Gaerea – Loss (Review)

Gaerea is one of the bands that has attracted quite a lot of attention in recent years. A young band from Portugal that has managed to draw fresh, youthful and modern sounds from Black Metal, whilst also bringing a fitting stage presence to the table. They’ve done this across four albums, evolving steadily without becoming overly flashy. That’s about to change. Loss is different, sounds different and aims to be different.

One of the clear highlights of the album for me is “Submerged” – what a brilliant track. A wonderful combination of brutal heaviness, calmer, more emotional passages and brilliant lyrics. And if, whilst listening, you find yourself drawn into the depths of the song just as it describes, then they’ve got a lot right here. The penultimate track of the album, “Nomad“, comes close, even though the calmer passages are much more prominent; you can always recognise the black metal running through the song. The same goes for “Cyclone”, although for me it doesn’t quite measure up to ‘Submerged’ and tends to get a bit lost in the mix.

On the other hand, there are tracks like “Uncontrolled”, which leans heavily into Metalcore: charging forward in the genre’s typical, more monotonous style. The following track, “Phoenix“, operates on the same level; I prefer the riffs to those on “Uncontrolled“, but it does end up veering too far into typical Metalcore territory for my liking. And I found the final track, “Stardust”, absolutely wild. They really went all out with the experimental elements here: heavy riffs alternate with electronic piano sounds, aiming to leave the listener with a sense of emotion as the album draws to a close.

So what can be said about Loss overall? It is undoubtedly modern; much of what is currently considered contemporary in the heavier metal genres sounds like this. There are significantly more subdued sections in the songs, which are interspersed with heavier passages. To put it bluntly, with Loss, the band is moving much closer to the mainstream than we’ve been used to so far. This was already the case with their previous album, Coma, but it’s even more pronounced here. They sound more like what appeals to the young mainstream crowd, and as of 2026, that just happens to be Metalcore. So the ‘Blegh’ sound, as in “Phoenix“, is a must. And that won’t be to everyone’s taste; they’ll almost certainly disappoint fans from their early days, but they’ll also win over plenty of new ones. Even though you can still recognise their black metal roots in every song.

In terms of quality, it’s all absolutely top-notch, of course, and I’m sure one or two of the tracks will stay in my daily playlist for a while. But it leaves me torn, just as it will surely divide listeners and fans when it’s released.

Patrik Transcended

From: Lake Constance (Germany)
Favorite Artists: Russian Circles – Skalmöld – Kettcar
Best Show: Skalmöld@Club Vaudeville, Lindau (2017)