Skyjoggers - 12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse (Album Review)

Release Date: May 02nd 2025. Record Label: Supernatural Cat. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse - Tracklisting

1.Huevos Rancheros / Rapid Round

2.Newtonin Kanuuna

3.Døpehølm

4.Tessæil 

Members:

Alexi Belle - guitars & effects

Juan Rico - bass, synth & vocals

Gabo Sabor - drums & vocals

Review

12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse is the next musical adventure from Psych/Space/Stoner Rockers Skyjoggers who have aligned themselves to cult record label Supernatural Cat which is owned by the legendary Doom Metal collect UFOMAMMAUT. There’s a similar method to both bands on how they create super heavy and super freaky Space Rock sounds within their own individual style of music. This is a great partnership that works on all levels especially after you’ve heard 12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse in full.

Skyjoggers are a band I’ve always admired but have never featured on the blog but I’m to correct that huge mistake today with this review of this sublime album. Skyjoggers play an experimental style of Cosmic Rock which has large amounts of Space Rock, Psych, Stoner and Prog Rock dynamics. The music can be quite fractured and experimental with a certain eclectic sound developing within the harsh fuzzy jazz based melodies. The music is always fast-paced with subtle vocal harmonies, mid-tempo changes and a non-stop collection of glitchy noises, electronic beats and a small dose of FREAKISH gloomy distorted guitars.

The album contains four tracks with everything said and done in under thirty six minutes but Skyjoggers create a wild assortment of hallucinogenic and kaleidoscopic extended Instrumental Psych Rock jams that would make EARTHLESS and HAWKWIND blush with envy. The opening song Huevos Rancheros / Rapid Round is about as close to Space Rock perfection as you could ever encounter with Skyjoggers chopping, changing and forming that style into their own unique image. The sound is brilliantly adventurous and quite daring with the multitude of different sonic passages that lean into Seventies Prog Rock and Space Rock but with a modern dynamic core at the centre.

Second track Newtonin Kanuuna is a more straight-forward style of Space Rock surroundings with a solid Jazz/Psych Rock backdrop. There’s some wicked classic Hard Rock guitar shredding being played with Skyjoggers perhaps being less theatrical but way more technical with the short running time the track contains. Skyjoggers switch to a stripped back Punk Rock sound for the later stages of the track where the mood is once again full of eclectic paranoia.

The final two tracks of Døpehølm and Tessæil perhaps delves into Post-Rock territory in places but with Skyjoggers playing the heaviest and intense sounds on the record. Sometimes way too flashy but the sludgy rebellious grooves from Døpehølm gives this album a pure HEAVY METAL sound which is solidified by the great vocals that accompanies the track. The atmosphere can be quite aggressive with Skyjoggers slowing things right down and putting their AMPS all the way up PAST ELEVEN. 

Tessæil is the standout track on the album with Skyjoggers playing a song that feels like it’s been constructed by individual chapters with different areas of Psych, Space and Stoner music combining for another surreal and freakish encounter of HEAVY MUSIC.

12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse delivers the goods on all levels and once again allows Skyjoggers to impress with their creative vision and technical ability from start to finish. This is without doubt Skyjoggers finest and heaviest record to date with plenty of jaw-dropping moments that will have you reaching for the repeat button in no time at all.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to All Noir PR for the promo.

12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Supernatural Cat.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Swedish doom rock legends WITCHCRAFT share third single "Spirit" from upcoming new album "IDAG"

Swedish doom rock legends WITCHCRAFT present a soulful and eerie new song taken from their highly-anticipated seventh studio album "IDAG", to be issued on May 23rd via Heavy Psych Sounds.

Get spellbound by Witchcraft's new single: Spirit 

From the depths of the Swedish darkness, Witchcraft's awaited new studio album "IDAG" emerges, and holy hell, it's flamboyant. Led by enigmatic guitarist, singer and songwriter Magnus Pelander, these architects of doom who kickstarted the whole analog revival two decades ago and ushered in a new era of occult rock, have spent five years crafting their most intimate opus yet.

