Returning after seven long years with a new crushing album, ‘Mendacium’ is the band’s seventh studio album released through Profound Lore Records on October 17th, 2025. There are no words that can describe the unfolding music, the eerie-filled emotions and the textural tones created by the synth. The portal opens up with the first seconds of the opening track ‘Matins’, leaving you to confront the ambient horror.

There is an element of menace entwined with the slow trudging riffs, crushing drums and obscure soundscapes layered with keyboards. The deep guttural growls echo from a ghostly void. The plodding heaviness of the guitar chords yields the tectonic drums for a brutal transition on the second track ‘Lauds’.

It’s drenched in the gloomy monochrome of funeral doom. Evoken invokes dark and sinister entities to stimulate the horror themes. The outburst of aggression has a soul-crushing effect and plays a significant role when utilized, incorporating straightforward elements of death doom.

The sensation of utter dread, desperation and melancholy is exploited in each track, illustrating a visceral shift in emotions. All instruments create palpable, spacious dark atmospheres, with the heavy reverb guitars sounding creepy and otherworldly. In addition, the guitar solos, as well as the drums, provide a unique framework for the cascading soundscapes. The work of the clean guitars, when combined with the intricate keyboards in the interval track ‘Prime’, exudes an eerie, mystical aura.

Evoken conjures moments of unease in the next track ‘Terce’, which focuses on a thick wall of heavy guitars. The monstrous grunts sound creepy, deep and guttural, with the spoken words inducing moments of unease. The ferocity is never restrained, but rather brings another level of brutality, including the chord progression and the slow, laden doom funeral passages that provide a cold and haunting sensation when combined with the textural guitar effects.

‘Sext’ lets you sink into the melancholic musical arts of Evoken, yet what gives it real impact is the omnipresent nature of the synth. This track stands out and is reminiscent of the 2018 album ‘Hypnagogia’, which presents the same elements by emphasizing atmospheric synth with slow guitar, providing an uplifting passage.

Alongside the backdrop where every instrument is beautifully arranged, the clean whispers are uttered in a dismal form. The mastery of the lead guitar melodies sets the mood for what’s to come until the end of the song, which develops into a hypnotic and doom tempo.

‘None’ embodies the sonic darkness style of Evoken and manages to capture a dreadful mood. There are even more horrifying moments when the crushing double bass sets up a funeral doom pace. The keyboards and the spoken words reflect a bleak experience; they also display a unique sonic palette reminiscent of the symphonic and atmospheric black metal bands.

The extensive use of the synth in the three-minute interval ‘Vesper’ is drenched in the band’s trademark. The songwriting on ‘Mendacium’ is spectacular, where every riff unleashes powerful chords, trudging tempo changes and drums are magnificent, layered with a heavy bass rumble.

The amplified madness on this concept album tells the tale of a fourteenth-century elder Benedictine monk who suffers from illness, preventing him from leaving his room within the monastery where he dwells. His faith and service to God can never be satiated. Slowly declining in health and sleepless from continuous pain, the monk encounters a hideous entity emerging through a tear in reality. The story’s question invites us to explore whether the monk is afflicted by a demonic entity or if he is battling the shadows of his own mind.

The final track ‘Compline’ emphasizes heaviness and embraces the aspects of modern funeral doom. The song slowly descends into utter gloom by possessing crushing tempos while keeping the titanic lumbering guitar chords bludgeon you persistently. Layers of intricate melody and blistering tremolos build up to a growing atmosphere of morbid disgust. The haunting passages provide some thrilling sonic landscapes. The chilling ambiance oozes out, thus concluding this dark, menacing album in a terrifying and spine-chilling manner.

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