HOLOGRAMAH's "Abyssus.Versus.Versiculos" Brings Chilean Black Metal

Chilean orthodox black metal project HOLOGRAMAH released "Abyssus.Versus.Versiculos" on January 2 via Living Temple Records, delivering one of the year's first compelling and deeply immersive entries in the extreme metal underground that demands repeated listens to fully absorb. The eight-track album presents an atmospheric, dissonant, and deeply ritualistic sound driven by deliberately raw production values that strip away all modern polish in favor of an authentic, cavernous aesthetic that powerfully evokes the genre's most mystical and transcendent traditions rooted in spiritual darkness and occult ceremony. The lyrical content draws heavily and thoughtfully from Gnosticism, esoteric philosophy, and the Dark Arts, creating an immersive and intellectually stimulating conceptual framework that perfectly complements the music's otherworldly and deeply unsettling atmosphere throughout the album's demanding runtime. Standout tracks include "Holograms Into The Octoagram," which builds patiently from an eerie ambient introduction into a whirlwind of relentless blasting drums, tremolo-picked guitar lines, and harrowing vocal incantations, and "The Unmanifested Revelation," a sprawling and ambitious composition that boldly explores the shadowy boundaries between orthodox black metal and dark ambient territory with remarkable confidence and vision. Chile has long been a remarkably fertile breeding ground for extreme metal of all varieties, producing internationally recognized acts across death metal, thrash, and black metal subgenres that have earned South America a fearsome reputation in the underground. HOLOGRAMAH draw from this rich national tradition while incorporating significant influences from the French and Icelandic black metal scenes, particularly the dissonant, ceremonial, and psychedelic approaches pioneered by influential bands like DEATHSPELL OMEGA, BLUT AUS NORD, and SVARTIDAUDI. The result is a debut album that feels both firmly rooted in established tradition and genuinely exploratory in its considerable artistic ambitions. The album adds to a remarkably strong start for extreme metal in 2026, joining notable releases from ELLENDE, FUATH, and EXCAVATED GRAVES in the year's first wave of underground black and death metal excellence.