After his 2020 acoustic experiment "Black Metal", Pelander has tapped into transcendence and delivers pure proto-metal sorcery woven through '70s prog wizardry, with half the tracks performed in his native Swedish tongue for the first time in the band's history. With just a few acoustic whispers here and there, this is Witchcraft at their most spellbinding. "A smoldering invocation of their signature ‘70s-laced, riff-heavy sorcery — both raw and hypnotic, yet laced with an unsettling intensity that lingers long after the final note fades. (...) Heavy yet deeply melancholic, brimming with the occult doom energy that made their early records cult favorites," describes Decibel Magazine. 

Stream the latest singles Burning Cross and Drömmar Av Is.

WITCHCRAFT - New album "IDAG" - Out May 23rd on Heavy Psych Sounds
International preorder - US preorder

More than 20 years after their debut, Witchcraft’s seventh album, ‘IDAG,’ is an awaited full accounting of who they are as a band. Those who have clamored for the return to an earlier sound rooted in ‘70s classic progressive and heavy rock will delight to the strut of “Irreligious Flamboyant Flame” while the eight-minute opening title track is the heaviest the band have ever sounded, and a succession of interspersed acoustic-based pieces helps create a vision of a new, soulfully folkish doom taking shape as they continue to move inexorably forward.

These enigmatic few words from the Swedish band’s main songwriter give clues as to the songs’ intentions; a reference dropped to Coven’s 1969 album, ‘Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls.’ Coven also had a folkish, proto-doomed take at that point in their history, and that multifaceted nature has been a part of Witchcraft all along. On one level, Magnus is winkingly telling you it’s a Witchcraft record. The actual meaning of that becomes clear when you hear the album and find out just how much ‘a Witchcraft record’ can encompass.

The storyline of Witchcraft’s growth, from Pelander’s starting the band in Örebro in 2000 in the wake of his prior outfit Norrsken’s disbanding. A generational landmark of a 2004 self-titled debut helped spark a retroist movement that has become its own subgenre, but Witchcraft never stopped growing. 2005’s ‘Firewood’ and 2007’s ‘The Alchemist’ introduced more progressive sounds, and five years later, the pointedly modern ‘Legend’ established in 2012 that they had moved beyond the analog worship they had been a part of pioneering within the contemporary heavy rock and doom scene.

In 2016, the 2LP ‘Nucleus’ introduced fuller-toned doom, and 2020’s ‘Black Metal’ diverged into moody acoustic minimalism familiar to some fans from Pelander’s early solo work, but different from anything Witchcraft had done prior. ‘IDAG,’ then, is the tie that draws all of this – more than two decades of exploring and growth – together. Whatever they’ve done in the past and whatever they’ll do in the future, ‘IDAG’ feels like a nexus for defining who and what Witchcraft are. Even crazier, that might be the point of the thing. – Words by JJ Koczan

All music, lyrics, guitars and vocals by Magnus Pelander. Bass performed by Philip Pilossian, with drums by Par Hjulstrom. Mixed and mastered by David Storm. Artwork by John Bauer.

WITCHCRAFT links

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS links

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for all of the details.

Hellvetika - Kane And The Derelict (Album Review)

Release Date: April 26th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Kane And The Derelict - Tracklisting

1.S.O.S. or Warning? 07:54

2.LV-426 07:13

3.A Floor of Eggs 06:33

4.Chestburster 03:58

5.Kill It Before It Grows 03:01

6.Hunting the Hunter 05:15

7.Mother's "Crew Expendable" Message 01:12

8.The Robot Follows the Wishes of Mother and the Weyland Company 06:34

9.The Feeding Frenzy 08:17

10.In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream 03:09

11.Activating the Self Destruct System 04:45

12.Signing Off As the Last Survivor of the Nostromo 06:50

Members:

Aaron Edge - Everything

Review

Kane And The Derelict is the new album from Doom/Sludge Metal artist Hellvetika which is another stunning side project from Aaron D.C. Edge (THE LUMBAR ENDEAVOUR, Black Bible Tyrant and GENUINE). This time round Aaron is focusing upon creating a concept album based on the classic science fiction film ALIEN which itself has inspired the Heavy Metal scene ever since it was released. Hellvetika allows Aaron the perfect opportunity to return to the Doom/Sludge Metal scene that I mostly associate him with but still adding elements of Psych Rock, Industrial, Electronic and Soundtrack themes he’s delivered superbly well for his wealth of other musical projects.

