Hostillia The Curse Of The Khamun Review

Hostilia

The Curse of Khamun

Hammerheart Records

2026

An '80s horror-themed keyboard piece that recalls The Exorcist or maybe The Omen starts up before a staticky guitar riff chunks and downpicks its way into the speakers with raspy Chuck Billy-ish vocals, pounding drums, and intricate bass/six-string interplay. This one-two punch of “The Awakening” and “Lost In the Void” is now in full swing. That is how Gothenburg, Sweden's Hostilia have chosen to begin their second album in less than a year, The Curse of Khamun.

Hostilia are a younger band, having just formed five years ago. However, an important DIY aesthetic follows them. They recorded and produced this album entirely themselves, with Per Stålberg (Welfare Sounds) handling the mixing. The result is no studio trickery or digital shortcuts. This is real amps and real instruments being played by real humans. Said real humans tear through the eight songs here with catchy, gang-shouted choruses backed by throbbing 4/4 chugs, speedy downbeat sections, shredded leads, mid-tempo marches, and gruff half-sung/half-shouted vocals.

Hostilia keep their songs fairly simple, but that isn't to imply they are meat-and-potatoes arrangements. There's plenty of time changes (“No Mercy For the Weak”), clean-to-heavy guitar balladry (“Sleeping Water”), and all-out bouncy chopping thrash (“The Curse of Kamun,” “Lightning Warfare”). In addition, there's that classic double-kick 6/8 gallop that not nearly enough bands do on the fantasy-metal-titled instrumental “Enchanter of the Sea,” which has more than enough power metal twin-guitar wizardry to make Helloween and Iron Maiden look over their shoulders.

Lyrically, these songs are completely inspired by war, Italian '80s horror, fear of the unknown, and the curse of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. You know, all subjects us old heads can appreciate from the genre. Hostilia are quite literally an open love letter to the thrash we all grew up on in the mid-to-late '80s, and they do it with the sonics from back in the day, too, right down to the overly reverbed vocals of Tim Angelini. The Curse of Khamun is just over 42 minutes, and while I know that may seem long in today's landscape of singles and EPs across whatever streaming platforms we all consume music with, those 42 minutes will be well worth your time and will fly by quickly, especially if you fancy hearing a troupe of young Swedish lions play varied, catchy, and engaging, period-correct '80s thrash that is as neck-breakingly heavy as it is fun. Hostilia prove that there's plenty left in the tank of said genre to push it forward, even in 2026…

RIYL- Testament, Slayer, Exodus, Iron Maiden

~TB