Awakeness, a Polish metal band blending deathcore, metalcore, and black metal with thall influences, are reeleasing their debut full-length album, Low Spirits, today! The album follows their 2022 EP Meadows and marks a significant evolution in their sound, incorporating elements of doom metal and the Scandinavian modern heavy scene.
“Low Spirits began taking shape in 2023,” the band explains. “That’s when we started working on the first demos that made it onto the album. The entirety of 2024 was spent refining, recording, and producing it. This is our most mature and diverse material yet. We focused on every small detail to ensure the songs turned out exactly as we wanted.”
The band, formed in 2019 near Oświęcim, originally leaned towards metalcore, inspired by acts like August Burns Red, Bring Me the Horizon, and While She Sleeps.
Their debut EP Spherical Prison reflected that era, featuring guitars tuned to drop C and a more melodic approach. As their tastes grew heavier, influences from bands like Decapitated, Behemoth, Bleeding Through, and Whitechapel pushed them into more extreme territories, leading to Meadows and, ultimately, Low Spirits.
Deathcore remains a key component of their work, but the band insists that they’ve approached it in their own way. “We’ve deep-dived into black metal, doom, and thall while keeping the intensity of deathcore. Scandinavian heavy music had a big impact on us—bands like Vildhjarta, Humanity’s Last Breath, and Atlas were huge inspirations.”
This shift in sound was also accompanied by lineup changes. The band parted ways with their guitarist and welcomed a new vocalist, Arkadiusz Harmata. “That was a major turning point for us. It allowed us to create our best and most mature material to date.”
With Low Spirits, Awakeness aims to appeal to both fans of modern metal and old-school listeners.
“We believe this album will resonate with both crowds,” they say.
The band has already established itself on the Polish underground scene, playing frequently and even performing in the Czech Republic. In 2022, they won the band competition at Materiafest, earning a spot on stage alongside Born of Osiris and Napalm Death.
The band acknowledges the strength of Poland’s heavy music scene but sees major gaps in its promotion.
“The local scene is often overlooked in favor of international acts, but there are bands here that could fill entire venues,” they note. They highlight acts like Protect This City, Sewer Dwellers, Violent Answer, and BHP as prime examples of bands making an impact. “Sewer Dwellers are at the level of Thy Art is Murder in terms of technical skill. BHP has made incredible progress in such a short time. It’s just a shame that underground metal here doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.”
Awakeness is set on changing that narrative. “In 2025, we plan to play a lot of shows across Poland. But we won’t hide the fact that we’d love to take this further and play to an even bigger audience abroad.”