This record is a gloomy synth driven musical odyssey that delves right into the mythos and folklore of the classic ALIEN movie. I will admit my favourite film from the franchise is ALIENS but even I know that ALIEN is perhaps the most influential out of the entire series. Aaron has done his homework here by creating bleak soundscapes that match the eerie tone of the whole film which is told primarily through John Hurt’s character KANE’s eyes at first with the classic scenes featuring Ripley coming later on. Most definitely a shot-for-shot musical remake in the best possible sense with gloomy Industrial beats and trippy Electronica noises that merge into the dark abyss the Doom/Sludge Metal sounds appear.

It’s quite an in-depth and highly involving record that lasts for about an hour which could be too long for some but at least Aaron gives you plenty BANG FOR YOUR MONEY and a whole load of different sounding instrumental passages for each spellbinding chapter the record contains. The whole experience can be quite unnerving with the slow-paced and pitch black Post-Rock melodies and solid sludgy surroundings that remind me of Author & Punisher, Ministry, John Carpenter and NIN at times. 

Kane And The Derelict finds real momentum on the stunning third track A Floor Of Eggs as the music is very foreboding, creepy, slow and builds up a level of mysteria within the cold hearted synths and classic video game delivery that Aaron performs with a mechanical level sense of gloomy paranoia. From this moment on, Hellvetika really starts to find their true “METAL” calling with some fantastic Post-Rock/Post-Metal delivery forming that manifests like a true “XENOMORPH” into classic Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal guitar shredding.

Imagine if David Fincher was ever given the opportunity to remake or reinvent ALIEN and collaborated with Trent Reznor for the soundtrack then this would be the awesome and highly twisted result. This album feels like he fully understands the art of filmmaking especially when he knows when to change the mood from a haunting Post-Rock/Cinematic based soundtrack to a heavier and industrial based nightmarish offering full of thuggish Sludge Metal guitars especially on track such as Chestburster, Kill It Before It Grows, The Robot Follows the Wishes of Mother and the Weyland Company, The Feeding Frenzy and In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream. 

The final part of the album is where perhaps the real “Cinematic” and “Climatic” sounds appear where Ripley fully takes centre stage like the events of the film but Aaron brings his own interpretation to the album in unexpected ways which I don’t want to fully spoil but the music is beautifully constructed, arranged and delivered to a nail-biting climax.

Kane And The Derelict is a real labour of love from Aaron D.C. Edge under the Hellvetika banner of his many creative outputs. This is one of my favourite projects I’ve heard from Aaron ever since I first heard the debut album by The Lumbar Endeavour. 

This is top-notch entertainment which I can’t recommend highly enough.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Blue Sky | BandCamp

Black/Noise/Sludge Metallers BELIEVE IN NOTHING have released their second new single 'Complete Desolation'

Believe In Nothing is an Eastbourne-based sludge/noise band founded in 2023. Consisting of Caine Hemmingway (vocals/noise), Lawrence Rodriguez (guitar), Steve Collier (guitar) and Jasper Lyons (drums). Believe In Nothing utilise layers of cacophonous and erratic noise, overlaid with gruesome

harsh vocals to build up a bleak atmosphere of dread through both their on-record and live performances.

Despite only making their live debut in May 2024, the band have quickly made themselves known as a force to be reckoned with, having already supported the likes of Mizmor, Harrowed and Unyielding Love in their short timeline. With their debut single ‘Boiling Stone’ released via Bandcamp in June 2024, the band have signed to UK heavyweights Church Road Records for a string of 2025 releases, that will cement them as the dissonant soundtrack to the bleak reality we exist in.

