Hungarians ROTHADÁS arrive with their first long player, after 2019’s two-song self-titled release. Taking a page from the DARKTHRONE playbook, one might easily assume the duo to follow their ancestors’ now well-trodden paths to the past, but not so. Whereas the former relies these days on breaking down metal/punk/doom to its most stark, Messrs. Ledeczy and Hanyi don’t seem blind to taking ROTHADÁS death/doom down unexpected trails.

In truth, what first drew me to Kopár hant…az alvilág felé was the cover art of four Victorian-era pallbearers transporting a coffin towards an inner-lit crypt amid a grey (I envision), rain-drizzled night. The twosome gets down (operative word) to the slow ‘n’ low straight off, ‘Ultoso kenet’ weighty, wounding in its heft, that is, until just after the two-minute mark, where twisted early MORBID ANGEL convulsions flail about, passion – not perfection – being of utmost import. The riff at 4:50 is an earworm of the GRAVE-est sort, dining, maggoty and unhindered, and its here that we truly begin to see that the members have done their homework, schooled of the oldest, but not content to petrify in their adoration – they want to set themselves apart, it’s clear.

Tonally, ‘Sirko’ is exquisite, and boasts a good bit of swagger, knuckle-dragging and monotonous to the point of hypnotic, that prehistoric lizard-brained behemoth, treading with intent toward your destruction. At the midpoint, the band jerks as if struck by lightning, a brief pummeling, then back to a loping, mid-paced extended outro. More trad-doom than anything thus far on Kopár hant… az alvilág felé, ‘Kripta’ recalls NEMESIS’ Day Of Retribution in moments, TROUBLE in others, at least insofar as the guitars, never a bad thing, but bolstered by Ledeckzy’s bile-drenched vomiting and ejaculations of bloody visceral death to keep things from bogging down.

At the end, what stands out mostly is the ability of the band to switch between such disparate styles on a dime, yet neither sounding forced or superfluous. ROTHADÁS are searching for that which will, as mentioned prior, set themselves apart. To these ears, Kopár hant… az alvilág felé is a good first step, and demands repeated listens.
Review By: Lord Randall

ROTHADÁS
Kopár hant…az alvilág felé
Me Saco Un Ojo Records
3.5 / 6