EP Review: Phendrana "Cathexis" (Independent) by Dave Wolff

Band: Phendrana

Location: Mexico City

Country: Mexico

Genre: Atmospheric progressive post-black metal

EP: Cathexis

Format: Digital album, compact disc

Label: Independent

Release date: February 6, 2026

Granted, bands sometimes over-label themselves to the point of sounding pretentious. Other times, as with Phendrana, bands can describe themselves and what they bring to the table just enough.

Anuar Salum founded Phendrana as a solo project in 2013, using his classical training and experience with several different black metal subgenres (playing in Deprephobia, Nebula Orionis, Pakistuf and Svarte) to create progressive post-black metal with serene atmosphere, reflections of his Arab-Mexican heritage, and existential thoughts and concepts inspired by writers like Albert Camus and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

It seems like Salum covers a lot of ground on Phendrana’s debut recording "Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" and his upcoming album "Cathexis," but he makes it work by approaching his songwriting like epic classical music, meticulously building songs until they grow beyond his imagination.

I've only heard half the album because it won't be released until February, but the ideas Salum develops with guest vocalist Ana Bitrán and artists with backgrounds in black metal, metalcore, progressive rock, and funeral doom metal hit home. The qualities reminiscent of folk, chamber music, and world music made me want to immerse myself in the album before its release (yeah, it's that good).

In some ways "Cathexis" is reminiscent of Opeth, Paradise Lost, and Primordial, with extended acoustic sections, time signature alterations, wind instruments, and female vocals. Those passages take their time washing over you and entering deep recesses in your mind, slowly but gradually placing you in a trance before metal and prog elements kick in with unexpectedly lasting impact.

Rather than suddenly changing direction, the transitions are written to harmonize with and enhance each other. The extended instrumental sections aren't so much intended as exercises in excess, but as natural progressions. The time spent on their writing is more about gaining depth than showing off.

Jens Siefert mixed and mastered "Cathexis" so the instruments and vocals are more distinguishable, with no time wasted keeping up with the changes in theme. The songwriting and musicianship, the addition of classical instruments, and Bitrán’s melodic vocals allow the band's virtuosity and complexity to shine through, effortlessly heightening the atmosphere of "Cathexis" and making it much more memorable.

Where "Sanctum" was a tsunami, Salum and Alonso Huerta's production transforms "Cathexis" into an inexorably rising ocean threatening to engulf the world. An apocalyptic event, but still there's something tranquil, magnificent, and beautiful about it, even if you're eventually inundated. I'm looking forward to being inundated by the complete album once it meets its scheduled release. -Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Anuar Salum: Vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, grand piano, orchestration, composition

Guest musicians:

Richard Schill: Drums

Adrián Terrazas-González: Woodwinds on "Cathexis"

Daniel Droste: Vocals on "The Effigy & The Titan"

Ana Bitrán: Female Vocals, Narrations

Mafoo: Lead guitars on "Sentience" and "The Effigy & The Titan"

Gabriel Bitrán: Piano solo on "The Effigy & The Titan"

Ulises Juárez Mendoza: Cello

Track list:

1. Lamento

2. Cathexis

3. Sentience

4. The Effigy & The Titan