Naraka
Born In Darkness
Label: Art Gates Records
Release Date: October 24th 2025
Naraka rise with a sophomore slab that doesn’t just burn it scorches. "Born in Darkness" is a ritual of ruin, a sermon for the damned, and a mirror held up to humanity’s decaying soul. This isn’t just death metal it’s a reckoning.
Logan Mader’s production is a war drum in the void, each track a blade sharpened on grief and fury.
"Apocalypsis Diem" opens proceedings its a cinematic invocation. The gates creak open, and Naraka doesn’t knock they kick the damn thing down. Gregorian dread meets groove-laden prophecy.
The title track "Born in Darkness" is a sermon of despair. Riffs coil like serpents around a pulpit of madness. Vocals? A preacher possessed.
This is the anthem for the damned. Jean-Philippe Porteux’s guitars open like a blade dragged across a cathedral floor reverent, but soaked in sin. Franky Costanza’s drums thunder like a war god waking from slumber. It’s a declaration of war. Théodore Rondeau’s vocals? Less growl, more exorcism. You’re not listening I believe you’re being judged!
Three tracks in and I kept returning to "Something Woke Up" It’s damn hungry! A jagged, pulse-pounding descent into paranoia. The drums are surgical, slicing through the mix like scalpels.
The sun here doesn’t warm it blazes as the beastly "Blazing Sun" attacks the senses. Melodic leads shimmer like mirages before collapsing into breakdowns that feel like tectonic shifts.
Next we delve into "Hellhound Unleashed". A snarling beast of a track, with basslines that growl and guitars that bite. Naraka’s bark has bite—and it draws blood. A war march ensues as "Tyrants" kicks in the rhythm section is a battering ram, and the lyrics spit venom at the thrones of hypocrisy. This one’s for the revolutionaries. Mystical and malevolent "Sorcerer" takes no prisoners Synths swirl like incantations, while the vocals conjure visions of ancient wrath. A spellbinding interlude "Deus Belli" a God of War indeed.
A moment of vulnerability as "Lost" is up next, Melancholy drips from every note. It’s the eye of the storm haunting, fragile, and achingly human.
"The Reign In Red" (feat. Sotiris Anunnaki V) A masterstroke. Septicflesh’s Sotiris adds a layer of gothic grandeur.
The track is operatic, apocalyptic, and utterly majestic.
Groove metal meets industrial decay as "Parasite" rocks up The riffs are infectious, the vocals parasitic. It burrows into your psyche and refuses to leave.
Wow I mean WOW! "Lost" (Acoustic Version) Stripped bare. The pain is palpable, the silence deafening. A fitting epilogue to a journey through shadows.
"Born In Darkness" isn’t just an album it’s a sermon delivered from the mouth of hell. Naraka have sharpened their craft into a weapon, and every track is a wound. Logan Mader’s production is pristine filth clean enough to hear every scream, dirty enough to feel it in your bones.
This is the kind of record that doesn’t ask for your attention it takes it, claws first.
Reviewed by: Seb Di Gatto Score: 9/10 Facebook
Track listing:
1.Apocalypsis Diem
2.Born in Darkness
3.Something Woke Up
4.Blazing Sun
5.Hellhound Unleashed
6.Tyrants
7.Sorcerer
8.Deus Belli
9.The Reign in Red
10.Parasite
11.The Reign in Red (feat. Sotiris Anunnaki V)
12.Lost (Acoustic Version)
Lineup:
Jean-Philippe Porteux – riff architect, distortion priest
Franky Costanza – war machine behind the kit
Théodore Rondeau – voice of the void
Pierre-André Krauzer – basslines from the underworld
