THE complete package, Kommodus is one of the few projects in this sphere of metal that delivers on the musical and lyrical front, as opposed to how most bands tend to hastily write grammatical nonsensical lyrics just so vocalists can gutturally vomit them out to accompany – rather ironically – good music.
Now three full albums deep into a storied discography of excellent demos and split albums, Lepidus – the sole member of the band – continues his emblematic style of injecting high-quality prose to back the consistent music writing that first made him a force with 2017’s Will to Dominate All Life.
“A hypertrophic human weapon, bound by no man, no master/To no politic or cause, just fury and the cauldron of conflict,” Lepidus howls over the opening of Human Bulldozer, the second track off A Foetal Wolf in Stained Glass.
Weaving tales of human conflict, conquering weakness to being reborn from strife and trauma, the new album is a yet another strong entry in the Kommodus discography, sticking to signature themes he has always deployed in previous releases with unyielding discipline and fervour.
On Foetal Wolf, the songs tell a wide variety of tales, ranging from a past war over Britain, an encounter with a folk monster, the ascent from past selves into a superior new one, human perseverance against a Lovecraftian entity, to carnage that unfolds aboard a whaling ship.
The album, at least from its lyrical concept, veers closer to the fantastical aspects seen in 2023’s Wreath of Bleeding Snowfall rather than Kommodus’ self-titled 2020 full length. Those expecting the relentlessly furious, chaotic songs of gaining strength and wisdom from adversity like in the latter album’s Where Iron and Blood Converge and Forged Between the Hammer and Anvil best hold their steel.
It feels less dangerous than say, Meridians of Sacrifice, but that is perfectly fine. Like stained glass itself, Foetal Wolf is a culmination of many ideas, thoughts, narratives and song writing into what is essentially Lepidus at his most experimental. In a scene known for
corpse-like rigidity, a figure such as Lepidus pushing Kommodus into different directions is a welcome shift.
A Foetal Wolf in Stained Glass is streaming on Bandcamp.
