OATHBREAKER Announce ‘Rheia (Redux)’: A Modern Classic Returns Remastered After 10 Years

Ten years later, Rheia still sounds like the future.

Belgium’s OATHBREAKER have announced Rheia (Redux) — a newly remastered and redesigned edition of their landmark 2016 album, arriving May 29 via Deathwish Inc. on vinyl and digital formats. The release follows the band’s recent explosive return to the stage at Roadburn Festival, where they reminded everyone exactly why their name still carries so much weight in modern heavy music.

When Rheia first appeared in 2016, it felt less like an album and more like a rupture in the scene. At a time when genre lines were still guarded like sacred borders, OATHBREAKER tore through them with no hesitation. Black metal fury, post-hardcore urgency, shoegaze atmosphere, post-rock scale, emotional vulnerability — it was all there, fused into something uniquely their own.

Now, Rheia (Redux) gives that vision a new life.

The remaster was handled by Jack Shirley, known for his work with Deafheaven and Loma Prieta, and the timing could not be better. A decade later, Rheia is widely recognized as one of the most important heavy records of the 2010s — an album that helped redefine what aggression, beauty, and emotional honesty could sound like when placed in the same room.

Part of what made the original record so powerful was how raw and immediate it felt. Much of the instrumentation was recorded live to two-inch tape, while vocals were captured in single takes. That urgency bleeds through every second. Caro Tanghe doesn’t merely sing or scream on this album — she unravels in real time.

The tracklist remains a masterclass in tension and release. Opener “10:56” begins in near-fragile calm before “Second Son of R.” detonates into chaos. “Being Able to Feel Nothing” crashes in waves of despair and catharsis. “Stay Here / Accroche-Moi” offers a ghostly breath before the devastating “Needles in Your Skin,” one of the band’s most intimate and haunting songs.

Then the album grows even larger. “Immortals” surges with cinematic force, while the closing run of “I’m Sorry, This Is,” “Where I Live,” and “Where I Leave” feels like watching structures collapse in slow motion. Final track “Begeerte” doesn’t so much end the album as let it dissolve into mist.

That’s why Rheia remains so special: it is crushing without being macho, emotional without becoming sentimental, experimental without losing impact. Few bands have balanced violence and vulnerability so naturally.

For longtime fans, Rheia (Redux) is a chance to revisit a modern classic with renewed clarity. For newer listeners who somehow missed it the first time, this is the perfect moment to discover one of the most fearless heavy albums of its era.

Pre-order Rheia (Redux) here ahead of its May 29 release date.

OATHBREAKER will also appear live at select 2026 dates:

• May 29–31 — Toronto – Prepare the Ground
• Aug 19–22 — Compton Martin – ArcTanGent

Tracklist for Rheia (Redux):

1. 10:56
2. Second Son of R.
3. Being Able to Feel Nothing
4. Stay Here / Accroche-Moi
5. Needles in Your Skin
6. Immortals
7. I’m Sorry, This Is
8. Where I Live
9. Where I Leave
10. Begeerte