Release Date: September 19th 2025. Record Label: Svart Records. Formats: DD
Hypostasis - Tracklisting
1.Mercurial Bloodstreams 05:03
2.Peine Forte Et Dure 07:22
3.Valovaltimo 07:29
4.Opening the Key 07:06
5.Sun Funeral 08:16
6.Hung from the Sky 08:00
Review
Sunniva’s debut album Hypostasis blends Funeral Doom, Sludge Metal and Post-Metal atmospherics against a blend of nihilistic Black Metal passages. There’s a dark sense of brooding mystery forming against the backdrop of Ambient Metal textures and sudden shifts into Psychedelic warfare based tactics. This is a highly accomplished debut which is their first new material in over five years. This is time that has served Sunniva well as the band have crafted an ice-cold and emotionally calculated release that blends the sounds of Neurosis, ISIS and Cult Of Luna but with a Post-Black Metal philosophy.
The vocals are harsh, aggressive and very precise but Sunniva deserve high praise for their high reliance on Shoegaze and Alt-Metal themes which gives this record quite a different feeling compared to other Post-Metal albums being released recently. There’s an aura of DEFTONES and DEAFHEAVEN lurking in the midst especially with how Sunniva weave the claustrophobic elements of Alt-Metal against the punishing backdrop of Blackened Sludge Metal especially on the albums early opening tracks of Mercurial Bloodstreams and Peine Forte Et Dure.
Sunniva operate on a Progressive Metal landscape which allows them to add layers of twisted Post-Metal grooves and thrilling Psych Metal melodies with an abstractive Industrial sound holding everything together. This course of creative action stays quite similar throughout the whole album but when Sunniva goes off-script and delves into other areas of music then the album really starts to shine especially when the emotionally driven clean vocals appear.
The other tracks on Hypostasis are really beautiful to listen to and fully experience with moments of delicate Post-Rock energy appearing before transcending across the Post-Black Metal abyss that still leaves a refreshing burst of heavy sonic based aggression on tracks such as: Valovaltimo, Opening The Key and Hung From The Sky.
This is the type of Post-Metal album that dares to be different at every possible opportunity and pulls this off brilliantly with great style and a unique vision which should see Sunniva become more well known in the Post-Metal world.
Overall, Hypostasis is the perfect blend of melody, aggression, sonic interludes and intense black metal soundscapes that allows this to be a wonderfully addictive and highly unforgettable album.
Words by Steve Howe
Hypostasis is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Svart Records.
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