BalashToth release “Self = Dark Side”, second single from upcoming album “Equation II”

BalashToth is the solo project of Balazs Toth, former guitarist of the Hungarian melodic death metal band Casketgarden. After moving to Ireland in 2012 and studying music production and mixing, he gradually turned the BalashToth name from a YouTube channel for riff challenges, covers, song recreations, gear reviews, and mixing guides into a full recording project of its own.

Following the 2023 EP Anti-Life, the 2024 EP =Equation=, and the =Anti-Life/Equation= compilation CD, BalashToth now arrives at its first full-length release. The previous EPs were well received, with Anti-Life named among the top Irish-based metal EPs of 2023 and the 2024 compilation appearing in several Hungarian year-end lists. The album also follows the 2025 Paradise Lost cover single “Mortals Watch the Day”.

Equation II - The Antithesis of Life and Free Will completes the Anti-Life Equation thread introduced on the earlier releases. Across eight full tracks and an atmospheric intermission built entirely around viola, the album explores different shades of melodic death metal, from the 280 BPM attack of “Fear Despair” to the old-school death metal feel of “Self = Dark Side” and the doomy closing track “x Judgement”, which features Adam Toth (Kajgün, ex-The Dethroners, Art of Dethronement) on viola. Lyrically, the record continues the themes of the previous EPs, but from a more personal and close-up perspective rather than the broader, catastrophic view of earlier material.

The first single, “ Misunderstanding”, leans into a more traditional melodic death metal sound, with uneasy timing shifts, a bleak atmosphere, and sorrowful vocals from Deathmetalvoicer. That collaboration began after Balazs and Deathmetalvoicer worked together on full-band covers for the BalashToth YouTube channel, including songs by The Haunted, Dimension Zero, Gates of Ishtar, Entombed, and Iron Maiden.

“Self = Dark Side” is the second single and leans into a more groovy, old-school approach with a classic melodic death metal chorus. Lyrically, it explores the collapse of identity through endless desire, a cycle of consumption, illusion, and decay, where wanting never ends and satisfaction only deepens the void.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOy6x0CnM1Y