Album Review: Phasma - Purgatory (2026, Transcending Obscurity Records)
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Written: 16th February 2026
Greek band Phasma centres on the creative partnership between guitarist Jason Athanasiadis and vocalist Luis Ferre. Having issued their self-titled debut in 2018 and follow-up Epiales in 2022, the duo – accompanied by drummer Bill Nanos and bassist George Markantonis – are now prepared to release their third full-length album in the shape of Purgatory.
Phasma are completely unafraid to meld sub-genres; Purgatory encompasses everything from black metal to brutal death metal via elements of aggressive heavy thrash. Lyrically, the album fuses horror, corrupted religion and apocalyptic transformation, portraying humanity crushed between divine decay and monstrous ascension. It is not a theme for the faint-hearted and nor is the music. A six-part concept album, each track is simple numbered by Roman numerals from I to VI.
I opens the album with slowly picked, malevolent guitar and rumbling dissonance that hints at something evil and twisted to come – an atmosphere that is maintained throughout almost the entire running time of Purgatory. A twisted and abyssal deep spoken word section begins the dark narrative. A howling storm raged / As Mary, heavy with destiny /  birthed a babe in a forgotten barn / Yet, unseen eyes watched. A blasphemous retelling of the nativity scene, I becomes a vision of possession, sacrifice and cosmic evil. Luis Ferre’s guttural vocals are impressively spat with a jagged ferocity that drips with venomous intent. Oppressive guitars rain down and Nanos’s drums crush everything in their path. It is a warped and harrowing beginning to an album that is committed to its philosophy throughout. Nevertheless, there are moments when the riffs become chugging juggernauts, stomping with authority. There is melody here too in the form of the guitar solo towards the end of the track.
II begins with synths that feel as if something ritualistic is about to unfold. It is another unnerving beginning to a track that loses all sense of control once the drums and guitars attack. On a song that, at times, appears quite deranged, Ferre continues the story which contorts into a description of a hellish battlefield where war becomes a ritual of human sacrifice. A wraith fuelled by spite / The trench gun barks / A mechanical snapping at the heels of oblivion / Icy ichor splatters on my face / A grotesque christening. Somehow Phasma prevent the track from losing all semblance of direction as the molasses thick riffs and bass in the central section bring some temporary focus before the pulverising chaos of the song’s conclusion batter us repeatedly.
III begin with a cutting, frost‑laden wind that threatens to chill us to the bone through the simple fact of just hearing it. Slow paced with colossal riffs, Phasma deliver a welcome change to the sheer annihilation they have unleashed thus far. They also show that they are prepared to let atmosphere battle with brutality in weaving their nefarious tale. After just forty seconds, all the instruments fall away and we are left with the distant wind and spectral organ. This respite is short lived and soon black metal style arpeggios clash with death metal vocals in distorted amalgamation. In a further display of their willingness to blend styles, the final ninety seconds of III contains some of the most monstrous death metal to be found here, an almost military style drum section and volcanic but melodic guitar solo – a continual change in approach that should not be as cohesive as it feels.
IV is a whirlwind of speed and dissonance, a grotesque blur that rattles speakers to the brink, yet even here, moments of clarity pierce the nightmarish gloom. Lyrically, it finds a charismatic preacher channelling an eldritch force, turning worship into mass possession. The faithful pressed forward / Desperate for his touch / A touch that promised healing / And a communion with the divine / But the healed did not remain so / Skin turned sickly / Over bulging veins / Blackened eyes / Pupils engulfed the sclera. It is a track that will resonate with listeners who gravitate toward the harsher, more confrontational edges of extreme metal — a piece whose unsettling lyrics will appeal to anyone drawn to the genre’s darker, more provocative impulses.
For all of what has come before, V might be the most disturbing track on Purgatory. It embodies the cultic, sulphurous spirit that spews from the album with some of the slower, quieter moments – such as the rumbling bass and utterly primal vocals – coalescing into a suffocating presence. With no intention of letting listeners rest, VI ends the album in cataclysmic, corrosive fashion. In the narrative, a knight enters a cursed cavern dominated by a bell whose toll fractures reality. Each ring / A pact with the abyss / Each chime / A death knell / As nightmares spill forth / Like a spectral flood. Some of the vocals are so gnarled, visceral and raw that they that sound animalistic in nature like the anguished cry of a cornered beast. As the final notes of the album fade away,  we are left with organ and warped synths that do little to restore an atmosphere of comfort.
Purgatory is as a strong statement that will speak most to listeners already immersed in the harsher edges of extreme metal. Those tuned into its wavelength will find a searing, uncompromising and at times, chaotic vision. Its collision of black‑leaning passages, brutal death metal force and moments of sharp technical flair gives the record a ferocious pulse, even if that intensity means it will not sit comfortably with everyone. At only twenty‑seven minutes, its relentlessness feels deliberate; stretching this any further would risk overwhelming the experience entirely. Even with its malefic and seismic personality, Purgatory is best consumed in one sitting. Across these six pieces, the music sways between tight control and near‑chaos, while the vocals often veer into sounds that barely resemble anything human. A blistering surge of blackened extremity, Purgatory will reward the devoted and crush the unprepared.
Purgatory is released on 20th February 2026
Phasma online