Label: Throne Of Lies Records | Release Date: January 10th, 2026
There’s metal you listen to… and then there’s metal that lies down in the dirt with you, stares up at the sky, and starts asking deeply uncomfortable questions about your life choices. 😈⚰️
The Earth Above, A Grave Beneath firmly lands in the second camp.
This is the fourth full-length album from Louisville, Kentucky’s The Promise Of Plague, and it’s an absolute emotional sinkhole of blackened doom and death metal that drags you under slowly, deliberately, and without apology. Nearly a decade on from their debut EP Sleepwalking Into Armageddon, this band sound sharper, darker, and far more dangerous. Experience weighs heavy here — and it suits them beautifully.
The album opens with the gloriously unpleasant “Vomit Running Through My Veins”, which does exactly what it says on the tin. It slams you back in your seat, then refuses to stay still — twisting through shifting tempos, unexpected melodic guitar lines, and thick, suffocating atmosphere. Vocals arrive like a reckoning, visceral and unflinching. This track alone tells you everything you need to know: this record will not behave.
From there, the band roam freely through their sonic wasteland. “Dead Mistake” feels haunted, drenched in emotive darkness, while “One Line Poem” thrives on varied vocal interplay, balancing vulnerability and venom in equal measure. The title track, “The Earth Above, A Grave Beneath”, hits with something deeper — guitar motifs that feel ancient, almost ritualistic, rooted in something universal and unsettling. This isn’t just heaviness for the sake of it; it’s weight with meaning. 🖤
Things turn properly feral with “My World Is Better, Darker”, its black metal heart beating slower and more venomously as it slithers towards the epic “Of Sorrow”. And honestly? This is where the album fully opens its chest. Resounding chords, weary marches across windswept hills, jagged riffs, frantic bursts of speed, and raw, impassioned screams all collide into a momentous, soul-wrecking journey. It’s bleak. It’s beautiful. It’s massive.
And then — because The Promise Of Plague clearly enjoy messing with expectations — the album closes with a brutal, twisted reworking of Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health”. What should be a straightforward headbanger gets dragged through their blackened lens and spat out as a triumphant, warped finale. It shouldn’t work… but it absolutely does. 🤘🔥
Sonically, the album hits hard and clean. Recorded and mixed by Chris Leffler and mastered by Todd Hawkins (Overload), the production gives the band room to breathe without dulling the menace. Every crushing riff lands, every atmospheric layer feels intentional. Add in the evocative cover artwork by guitarist Jerry Barksdale, and the whole thing feels like a fully realised vision — sound, image, and intent aligned.
Released via Throne Of Lies Records, The Earth Above, A Grave Beneath is not a casual listen. It’s demanding, immersive, and emotionally heavy — but for those willing to sink into it, the reward is immense. This is metal that stares into the abyss, nods, and keeps walking. Proper job, mun. 😈⚰️
🩸 Line-up
JD Hall – Vocals
Joanie Michele – Vocals
Jerry Barksdale – Guitars
Sam Pedneau – Guitars
Phil Garrett – Bass
Jim Huggins – Drums
Additional guest guitars by Chris Leffler
🔥 Genre
Blackened Doom / Death Metal
🎧 For fans of
1914 | Woods Of Ypres | Katatonia | Fear Of God
If your idea of a good time involves existential dread, crushing riffs, and music that feels like a cold shovel of earth on the chest… congratulations. You’ve found your next obsession. 🖤🤘
