel earned and deeply personal.
Measured Aggression & Spectral Layers
The drums provide a foundation of measured aggression. Fast and relentless blast beats serve as the EP’s primary backbone, driving the swarm of razors forward with a sense of inescapable urgency.
The synths and ambient textures are minimal and restrained; they do not overburden the hymns, but instead provide a haunted, ceremonial aura. They are the whispering spirits lurking behind the riffs and beats— a presence that is never fully felt, yet never fully absent.
These elements add a vital sense of texture and embodiment, breathing a cold, structured life into the violence. By acting as the shadows that rise and fall, the synths provide a depth that makes the music feel physical — as if the listener can touch the damp stone of the crypt where these hymns were invoked.
Voice of the Spectre
The vocal performance on In Memoriam is the final, ethereal layer of haunting. The voice feels like a spirit hovering above the instruments, purposefully unanchored from the physical weight of the riffs and beats.
High-pitched, ghostly rasping screams dominate the soundscape, cutting through the swarm of razors with a piercing, supernatural frequency. These are punctuated by occasional growls — deep, guttural anchors that appear at key moments to add a sudden, crushing weight.
It is a performance that doesn’t just lead the hymns; it possesses them, acting as the primary conduit for the record’s sense of being haunted.
Raw Ritual & Haunted Production
The production is a deliberate rejection of modern polish. It sits firmly in a raw, spectral aesthetic that bridges the gap between the early Italian undergroundand the atmospheric, synth-haunted traditions of the late nineties.
This is a recording that embraces its own haunting; it is intentionally imperfect, intentionally abrasive, and intentionally ghost-ridden. The result is a sonic profile that feels less like a studio session and more like a ritual captured in a crypt, where the air is thick with the dust of history and the echo of the small, stone-walled room.
Overall Verdict
Overall, In Memoriam is a dark and ghostly fruit of art — a nineteen-minute séance that honours the project’s mythos while allowing new, spectral shadows to take root.
Final Echo — Lingering Presence
In Memoriam closes not with resolution, but with lingering presence — a spectral imprint that refuses to fade. What remains is not silence, but the echo of something unsettled, as if the ritual has ended, yet the spirits it summoned still drift within the walls.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia
For me, In Memoriam is defined by that unmistakable old-school Italian symphonic black metal underground atmosphere. It sounds as though it were composed and recorded deep within a forgotten crypt, capturing a specific, chilling resonance that only the Italian extreme metal scene can conjure.
There is an intangible connection here to the world of Italian horror cinema — a dark, atmospheric allure that is difficult to pin down but impossible to ignore.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork
The artwork is a reflection of this private, ghostly ethos. It presents itself as a lone sigil, a veiled figure, or a stripped-back landscape — each element rendered with the austerity of a private rite.
It does not scream for attention; instead, it exists as an object of remembrance, a visual echo of the funeral prayer contained within the music.
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish
If there is one thing to disrelish, it is nothing. The music is perfectly executed in its cold, atmospheric dampness, crawling from the same subterranean depths that birthed it. It is an uncompromising embrace of the spectral.
The Hymns
01. Indecent Condition
02. Asmodeus Bacchic
03. The Night of Rains
04. Soleright
05. The Death of the Red Dragon
Superior Rage
Superior Rage — Bass, Synthesizers, Songwriting, Lyrics
Baelithiel- Vocals,lyrics
Nemorion – Guitars on hymn 1 & 4
Hrafnagud – Guitars on hymn 2, 3 & 5
Svarun – Drums