The first review I wrote for Metal Temple was on INDIAN NIGHTMARE back in 2019. Featured in the band was a vocalist and guitarist who simply went by the name Mogli. Some six years later, I’m still writing for Metal Temple and, as far as I know, Mogli is still active in INDIAN NIGHTMARE. He’s also in a Blackened Speed Metal band out of Leipzig, Germany known as MORBYDA. On June 20, 2025, they release their debut full-length album, Under the Spell, via Dying Victims Productions. It is an exceptionally well-crafted slab of extreme metal reminiscent of old school speed metal but layered with a oxidized blackened edge.

One look at the iconic album cover, and you know you’re in for a gauntlet with this album. A dark maiden sitting atop of skull-encrusted throne, goblet (one presumes of blood) in one clawed hand, eyes devoid of pupils gazing upon us with utter indifference while lightening cracks the bleak storm-ridden skies in the background.

Two things really make this album: First, the dual guitar assault, with Julez and Mogli weaving in and out of rhythm and lead in a vicious danse macabre. Second, Mogli’s soaring vocals. With so much going on with harsh vocals out there, it’s becoming rare to get the clean but visceral vocal styling that Mogli renders. But here’s the thing, he fluently switches between demonic rasping and seraphic piercing at will as if he were fluent in both. Best of both worlds.

The songwriting is also strong. Tracks like “Mother of Decay” and “Morbid Ways of Dying” traipse through multiple movements while other tracks like “Evil,” “Open the Gates of Fire,” and “The Curse” are straight shots of brutality. Still others like “Turning of the Steel Wheel” sound like they rolled off the 80’s NWOBHM press. Production values throughout are well pitched with a nice layer of grit. It could be my headphones imploding or my rapidly deteriorating hearing, but there seems to be an analog vibe infused into the album which you kind of expect from a band like MORBYDA. So, well done there.

MORBYDA blends the raw energy and anger of betrayed youth with the evil machinations of an exterminating angel. And while Under the Spell is technically their debut album, they execute like they’ve been at it for a while. And I don’t mean in a tired way, but rather with authority and lethal proficiency proper German metalists.