On their 2019 LP, ‘Ode To Oblivion’, Oreyeon delivered a set of songs driven by absolutely crushing riffs. Blending the stoner/fuzz of classic Kyuss into a doomier musical landscape, the record’s best songs were unrelentingly heavy, and yet a world of vocal filters and other tricks sometimes gave their sound a deep psych edge which kept things interesting. Over the next few years, Oreyeon would become an important fixture within the Italian doom and sludge scenes. By the time they recorded ‘Equations For The Useless’ in 2022, a much bigger recording budget gave them a slightly clearer sound, but without making their material especially more accessible. If anything, it cemented the band’s reputation as one of Europe’s finest underground metal bands.
The bulk of their 2026 release ‘The Grotesque Within’ is different enough again to give the sense of a band constantly pushing forward. The production values are much better – more expensive sounding, yet never in a way that detracts from Oreyeon’s intensity.
The opening riffs of the album’s first offering ‘Echoes of Old Nightmares’ work effects pedals into oblivion, setting up something that tips the hat to Fu Manchu’s Bob Balch. The arrival of a heavier riff leans a little further towards extreme stoner fare than Oreyeon’s older, doom laden riffs, but still maintains a pleasingly sludgy edge that makes the finer points of the rhythm section’s work feel half buried. As with some of their stronger past works, the vocal shows off a slight echo, but there’s nothing else here that seems remotely interested in venturing into deep psych. The instrumental moments accentuate the recording’s intense sludgy quality, and this sounds brilliant once the band set a genuine groove in place towards the end, but there’s also a touch more melody present here too, thanks to a fuzzy, blues drenched lead guitar break, shifting the influence back to the early 70s. Interestingly, this track aims to be all things to all stoner/doom metal fans, and unusually, it succeeds. The riff has a groove; the vocal adds an otherworldly feel; the bass brings some intensive sludginess that adds an edge to the heaviness, but above all, there’s a brilliantly dark melody running through the centre of these four minutes, showing how this band are genuinely capable of delivering a great sound. It’s not only a track that sets ‘The Grotesque Within’ off with best foot forward, musically speaking, but also one of the finest Oreyeon tracks to date at the time of this album’s release.
Having warmed up with some intensive riffing, the band venture into slightly sludgier places on the two pronged ‘Nothing But Impurities’. Following some backmasked sounds, the first part of the track launches itself into a surprisingly grungy riff that fuses the heaviest elements of bands like Alice In Chains and Haji’s Kitchen with a dose of sludge, making Oreyeon sound like the natural successors to Awooga, but with a touch more melody. The broadest melodic sweeps come via an unexpected use of slide guitar, but the vocals here also convey a surprisingly accessible tone. It isn’t quite enough to make the band have a crossover appeal – this is definitely aimed squarely at ageing grungers who love a bit of sludge – but Oreyeon sound great. Then, instead of capitalising on an undeniably superb groove, the second part of the track does a massive dogleg into a world of doomy bass riffs, dark psych guitar lines and, eventually, shares a sludge fuelled riff that makes the band sound heavier than ever. Providing an obvious link with the first movement, dark hued harmony vocals draw heavily from the swampier end of the Alice In Chains catalogue, fitting very naturally with a heavier sound. There’s so much sludge at the heart of this piece that it’ll possibly need to be approached with caution if not in the right mood for such things, but it’s all brilliantly played.
‘I’m Your Mistake’, meanwhile, sets a bluesy riff in place during a strong sounding intro, utilising a much cleaner sound than some of Oreyeon’s work, but the bigger concession to an easier melody is quickly offset by a heavy riff that, again, calls more upon a sludge metal influence. Oreyeon sound ready to take on sludge pioneers Crowbar and devotees Conan, but in their own style, add a little more swagger. The riff wastes no time in presenting itself as a contemporary doom-sludge classic, while the use of dark tones within some great harmony vocals occasionally sounds like a much more intense Alice In Chains, bringing a potential crossover appeal. For those who love a great sense of melody within their heaviness, this track doesn’t sell the audience short. During the extended instrumental, brighter sounding, clean toned lead guitars are on hand, and with an impeccably played solo calling back to more of a trad metal era, this becomes a really well rounded performance that’s set to impress a broad spectrum of metal fans.
Kicking off with a huge drum sound courtesy of Pietro Virgilio, the title cut signifies the arrival of something massive – and in terms of hugeness of riff vs darkness of vocal, it certainly doesn’t disappoint. The swampy doom-laden sound, however, suggests a band already repeating themselves at times. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue for those who are already invested in the album, but it’s not a track that’ll win over anyone who still happens to be unconvinced at this point. A closer ear will reveal a cleaner riff that feels just about different enough from previous tracks, but it isn’t until the midpoint that Oreyeon use their platform especially inventively. A brilliant middle eight shows off a very different side to the band: cleaner toned guitars hint at a late 60s tinged melody and a blanket of keys steers everything away from pure metal and into a psychedelic landscape that allows soaring, blues inspired lead guitar work to take centre stage. The sludginess makes an inevitable return, of course, but it’s good to hear Oreyeon tackling something very different. Towards the end of this epic track, there’s another twist that’s quite welcome, when the musicians manage to sneak in a riff or two inspired by Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Rover’, only delivered in a pure sludge tone worthy of the mighty Conan or Byzanthian Neckbeard.
The more marginal sounding ‘Something Over There’ presents a bendy guitar part where Andrea Ricci and Matteo Signanini weave a riff with Arabic tones, while bassist Richard Silvaggio compliments their work with an equally bendy bassline, bringing something almost funk tinged to Oreyeon’s heavy soundscape. Naturally, there’s a wealth of doom and sludge sounds here too, and when locking into a heavy groove, the four musicians sound unshakeable. In closing, the epic ‘Dead Puppet Eyes’ allows for more clean guitar and keys to supply a very atmospheric intro, before a classic sludge riff steers everything towards an oppressive darkness. As you’re possibly expecting at this point, the band’s mix of Crowbar inspired riffing and Alice In Chains meets early Tool vocals works very effectively, even when the core of the music moves into a comfort zone. Even so, the way bright sounding lead guitars lay siren-like riffs over the swamp, and mournful vocal melodies jostle against chugging riffs and wavering basslines creates something close to classic Oreyeon, and if you’ve ventured this far into ‘The Grotesque Within’, you’re pretty much guaranteed to love this track.
Packing seven numbers into a pleasingly deep sounding, very heavy thirty eight minutes, ‘The Grotesque Within’ runs rings around previous Oreyeon releases. What’s more, the material takes various familiar touchstones and gives them a severe kick up the arse to create the kind of doom/sludge/intense stoner release that, more often than not, feels utterly vital. A record not to be missed.
February 2026