While I am tempted to call SPLENDIDULA's latest album, "Absentia," haunting, it is much more threatening than an average haunt. Maybe demonic, or infernal. And maybe that approximates the type of melancholia the band seeks to express. Promo material describes the album as being "shaped by themes of grief, depression, and loss," adding further that "SPLENDIDULA merges black metal and doom with fragile atmospheric passages, drenched in grief and desolation." That's certainly the vibe the album cover conveys—a lone person, head slightly inclined, a splash of pitch scratched across their eyes, black and white. It is stark, it is visceral, it is all too penetrating and present. And that's how I would describe the album all together: stark, visceral, penetrating and present. 

I don't know much about SPLENDIDULA, so I'm not going to make this about the history of the band or their evolution since their formation in 2008. Rather, I'll just focus on this current release. Their fourth. It was released on April 3, 2026 via Argonauta Records and features two guest singers, Aaron Stainthorpe (ex-My Dying Bride, High Parasite) and Tim Yatras (Austere, Germ). It comprises six tracks with a full runtime of about 43 minutes. The styling ranges from Atmospheric to Death-paced brutal to Black Metal hellscape. Much of it, expect for "Kilt" which comes at you like a planet killer, is mostly set to a Doom tempo.

Kristien Cools flows seamless between clean and harsh vocals as well as English and Dutch. Her voice has a powerful and emotional effect. Equally as fluid, Guy Van Campenhout's guitar work ranges from crushing to melodic and, of course, Joachim Taminau stitches it all together with a solid single man rhythm section.

The first track, "Absentia," starts in low with creeping bass line followed by some a grayscale BM riffage. Based on this first track, which is a clear standout track btw, I was ready to settle in for some long-haul atmospheric, but the album defied me at every step. Which is a good thing. Just when I thought I had the album figured out based on the first three tracks, the band shifts to the oh-so soothing "Dalkuldar" and from there to the inhuman "Kilte." The final track, "Let it Comes to an End," combines it all—the gentle, the brutal, the atmospheric. Probably my favorite track, although the entire album is exceptional.  

SPLEDIDULA renders a surprising amount of depth and breadth, especially for a trio, with "Absentia." Another one of those bands whose music demands that you check out their entire discography. SPLENDIDULA. "Absentia." So dark it's bright.