BEHEADED: THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OF BRUTALITY part four
From Malta To The World
Their international touring career became another important part of that legacy. Beheaded performed extensively in Europe and also reached Brazil, a country with one of the world's most passionate death metal communities. These performances reinforced the band's reputation as a genuine international act. Their geographical origin remained an interesting part of their story, but it was no longer the reason audiences respected them. The music had long since earned that respect.
There is also an important connection between Beheaded and Malta Death Fest. The festival became one of the most significant events in the island's extreme metal calendar, bringing international musicians and audiences to Malta. For a band that had spent much of its early career travelling abroad to meet the international scene, there was something almost symbolic about seeing that scene eventually come to Malta.
Beheaded had helped create the credibility that made such developments possible.
Their influence on the Maltese metal community cannot therefore be measured simply by the number of albums they have released. They were among the bands that demonstrated to younger musicians that international recognition was achievable. When later generations of Maltese extreme metal bands began seeking European tours, foreign labels and international audiences, they were operating in an environment that Beheaded had helped establish.
Then came Għadam.
Released on 25 July 2025 through Agonia Records, Għadam represented perhaps the boldest artistic decision of Beheaded's entire career. The title means “bones”, and the album's concept draws upon the work of Maltese horror writer Anton Grasso. Most significantly, the entire album is performed in Maltese.
This was not a token gesture.
Beheaded had spent more than thirty years creating music that could communicate internationally. They had used English, the common language of the international metal world, to reach audiences beyond Malta. With Għadam, they deliberately abandoned that convention and turned towards their native language.
The result was something uniquely their own.
Maltese gives the vocals a distinctive character that is immediately recognisable to local listeners but intriguingly unfamiliar to international audiences. Its sound becomes part of the atmosphere. Words that are ordinary within Malta acquire a sinister quality when delivered through death metal vocals, distorted guitars and relentless percussion.
For Maltese listeners, this creates an especially powerful effect. Hearing one's own language within a genre so strongly associated with northern Europe and the United States is unusual enough. Hearing it used to tell dark stories inspired by a Maltese horror writer is something else entirely.
The choice of Anton Grasso is equally significant. Malta is often presented internationally through its Mediterranean landscape, historical architecture, religious traditions and tourism. Beheaded's Għadam presents another Malta: a darker, more unsettling place populated by fear, supernatural forces, psychological darkness and horror.
In doing so, the band found a cultural vocabulary that perfectly suited extreme metal.
The album is therefore much more than a linguistic experiment. It is a meeting point between Maltese literature, language and international extreme metal. It takes something deeply local and places it within a genre whose audience is global.
Musically, Għadam continues the evolution that had already become apparent on Beast Incarnate and Only Death Can Save You. The brutality remains unmistakable, but there is greater emphasis on atmosphere, dynamics and mood. Reviews have noted darker textures and a broader musical palette, with some identifying traditional Maltese influences and more varied vocal approaches alongside the band's established death metal foundation.
The reaction has naturally been mixed, as it is with any album that deliberately challenges the expectations built around a long-established band. Some listeners have preferred the uncompromising brutality of earlier releases, while others have welcomed the atmospheric and cultural developments. What is beyond dispute is that Għadam has given people something to discuss.
That alone is significant.
After thirty-five years, Beheaded could easily have produced an album designed simply to reassure existing fans. Instead, they took a risk. They wrote in Maltese. They drew inspiration from a Maltese writer. They explored aspects of their cultural identity that had rarely appeared so directly in their music.
In many ways, Għadam is the sound of a band finally looking home.
This creates a fascinating circularity in Beheaded's history. The young musicians of 1991 were determined to make music that could take them beyond Malta. Their early demo travelled abroad, their debut album established them internationally, and their subsequent records took them onto stages across Europe and beyond. Their entire career was, in a sense, a journey outward.
Now, after thirty-five years, they have reached a point where they can turn around and bring the world back with them.
That is why Għadam is such an appropriate album to precede the band's 35th anniversary.
It demonstrates that legacy does not have to mean repetition. Beheaded have accumulated enough history to be regarded as veterans, yet they have not allowed that history to become a prison. They continue to evolve, and their willingness to do so is one of the reasons they have survived.
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