Soulseller Records proudly presents the sophomore full-length album of Spanish deathers Sepulchral, entitled Beneath The Shroud. Sepulchral rise again from beyond the burial mound to tear everything in its path with eleven songs of fucking worn-out, mouldy, and rusty Death Metal. The second album of this Basque entity comes wrapped in a putrid amalgam of decay that will make you crawl through the mud and beg for your life.
Sepulchral – Beneath The Shroud
Release Date: 5 December 2025
Words: Matty Hunter
Emerging from the Basque underground in Bilbao, Sepulchral have been spreading their filthy brand of Death Metal since 2016, slowly building a name among the OSDM faithful. With Beneath the Shroud, the band turns up the dirtiness on everything that their debut From Beyond The Burial Mound in 2022 had.
Beneath The Shroud is Death Metal in its purest, unrefined form with buzzing guitars, murky riffs, cavernous vocals and mid-tempo drumming.
The record begins with A Pact Written In Bone Dust, a slow and peaceful guitar track of just under a minute, which is the calm before the storm as the following title track erupts into guttural vocals, filthy riffs and relentless drumming.
The closing minute shows excellent guitar work with a mesmerising riff, something that is prevalent across the album as a whole. The influence of Entombed, Grave, and Dismember runs deep, but Sepulchral are not just worshipping their heroes, they channel that same ferocity with conviction.
The following tracks in Abandoned Feretrum and Conflagration Of Sacred Bones keep things murky and menacing, while Torchless Crossroads stands out as a true centrepiece. Its slow, brooding buildup gives way to one of the most addictive riffs on the record, closing in hypnotic fashion that is bound to leave necks sore.
The second half of the record does not let up and maintains that momentum. Cloaked Spectres is next, and immediately this track starts with gritty vocals and builds into a fast and unforgiving number, which reminds me very much of the early sound of Grave. The drums on this track are the best on the album and will leave the listener’s neck hurting after three minutes of headbanging.
From the Crypt, The Putrid Mist is an impressive song with memorable riffs, spewing vocals and a relentless nature. I can see the influence of Dismember in this track. It reminds me very much of their debut album Like An Ever Flowing Stream due to the melodic tones but savage nature.
Blood, Phlegm, Black Bile lives up to its grotesque name, with a feel of trudging through mud, and the pacing is excellent.
Gravestone Covenant is a track that starts with a memorable guitar and drum unison, before breaking into the guttural relentlessness of vocalist Gaueko. I can see this track being many people’s favourite as the riffs are incredibly catchy and it is possibly the most modern-sounding track on the album, whilst keeping that OSDM sound.
The penultimate track, Poison Wind, is three minutes of pure and raw Death Metal. It is reminiscent of several bands that came before Sepulchral, while putting their own spin on the genre and makes for an album highlight.
The closer Lost In The Ruins encapsulates everything that the OSDM sound is about – fast, cavernous vocals, mid-tempo drumming, power-chord driven riffs and unrefined aggression. Just over two minutes in, the song sounds like it is finishing by quietening down before blasting a second later back into the instrumentals. It is a unique track and a fitting album closer.
On Beneath The Shroud, Sepulchral channel their forefathers while keeping relevant and interesting for an uncompromising, straightforward Death Metal record.
It does not delve into the modernism of technicality or progressive elements, is raw, gritty, direct and is overall a really solid sophomore album, and I appreciate that the band do not try to reinvent their music, staying loyal to the buzzsaw sound of the guitars from the ’90s, particularly, tight drumming, and unpolished gutturals.
I believe what makes the album so effective is its flow. Each track serves a purpose, and whilst several songs creep past the five-minute mark, the pacing never drags, and that is just testament to how well the album is crafted.
Beneath The Shroud retains engagement throughout, and it is the mesmerising riffs that are particularly memorable. This album betters their debut release on that basis.
Sepulchral release Beneath The Shroud on 5 December 2025 via Soulseller Records. Pre-orders are available from soulsellerrecords.aisamerch.com (Americas) and soulsellerrecords.bandcamp.com (World).