They released their first new offering in the form of ‘What Would You Do?’ on March 25th. The track is an interesting blend of post punk meets insanely heavy riffs akin to Primitive Man and Eyehategod. The band are now back with their second new single ‘Complete Desolation’, which sees them doubling down on the heaviness. This song is as unforgiving as the planet we inhabit.

“The song "Complete Desolation" is an early song we wrote that helped shape the overall sound of the band. It forces you into a future where the wars have been fought, and the mistakes have been made. Primal horror and an economy of pain are all that remain” - Believe In Nothing

Band members:

Caine Hemmingway - Vocals / Noise
Jasper Lyons - Drums
Lawrence Rodriguez - Guitar
Steve Collier - Guitar

Credits:

Recorded at Bad Habit/Echo Zoo studios in Eastbourne by Jasper Lyons and Matt Pugh. Mixed and mastered by Wayne Adams of Bear Bites Horse studios.

Links

Official | BandCamp

Thanks to Church Road Records for all of the info.

Lesbian Weed Coven - Lesbian Weed Coven (EP Review)

Release Date: April 20th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Lesbian Weed Coven  - Tracklisting

1.From the Soil 09:35

2.I Feel Everything 07:00

3.Dysphoria 07:41

Members:

Vocals: Ashley Cackle

Guitar: Tessa Walsh

Drums: Sophie Mongrain

Review

Psych/Doom/Stoner Rockers Lesbian Weed Coven are a self described “dykedelic anguish stoner metal trio” from Montreal, Quebec. The band conjures up a “LOW & SLOW”  style of down-tuned Doom/Stoner Metal with a harsh vocal performance from lead vocalist Ashley Cackle on their excellent debut EP. There are moments of aggressive trippy soundbytes and murky sound effects that sees Lesbian Weed Coven inspired by the likes of Windhand, SLEEP, Electric Wizard and Black Sabbath within the grooves department. 

The tracks on the EP are similar to each other with the band employing nightmarish DRONE soundscapes and landscapes for a slightly warped and distorted sound. The added use of Guitars and Drums played superbly by Tessa Walsh (Guitars) and Sophie Mongrain (Drums) is quite vicious and unsettling with projections of MONOLORD and SUNN 0))) jamming together in places. There’s plenty of great solos and riffs waiting to be found especially on the superb opening track of From The Soil. 

From The Soil could be classed as a little bit more experimental, metallic and hardcore based compared to the standard Doom/Stoner Metal riff. However, Ashley’s vocals have a demented and intense presence to them especially when they reach violent horrific growls which gives the “LOW & SLOW” dynamic of Lesbian Weed Coven quite an “extreme” texture in places.

The music is superbly slow, dense, heavy and thick with the sense of anguish being created with a demonic appetite which makes it perfect for BONG IN HAND and DRONE OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS sessions. The EP is quite raw and unhinged in certain places especially with some of the sludgy guitars and trippy effects but there’s method to the madness here as the final two tracks I Feel Everything and Dysphoria have quite an emotionally charged feel within the lyrics.

Perhaps not the easiest record to listen to at first but Lesbian Weed Coven are onto something very cool, bleak and monolithic here which I’m hoping will develop into a slightly more refined sound on future releases. However, this is still a superbly realized EP that deserves some love and recognition from the Doom/Stoner Metal underground scene.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Album Premiere Of Progressive Doom/Post-Metallers BEWARE OF GODS Epic New Album: Upon Whom The Last Light Descends II : Amnesia Island.

While founding member, principal composer, Jason O’Donnell aka The Archetype is steeped in an affinity for & consciousness of the Proto Doom Metal tradition, there is way more going on in his compositions & productions than what can be easily placed into one box/genre. That awareness shifts my attention to The Archetype’s at times, hauntingly pained melodic voice juxtaposed against ‘blackened’ discordant whispered screams or guttural growls that tip the hat to Chris Cornell, Chino Moreno or Thou as much as perhaps Ozzy Osbourne. 

