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| #FOR FANS OF: Depressive Black |
Founded back in 2005, the Australian duo Austere, conformed by Desolate and Sorrow, achieved a cult status inside the depressive black metal scene. This was due to a quite solid debut album and particularly to a sophomore effort, entitled 'To Lay Like Old Ashed', which successfully caught the attention of the fans of this subgenre. The album became a classic and received excellent reviews. Sadly, the project eventually split up in 2011, which put its career on hold just when Austere was becoming one of the bastions of the genre. During this time, both Desolate and Sorrow have been really active in the metal scene, as they have been involved in many different projects. Fortunately, the band returned to life in 2021 and Austere has even began to play on stage, which is great, as many depressive black metal projects tend to be only studio projects.
As it happens when a project is inactive for such a long time, I was very curious to see if both members could bring back the magic of the old albums with the new beast 'Corrosion of Hearts'. The short answer is simply yes, which is obviously great news. After fourteen years, you could expect some changes, or an evolution as it is obvious that Austere has had time to bring some fresh ideas on this album. Happily, the album retains the main characteristics that made Austere such an especial band. The new opus consists of four long compositions and as soon as the album opener "Sullen" begins, all the pieces are just there to create a great song. The absolutely hypnotic guitar work captivates you since the very first moment. The song has a medium tempo during its length which helps to crease its absorbing nature thanks the exquisite tremolo riffing. The vocals sound as desperate as you may imagine. I particularly enjoy the most high-pitched shrieks which are an absolutely trademark of this genre. Anyway, Austere tried to add some variation in the vocal approach with the addition of clean vocals here and there, which sound particularly melancholic and a bit mellow in my opinion. I clearly prefer the classic screaming, but I respect the fact that the duo tried to broaden the usually narrow limits of the genre. The following track entitled "A Ravenous Oblivion", is probably the highlight of the album. Just take the best parts of the album opener, increase that sense of desperation with even more inspired riffs, add more desperate shrieks and a slightly more varied pace, and you will just get a perfect piece and a manifestation of what the genre can offer. As the album goes forward, the atmosphere becomes even more dense reaching its darkest point with "The Poisoned Core". Its irremediable end comes with the not so extremely bleak but equally inspired track "Pale", as it maintains the hypnotic nature of the rest of the album and the remarkably excellent riffs. It is undeniable that Austere doesn’t introduce great variations in terms of pace, but its songs do not sound boring and simple at all. Slight changes are introduced and even the drums try to be creative, actively avoiding the sense of sounding dull an uninspired. So, if you combine the little but tasteful changes, the effective work of the drums and the already mentioned great guitar work, you will barely find any reason to complain, but a lot to enjoy in this memorable album.
Austere’s return can therefore be defined as successful. All the ingredients that made this project a classic one in the scene are there. Because of this, old fans will find many reasons to rejoice, while the new ones will find this album as a perfect gateway to Austere’s music. (Alain González Artola)
As it happens when a project is inactive for such a long time, I was very curious to see if both members could bring back the magic of the old albums with the new beast 'Corrosion of Hearts'. The short answer is simply yes, which is obviously great news. After fourteen years, you could expect some changes, or an evolution as it is obvious that Austere has had time to bring some fresh ideas on this album. Happily, the album retains the main characteristics that made Austere such an especial band. The new opus consists of four long compositions and as soon as the album opener "Sullen" begins, all the pieces are just there to create a great song. The absolutely hypnotic guitar work captivates you since the very first moment. The song has a medium tempo during its length which helps to crease its absorbing nature thanks the exquisite tremolo riffing. The vocals sound as desperate as you may imagine. I particularly enjoy the most high-pitched shrieks which are an absolutely trademark of this genre. Anyway, Austere tried to add some variation in the vocal approach with the addition of clean vocals here and there, which sound particularly melancholic and a bit mellow in my opinion. I clearly prefer the classic screaming, but I respect the fact that the duo tried to broaden the usually narrow limits of the genre. The following track entitled "A Ravenous Oblivion", is probably the highlight of the album. Just take the best parts of the album opener, increase that sense of desperation with even more inspired riffs, add more desperate shrieks and a slightly more varied pace, and you will just get a perfect piece and a manifestation of what the genre can offer. As the album goes forward, the atmosphere becomes even more dense reaching its darkest point with "The Poisoned Core". Its irremediable end comes with the not so extremely bleak but equally inspired track "Pale", as it maintains the hypnotic nature of the rest of the album and the remarkably excellent riffs. It is undeniable that Austere doesn’t introduce great variations in terms of pace, but its songs do not sound boring and simple at all. Slight changes are introduced and even the drums try to be creative, actively avoiding the sense of sounding dull an uninspired. So, if you combine the little but tasteful changes, the effective work of the drums and the already mentioned great guitar work, you will barely find any reason to complain, but a lot to enjoy in this memorable album.
Austere’s return can therefore be defined as successful. All the ingredients that made this project a classic one in the scene are there. Because of this, old fans will find many reasons to rejoice, while the new ones will find this album as a perfect gateway to Austere’s music. (Alain González Artola)
(Prophecy Productions - 2023)
Score: 85
https://austere-official.bandcamp.com/album/corrosion-of-hearts
Score: 85
https://austere-official.bandcamp.com/album/corrosion-of-hearts