From beautiful Colombia Eshtadur emerges, a band that can hardly be considered unknown in the extreme metal scene. Their story began back in 2007, and they already have four full-length albums under their belt. On October 2, 2026, they return with their fifth full-length release, “In Darkness All Shadows Gone”, an album that I see as a statement of absolute readiness to establish themselves even further within the extreme metal scene!
If I had to place Eshtadur somewhere on an imaginary map of bands, I would put them somewhere between Behemoth and my much-loved Septicflesh. I say this more as an initial point of reference rather than an absolute description of their sound, because the deeper you delve into “In Darkness All Shadows Gone”, the more you begin to recognize their unique musical identity and distinctive mark the Colombians leave behind!
Generally speaking, their music is aggressive with strong melo-death and black metal elements, but what truly wins me over on this album is the work done on the orchestral compositions.
And what an incredible job they have done here…
At many points, the orchestra embraces the “violent” riffs, adding darkness, tension, imagination and, above all, depth! A depth that makes you feel as you are following a story unfolding as you listen to their music.
In fact, we are not simply talking about programmed orchestrations here. Eshtadur collaborated with the Caldas Symphonic Orchestra, with the orchestral performances recorded at Batuta’s Theater in Manizales, Colombia. And honestly, you can feel the difference!
A perfect example of everything mentioned above is “Umbra”. Riff-wise, I feel that it perhaps begins as the most Behemoth-like track of the album. However, almost immediately , you realize that you are listening to something different, as Eshtadur dress this aggression with their multi-layered, dark yet simultaneously melodic orchestral approach.
“Umbra” truly feels like a multi-layered shadow , with fantastic “character” and many different dimensions. What they manage to achieve with the orchestra here is incredible, and I particularly enjoyed the way it embraces the metal side of the composition rather than simply accompanying it.
And the details don’t stop there. On “Umbra”, we even encounter the traditional Colombian tiple, another element that demonstrates just how deeply Eshtadur have worked on the different textures and dimensions of their music.
I don’t want, however, to turn this into a tiring track-by-track presentation. After all, I believe “In Darkness All Shadows Gone” works much better when experienced as a complete journey.
Eshtadur’s songs feel complete!
They are aggressive, melodic, atmospheric and filled with depth. There are constantly “different layers” within the compositions, yet you never get the feeling that the band is adding elements simply for the sake of impressing the listener.
The very good, “clean” production also plays an important role here, giving the band all the space they need to showcase their quality and their musical richness.. With so many different things happening at the same time, it would have been very easy for the sound to become overcrowded. Instead, every different element is given the space it needs without the album ever losing its… essence.
Behind all of this lies a concept revolving around mysticism, inner transformation and confronting darkness as a necessary step towards self-knowledge. And while you don’t need to know every detail of the story to enjoy the album, this philosophy fits perfectly with the dark and mystical atmosphere of their music.
We are talking about a mature extreme metal album, one that knows exactly who it is speaking to and, more importantly, knows exactly what it wants to give the listener. A rich musical experience! A journey into the dark, mystical world of symphonic extreme metal!
“In Darkness All Shadows Gone” is an album that I genuinely enjoyed from beginning to end. And when after an hour, i reach the end feeling this way, then something has clearly been done very well!
In Eshtadur, I see a great extreme metal band chasing what belongs to them…
And I truly hope they get it… Because they deserve it!
