#AlbumReview: Morgal – The Seventh Circle

Band: Morgal
Album: The Seventh Circle
Label: Werewolf Records
Release date: June 26th, 2026
Country: Finland
Format reviewed: High-quality digital recording

#AlbumReview: Morgal – The Seventh Circle via Werewolf Records by Ioana

Morgal is a band I discovered in a rather unassuming manner. About two years ago, I decided to look through all the underground labels to which the bands I was into were signed, and listen to all of their releases, in hopes of gaining a better understanding of what “flavor” of extreme metal they each specialized in. One of the first labels I dove into I was Werewolf Records, and one of the bands I came across was, of course, Morgal. At the time, their only full length was 2021’s Nightmare Lord, which more or less caught me in a whirlwind of razor sharp black metal tinged with hints of old-school thrash. One track in particular left a strong impression, that being “Gateways of Flesh and Blood”, which to this day is planted firmly in my list of “iconic tracks”, and for good reason, it’s’ in my view, the best taste one could get as an introduction into this band. All that being said, I was virtually unaware of the fact that they had been working on a new album, so when, two months after its release, I finally came across The Seventh Circle, I realized I had to be ridiculously caught up in nonsense to miss it. So, without skipping a beat, I sat down to listen to it. And then I listened to it again. And again. And again…

Something that stuck with me before I even heard a note of the album though, was the album cover, which, leaving subject matter aside, is worlds apart from that of its predecessor. Rendered in a similar manner to the artworks of albums such as Vulcano or Holocausto, probably in a mix of colored pencils and watercolor as far as my artistic eye can tell, it is a very far cry from the precise digital work filled to the brim with details which adorns Nightmare Lord. Both are incredible pieces of art, but they are on opposite ends of the album cover spectrum. All that being said, through this image, the band made the ethos of their album very clear: No embellishments, no smooth edges and definitely no time to breathe because damned be I, this album is ruthless. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Onto the music… As I have said, The Seventh Circleis concerned with a lot of things, but holding back punches is not one of them. It spans for a little over 32 minutes, all of which the band spends in creating a literal assault of galloping drums and stormlike riffs. The vocal performance is also lower in pitch and grittier, as a result of bassist/frontman Tomb Nekrofier joining the band after the departure of previous vocalist, Nicolas “Lord Warmoon” Wallgreen. This works like a charm in favour of the album’s direction, as it allows the band to lean more into their first wave black metal/thrash metal influences, as opposed to the slightly more conventionally second wave rooted Nightmare Lord. The songs themselves are typically medium length, which allows for the music to develop organically without losing momentum. One track which explifies this perfectly, “Goddess of Death”, is placed around the midpoint of the album, and in its almost six minutes, displays the band’s skill in songwriting very well, including slower sessions, solos, guitar harmonies that bring to mind old school heavy metal. Due to this, it is slowly but surely becoming one of my favourite tracks on The Seventh Circle. Another plus is how over the top the vocal performance is despite being fairly simple in terms of technique. It has that very specific type of power and aggression, which, when paired with more epic riffing and stretched out rasps, becomes impossible to resist.

Another album that kept coming to mind all throughout my time spent listening to The Seventh Circle is Marduk’s Viktoria, of all things, and the main reason for that is the fact that both albums left me feeling as if I got electrocuted, but it all ends before I have time to realise what actually happened. And while this may seem like a bummer (It took me years to appreciate Viktoria the way it deserves for this exact reason), it is actually one of the album’s strengths, and, above all, a sign that it works in the way the band most likely intended it to work. The Seventh Circleisn’t trying to immerse you into a dense, inescapable atmosphere or leave you pondering on the mysteries of the human condition. It shows up, it wreaks absolute havoc for half an hour, it gets you head-banging to the point of near spinal damage, and then it ends as fast as it has begun. It’s a similar ethos to what one could also encounter on an Impaled Nazarene album. I am almost certain, however, that all the songs on this album would work incredibly well in a live context. They seem to be written for that kind of context, in a way.

One other track that I would like to dwell a little bit onto is “Harbinger’s Ritual”, which most likely includes the best guitar work on the entire album. The lead parts at the end are straight up stunning, and proof that black metal remains musically fascinating even at its most energetic and merciless. Another aspect that works in the record’s favour is the band’s preference for d-beats and thrash beats over the typical black metal blast beats, which adds an extra punch to everything, further amplifying that “whirlwind” sensation I was describing earlier.

To close things off, I will say the following: The Seventh Circleis a damn great album and one that I would recommend warmly to all fans of gritty, old school fans of extreme metal, not just black metal. Nevertheless, I am curious whether, with time, a song from this album will come to match “Gateways of Flesh and Blood”, or whether I am bound to remain with the same favourite Morgal song for at least the next couple of years. 9/10

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9/10  Epic Storm
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