Back in 2023, an album was released that I absolutely loved. It was Khnvm’s Visions of a Plague Ridden Sky, and not only did I review it in these hallowed pages, it also made it onto my year-end list (shocker).

Fast forward to 2025, and they are back with another bludgeoning album in the form of Cosmocrator, a 35:56-minute killing machine that expands on the ideas from Visions of a Plague Ridden Sky, which was a respectable 24:71-minute epic Death Metal monster.

Cosmocrator is a rip ride bringing more of the Morbid Angel/ Hate Eternal vibe from Visions of a Plague Ridden Sky. Opening track “Purgatorial Pyre” comes rising on ethereal keyboards and spare guitars before the chugging starts to take form and the blast kicks in, and with that they’re off to the races: blistering riff after blistering riff flows like lava from the speakers.

In preparation for this review, I went and spent an entire day with Cosmocrator and their back catalog. I’ve got to say that Cosmocrator is a leap forward from Foretold Monuments of Flesh, with its murky atmosphere and Portals to Oblivion, where the murkiness left and a more streamlined Death Metal beast began to take form. Visions of a Plague Ridden Sky showed them adding more depth with Middle Eastern vibes that ultimately elevated that album. Cosmocrator still has these moments, but they’re not as pronounced as before.

“Fetid Eden” bursts out with 7:19 minutes of quality Death Metal in a way that only Khnvm can do. Rumbling drum and bass that serve only to bludgeon your face into a pulp. Its unrelenting delivery is followed by “Mercurial Remnants” bringing some Hate meets Sinister themes to the forefront.

“Fathomless Enigma” is the subtle instrumental that forms the center of the album. It sets up the brutality of the Gorguts-ish of the relentless title track, with a little bit of Belphegor thrown in for taste, if you will.

Produced and recorded at too many fucking places to list could’ve meant a slogging mess, but this album sounds phenomenal.

“Venom Spawn” has a sick as fuck breakdown with skronky pinch harmonies amongst the flurry of blasting. This comes in around the 4:26 mark and rides that death horse till song’s end.

Track seven, “The Haunting Blight” begins with some Dooooooom guitars and some tremolo picking sweeps up the stray notes, but for the most part, this is a mid-paced brutalizer that’s the perfect way to end Cosmocrator.

Khnvm is back, the brutal masterpiece that is Cosmocrator has arrived to blow your mind and speakers. For you nutters who like Hate, Morbid Angel, and Belphegor, this is the real fucking deal. Not for the weak, fucking get it!

[Visit the band's website]

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