Review by Michael on March 21, 2025.

Toughness from Poland really don't make it easy to get into their music. With their second album Black Respite Of Oblivion out via Godz Ov War Productions they play a very confusing bastard of brutal old-school death metal enriched with some more progressive tunes. This album definitely needs more than one spin to get access to it.

I personally felt reminded of three albums that came out in 1993, namely "Individual Thought Patterns" by Death, "Spheres" by Pestilence and "Focus" by Cynic when I first heard it, actually I don't know why, maybe it depends on that typical 90s bass line. But this one isn't really comparable to these records, there are just some progressive elements that may be similar.

Apart from this, there is a lot of brutal death metal with blast beat attacks and super deep vocals (quite similar to what Demilich did on their first album) that show us the other, uglier side of Toughness.

Together comes out a really strange mixture that sometimes works fantastic but sometimes also doesn't seem to fit too well. A good example is the opener "Abominating The Scourge" that kicks off with some very traditional death metal riffs. But after some seconds, this all appears like a drunken guy that tries to run but stumbles and doesn't fall but tries to continue running. It really has a very tricky pace which sometimes is hard to comprehend. I mean, this isn't bad but really confusing and what is to acknowledge here is the precision the band works together. This is something really tricky for sure.

One of the catchiest songs (if you can talk of catchiness in any manner here) is "Embrace Blackness". Again, the snarling bass is dominant but some structures in that song are some sort of comprehendible. Especially the repetitive parts appear to be what is more or less some kind of typical death metal.

But with the next track they start confusing again. "Carrion Entrails (Lost Abyssal Disbelief)" is confusing from its start to the end. This is really some kind of mindfuck and an absolute crazy ride. In this song so much happens, breaks, riffs, solos – wow. Really impressive are the changes in the tempo here. From some dragging pace to some hyperspeed they offer everything here. Not to forget the strange piano tunes in "From The Shroud Of Human Disgrace"....

And that's what is happening with all the nine tracks. Personally I found a way to enjoy that album after a lot of spins which doesn't mean that I understand what the Polish quartet wants to tell us. This will remain an unsolved mystery. But what I can tell is that if you have a glimpse at the cover, you will anticipate what is yet to come. Together with the disturbing sci-fi lyrics this all might be very interesting if you take the time to let it all have an impact on you.

Of course a little bit more accessibility to the music would have been desirable for a more easy listening experience and also the slight tinny drums could have been produced a little bit more powerful, but the rest of the production turned out quite well and these vocals are really sick as hell.

A really strange album indeed but if your band is called Toughness, maybe not the biggest surprise….

Rating: 7.8 out of 10