Italian death doom band Assumption will release their third album, Paradox of the Arrow, this Friday, November 13, 2026, via 20 Buck Spin on LP, CD and digital formats. The label has shared the title track ahead of release.
Pre-order Paradox of the Arrow here.
Time as an Arrow
The album takes its name from Zeno’s ancient paradox of motion, the idea that an arrow in flight, observed at any single instant, is motionless. It is a fitting concept for a band that has always treated death doom as a space where mass, duration and atmosphere can be stretched and bent. According to the press release, riffs unfold slowly before suddenly speeding up into violent death metal, then collapse into long stretches of dissonance and ambience, with guttural vocals, sparse melody and psychedelic details along the way.
The six tracks pull the listener through alternating states of movement and stillness, breaking down the idea of linear time. The label compares the slow riffs to tectonic plates grinding against each other, while the drums alternately measure out huge empty spaces and tear through them without warning. Quiet passages are meant to land with as much force as the heaviest moments, and by the end of the record, the band say, the path the arrow traveled feels far less certain than when it started.
The guitars and bass were tracked by the band in Italy and Slovenia, then reamped alongside the drums, vocals and synths. Claudio Mulas handled the engineering, mixing and mastering. The cover was painted by Mariya Popyk (Lugubrious Garment, Tomarum) and photographed by Marco Zanin, with design and layout by Claudio Collina and band photography by Cristina Oddo.
Tracklist
- Paradox of the Arrow
- A Labyrinth in Ruin
- Tombs Upon the Sun
- Southwards Our Spirits Shall Forever Drift
- Selenite
- Vrykolakes
Assumption are: Giorgio Trombino (vocals, guitar, synths), Matija Dolinar (guitar), Claudio Troise (bass), David Lucido (drums).
Context
Assumption have pitched their third full-length at fans of Disembowelment, Spectral Voice, Mortiferum, Mournful Congregation, Evoken and Indesinence. Their label, 20 Buck Spin, has become one of the most reliable homes for underground death and doom metal, and the band are currently doing interviews through Earsplit PR ahead of release.
Our Take
Death doom built around a philosophical idea of frozen time could easily be pretentious, but slow, crushing music that suddenly erupts is exactly how the genre plays with time anyway. With six long tracks and a striking painted cover, Paradox of the Arrow looks like a record to hear from start to finish, ideally loud and in the dark.
