Ten tracks, one Finnish groove metal band and enough doom influence to make things considerably slower and nastier than the genre description might initially suggest. Helsinki trio Ill Geared released their debut full-length, To Dust, on August 7, bringing together groove, doom, faster bursts of aggression and a healthy dose of old-school metal attitude.

Formed in 2023, Ill Geared previously released a two-song demo and the Ill Beginning’s EP in 2025 before turning their attention towards their first full-length. Three songs from the album—To Dust, The Wasp and Abyss—were released as singles ahead of the record.

What makes To Dust interesting is the distance the band are willing to travel within those ten tracks. Delirious and Abyss bring faster passages and blast beats into the mix, while Valley of Death slows things down considerably, moving towards something much closer to traditional doom. Rather than keeping the album locked into one particular pace, Ill Geared use that contrast to give the record some breathing room.

The subject matter is similarly varied, moving between nightmares, predators in the natural world, real-life incidents and fictional stories, while the band’s aggressive vocal approach gives the material a suitably rough edge.

The result is a debut that doesn’t seem particularly interested in worrying about genre boundaries. To Dust can stomp, crawl, accelerate and occasionally drag itself through the mud, often within the same general musical territory, and that willingness to let the songs dictate the pace is one of its strengths.

Track list:
01. Abyss
02. Solar

03. To Dust

04. Victim Three

05. Wasp

06. Delirious

07. Signals

08. Valley of Death

09. Taste of Demons

10. Dead End Maze

Promo picture by Andi Balogh