Suffering – Things Seen But Always Hidden

One Listen Review

1st Listen 26 Nov 25
Reviewed 1 Dec 25

Apocalyptic Witchcraft

Released 28 Nov 25

Things Seen But Always Hidden is the 2^nd album by English Black Metal outfit Suffering. It has been 8 years since their debut, with a couple of EP’s punctuating the intervening years, and the band have now signed to the wonderfully named ‘Apocalyptic Witchcraft’.

Just short of 45 minutes in length, with 8 tracks on offer, Things Seen But Always Hidden is a decent way to spend your time. Unfortunately, ‘decent’ is the apt description, as the album is perplexing. Opening track, ‘The House With the Red Door’ has a considered intro before the vocals enter about 3 minutes in. With a genuine black metal sound, Suffering are the real deal, delivering an old school vibe with modern sensibilities. At the end of the song however, you can’t help being a tad disappointed.

Things pick up with shorter ‘Enthralled’. This is more like it. A strong riff dominates, and the songs mid-section provides a slower, more atmospheric ambience that allows it to

entrance the listener. By the time that ‘The Chamber of Breathtaking Delights’ kicks in, you are sold. The guitar tone is delightful, the most clear sounding yet on an album with old school black metal production. As the song evolves, it becomes more deliberate and it hits home.

So, all is well and good with the album. A couple of other tracks delve into doom territory, still contained within the confines of the black metal genre. This is welcoming and helps the album immensely.

The issue is, that in an album of 8 tracks, I found 3 of them weaker than the others. The ludicrously titled, ‘What Shall Be Again and What Shall Be No More’ is filler. Nothing really happens, a few grunts, a bit of spoken word delivered under the careful eye of a basic bass-run. It utterly kills the good feeling the previous 3 tracks had built since the inauspicious opener. This is followed by, ‘Apocrypha Through The Keyhole’, another song that delivers nothing new, just being a standard black metal presentation. Disappointing.

These faults do not critically damage Things Seen But Best Always Hidden, but they affect your enjoyment on the 1^st listen. Perhaps subsequent listens will help. The good news is that our West Midlands heroes provide a strong ending to the album in, ‘Behind The Green Door’.

I genuinely don’t know what to make of this album. There is nothing utterly outstanding about it, meaning the stronger tracks don’t carry the weaker ones. There is some very listenable aspects to the album, and that may encourage but won’t guarantee subsequent listens.

www.sufferingofficial.co.uk