Fog Wall Gloomweaver Review
Fog Wall
Gloomweaver
Self-Release
2026
Reno, Nevada, is the seedier, dirtier first cousin to Las Vegas, so it makes perfect sense for a dirty, low-tuned, grizzly death metal duo to call it home. Such is the case with independent crushers Fog Wall and their uniquely crafted debut, Gloomweaver.
FOG WALL is a passion project of lifelong friends Zak Brady and Alex Malmquist. They draw inspiration from all things dark fantasy and horror, with these 10 songs being centered on author J.R.R. Tolkien's most sordid and harrowing tales. In addition to that, there are stories of the torturous, terrifying worlds depicted in the work of FromSoftware, the Japanese video game development studio. We get everything from haunted fortresses to arachnid-shaped demons intent on eating the world and, finally, forceful enclosure of humans in glass jars. So, if you were thinking this was nerdy, gamer-type metal, think again, my friend. This stuff is creepy, lethal, and downright scary within its themes, and the slamming grooves, sporadic blasts, and the odd placement of eerie melody throughout drive that point home.
Brady and Malmquist (who also plays bass) share vocal duties alongside the impossibly low-tuned guitars of Shagrat "Quincy" Gorbag and the fleet-footed drumming of Logan Griggs. Regarding the vocals, they marry low gutturals with some bree/pig squeals, high black metalesque screams, and modern hardcore gruff shouts, though I'm not sure between the two who is doing what. Either way, the approach is used to maximum effectiveness. FOG WALL also benefits from a bottom-heavy, crisp, and clear production (also handled by Malmquist) that leans more into modern sonics without sounding too compressed or brittle.
The meat and potatoes of this, however, are the songs. If I had to describe their overall sound, I would say most of the output falls into the slam death metal meets 2026 hardcore/deathcore ("Mazarbul (Desolation)" and "Knife. Sting. Tooth"), but they don't rely solely on that. There are plenty of moments where they take cues from the mid-'90s DM and even black metal ("Strangling Doom"). They also ramp up the speed with harmonized guitar passages and techy bass flourishes in "Fleshpot Ritual," which has a caveman chugging breakdown section to boot. They aren't afraid to parlay their faster, chaotic stuff into a maelstrom of tapping main guitars, blast beat-informed drums, and throat-ripping highs on "Frantic Orb Welder" either. Curiously, they slap a Type O Negative cover into the mix with their doom-laden/suspended chordal take on "Profits of Doom (Medley)," and somehow it works, with them shifting from a crawl to fire-breathing, breakneck speed and back to tarpit tempos in the tail of the song, even closing it with the OG track's beautiful keyboards. "Traverse" closes the album out with more subterranean, doomy deathisms and ten-ton breakdown motifs.
FOG WALL offers up quite an adept mixed bag here in the space of just over 42 minutes, complemented with what I assume are some LOTR samples, spoken-word intros, and atmospheric soundscapes. I'm not knocking it one bit. Gloomweaver is an interesting take on just WHAT can be considered death metal, and it's a varied, unsettling, but brain-cracking heavy listen. Put on your best gaming headset, spill some orc blood, and try not to violently destroy your PC with this misanthropic and venomously angry album...
RIYL - Internal Bleeding, Incantation, Tribal Gaze, Clairvoyance, Anthrodynia
~TB