Shouldn’t metal, of all genres, be one that thrives on fresh impulses, inventiveness and boldness? Bands that dare to think beyond familiar frameworks and refuse to treat the usual conventions as fixed boundaries keep the music moving forward. It is precisely by blending styles, making unexpected choices and challenging established conventions that space for innovation emerges. This prevents the genre from endlessly repeating itself and becoming little more than a collection of all-too-familiar ideas in slightly different packaging.
Lithuania’s Black Spikes belongs to that category of innovators. Released in 2025, NIL already showcased a remarkably versatile mix of styles and contrasts, with electronic elements frequently colliding with ferocious guitars and scorching blast beats. Moreover, that urge to venture off the beaten path was not confined to the music. Visually, the Lithuanian group also presented itself in an idiosyncratic fashion. Dark, stylised imagery, atmospheric visualisers and more elaborate music videos underscored the band’s distinctive identity. Music and imagery became increasingly intertwined. The question, then, is whether Black Spikes takes that approach even further on its follow-up, Ydos.
Indeed, on Ydos, both the musical and visual ambitions are elevated to a higher level. While NIL had already made it clear that Black Spikes has little regard for traditional genre boundaries, on Ydos the band takes another significant step forward. The Lithuanians weave modern metal, progressive structures, electronics, trap beats and atmospheric passages into a distinctly theatrical, cinematic whole. Once again, the electronic component leaves a substantial mark on the album, with beats, samples and synthetic textures regularly demanding a role every bit as decisive as the guitars and drums. On Ydos, these disparate elements are deliberately set against one another and interwoven, resulting in a darker, more ominous, heavier, less predictable and more layered sound. Restrained, almost fragile passages suddenly erupt into explosive outbursts; electronic rhythms collide and merge with crushing riffs, while different vocal styles alternate in rapid succession. Although the contrasts remain pronounced, the transitions on Ydos generally feel more carefully prepared, and the songs feature more clearly developed dramatic arcs.
The album’s idiosyncratic character is also fully realised in its subject matter. Ydos revolves around a concept centred on human vices. It serves as a unifying thread, binding the music, lyrics and the band’s striking visual world even more closely together. The story of Ydos opens with the terrifying Pasaka, Lithuanian for fairy tale, after which Motina depicts the birth of the dark forces. These vices are then each given their own name and character: Melas represents deceit, Zelvar greed and Revana revenge.
Vocalist Agni is an undeniable focal point of Black Spikes, although that has less to do with her theatrical, dark, surreal and fairy-tale-like appearance than with her extraordinary range. She roars, shrieks, raps and whispers, but also regularly switches to an almost ethereal form of spoken singing, creating enormous vocal variety. At the same time, she brings a remarkable depth of feeling to her performance, giving even the most extreme passages a fragile or emotional undercurrent. This is particularly evident in Aurea, where ethereal singing and roaring vocals alternate in quick succession, and in Apatija, where the more restrained passages bring her expressive side compellingly to the fore.
Thanks in part to this variety, Ydos emerges as a distinctive and unconventional album. Its versatility is undoubtedly one of the record’s greatest strengths, although it may also present a minor obstacle for some listeners. Because the songs combine so many elements, moods and stylistic shifts, their details can take time to fall into place. This is especially true of Melas, where trap beats, rap, heavy riffs and progressive twists follow one another at high speed, making the first few listens demanding. The sheer wealth of ideas also means that some passages initially overwhelm rather than captivate. At times, the album’s elaborate construction can feel polished to the point of self-consciousness. Listeners drawn to NIL for its uninhibited accumulation of styles, strange detours and slightly chaotic energy may therefore find Ydos more controlled and less spontaneous.
Ydos is, above all, a bold album on which Black Spikes presents its identity more convincingly than before. Not every idea lands immediately, but the band’s willingness to take risks and unite seemingly incompatible musical worlds gives the record its distinctive character. The album also rewards repeated listening, as new details, connections and subtle turns continue to emerge. In that sense, Black Spikes not only takes a clear step forward from NIL, but demonstrates how far metal can evolve when genre boundaries are treated not as limitations, but as an invitation.
Score:
84/100
Label:
Napalm Records, 2026
Tracklisting:
- Pasaka
- Motina
- Melas
- Mara
- Zelvar
- Revana
- Apatija
- Aurea
- Senas Demonas
- Dulkės
Line-up:
- Agni – Vocals
- Yaga – Guitar, Electronic elements
- Mazvis – Guitar
- Sime – Bass
- Titas – Drums
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