This is the kind of black metal I love. Dark, grim vocals with no shrieking. Drumming that never settles into extended stretches of blastbeats. Granted, there are blastbeats present (the opener ‘Anthropogenic Apocalypse’ comes flying out with them), but they actually do something, setting expectations so they can be subverted in short order. What follows are complex, well-crafted songs, with interesting bass lines, and choruses that make an impact without beating you over the head.
The album feels less like a random collection of songs and more like a single composition, each track shifting gears just enough to feel distinct, and all tied together in tone and atmosphere. ‘Feral Child’ is the perfect opener: gnarly bass weaving under the melody and a memorable chorus with sweet little digga-digga-digga guitar accent that puts a grin on my face every time I hear it. ‘Perfect Slave’ might be the centerpiece—verses grim and direct, then opening into clean-vocal choruses with a big melodic lift. ‘Cursed Seeds’ closes things out with the same sense of purpose that’s there from the start, and some killer bass work to boot.
If you’re looking for comparisons, Arcturus is in the DNA, especially in how the songs take theatrical left turns without ever going completely off the rails. Khôra’s in there too, though Hladomrak lean darker in tone, less about wacky flights of fancy and more about intensity And while Craft’s shadow looms in the grit of the riffs, the bigger picture is a constant back-and-forth between serious, cold black metal and the more progressive strangeness of bands like Arcturus and Borknagar.
I first came across them on a Spotify recommendation while listening to the new Khôra record. Funny thing is, while Khôra didn’t grab me right away, Hladomrak did. Both albums grew on me with time, and at this point they’re neck-and-neck as the best progressive black metal of 2025.
Fragments of the Great Dehumanization is one of those rare albums that manages to be intricate without losing focus, grim without being monotonous. For me, it’s not just destined for my year-end list, it’s the kind of album I’ll keep coming back to whenever I want black metal that’s dark, challenging, and still genuinely fun to listen to.
A dark, purposeful, and surprisingly hooky slab of progressive black metal that balances grimness with just enough weirdness to keep things compelling.
