In a tired musical landscape where many sounds blend into one another, there are rare instances where something stands out like Blackbriar. A Dutch band formed in 2012 by Vocalist Zora Cock and Drummer René Boxem, interestingly, they had been working in Dark Pop prior, which could explain why Blackbriar’s palette is so dynamic.
After five years refining their sound, the band released the debut EP Fractured Fairytales in 2017, which is a potent mix of Gothic and Symphonic Metal with a very cinematic, fairytale vibe. Dark and romantic, Blackbriar continued to grow from here with two more independent EPs (2018’s We’d Rather Burn and 2019’s Our Mortal Remains) before their entirely crowdfunded debut full-length album, The Cause of Shipwreck, in 2021. Clearly grabbing the attention of many, in 2022, they signed on with Nuclear Blast Records and put out the captivating A Dark Euphony in 2023.
The band’s first-ever album through a record label, A Dark Euphony, saw Blackbriar’s reach expand, with audiences around the world catching on, leading to dedicated and new followers curious about what they would do next. Answering those questions, on August 22, 2025, Zora Cock, René Boxem, Bassist Siebe Sol Sijpkens, Keyboardist Ruben Wijga, along with Guitarists Bart Winters and Robin Koezen, put out their follow-up album A Thousand Little Deaths. Again, through Nuclear Blast Records, A Thousand Little Deaths was preceded by the standalone 2025 single “Moonflower” (which is not included on the album), as well as singles such as “The Fossilized Widow,” “Harpy,” and “ A Last Sigh of Bliss” (which are a part of the album).
A record produced by the easily recognized Joost van den Broek (who is a keyboardist for After Forever and has produced Epica and Sabaton, among others), Blackbriar draws inspiration from literature and folklore once more. Factors which add to a richly textured, storytelling aesthetic, this time around, Zora Cock’s lyrics focus on a good deal of classical writers such as Emily Dickinson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Emily Brontë. Matched with beautiful instrumental arrangements, the Gothic tints boldly stand out as something highly theatrical.
Consisting of 10 tracks that last around 42 minutes, listening to A Thousand Little Deaths is like watching an epic film, just absent visuals. Really engaging to the senses; standout songs include “My Lonely Crusade,” “Floriography,” the very Victorian-sounding “I Buried Us,” and “Harpy.” All offering very haunting and elegant music, the exclamation point of it all is the layered vocals of Zora Cock, which truly are stunning to hear drift in and out.
Overall, Blackbriar is a modern Metal band that continues to impress. Genuinely emotional, A Thousand Little Deaths is poetry in motion, feeling like an alluring piece of Gothic Horror cinema. It is only a matter of time before Blackbriar enters the frontal cortex of North America, and that is why Cryptic Rock gives A Thousand Little Death 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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