In terms of ambient soundscapes, there are also stellar initial stabs at sound design work on PT I that bring to mind Skinny Puppy or even NIN. From here, my journey into the B. O. G. gets really interesting because the addition of Sound Design veteran Feederwire & Engineer/Producer Pete Grossmann (Gates To Hell, Warforged, Weekend Nachos, Frail Body, Scientist, Huntsmen) of Bricktop Recording is already bringing the concept into even more focus & catapulting it into what The Archetype references in the intro ‘Concussion Dream’ as ‘Amnesia Island’ : “A post apocalyptic glitchy outpost floating in a bio mechanical ocean that is appearing to lead us along, with it’s protagonist/hero I Nomad, into an even deeper hybrid of analog & digital sounds that provide the landscape for a cast of broken antagonists trapped... 

Thanks to the amazing folks over at DESERT BLOOM PR we're beyond excited to premiere the brilliantly destructive chapter from BEWARE OF GODS and their extraordinary new album - Upon Whom The Last Light Descends II : Amnesia Island.

The Lowdown

Jason O'Donnell - Vocals, Guitar, Bass & Synth

Feederwire - Sound Design & Additional Guitars on Submerged...

Eric Plonka - Additional Guitars on Temple Of Thieves and D. I. E. Sect

Kellii Scott - Drums

Co Produced, Engineered & Mixed - Pete Grossmann

Mastered - Brad Boatright

Recorded at : Bricktop Recording

Executive Producer - Christopher Dyer

Artwork - Unexpected Specter

Upon Whom The Last Light Descends II : Amnesia Island will be available to buy digitally from Friday 02nd May 2025 and our review will be published within the next few days.

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the details.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Album Premiere Of Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers MASTER CHARGER New Album POSTHUMOUS RESURRECTION

Hailing from the blackest heart of the Midlands, UK-based trio Master Charger deliver a fierce and unmistakable blend of groove-drenched doom, sludge, and blues-laced rock 'n' roll—an explosive sound fans have come to describe as a “Satanic Blues Rumble.” Now signed to Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records, the band is entering a powerful new chapter in their heavy underground journey.

Formed in 2006 from the ashes of earlier semi-successful projects, Master Charger quickly established a name for themselves with their bold and gritty sonic identity. Their discography includes the crushing debut Unity in Black (2011), the hard-hitting Eroding Empires (2016), and the dark and brooding Origin of the Lugubrious (2020). Over the years, their relentless live energy has seen them share stages with titans of the genre such as Monolord, Orange Goblin, Black Rainbows, Conan, Raging Speedhorn, Fireball Ministry, Dead Witches, Overkill, Alunah, and Paradise Lost. They've also left their mark on major underground festivals including HRH Doom vs Stoner, HRH Metal Chapter III, and Hammerfest XI.

Drawing inspiration from the pioneering heaviness of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Motörhead, while channeling the raw aggression of Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, and Black Flag, Master Charger craft a sound that is both classic and cutting. With echoes of Mountain, Free, Trouble, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram, the band delivers a riff-laden experience that’s both unrelenting and steeped in vintage groove.

Unapologetically loud, fiercely authentic, and always evolving, Master Charger continue to be a driving force in the doom/sludge scene—ready to shake the underground to its core.

Thanks to the cool folks over at Argonauta Records and Grand Sounds Promotion we're excited to premiere this superbly heavy and kick-ass new album which you can listen to below:

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for all of the details.

Posthumous Resurrection will be available to buy on CD/DD via Argonauta Records / Octopus Rising from Friday 02nd May 2025.

Links

https://www.facebook.com/mastercharger
https://mastercharger.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/masterchargerofficial/
https://www.argonautarecords.com/
https://grandsounds.net/

AAWKS - On Through The Sky Maze (Album Review)

Release Date: May 02nd 2025. Record Label: Black Throne Productions. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

On Through The Sky Maze - Tracklisting

1.Celestial Magick

2.Death Trip

3.Lost Dwellers

4.Caerdroia

5.The Figure

6.Wandering Supergiants

7.Drifting Upward

8.Cursed Soul

9.Sky Maze

Members:

Kris Dzierzbicki - Vocals/Guitar/Synth

Randylin Babic - Drums

Paraiso - Guitar/Violin/Synth

Ryan “GrimePup” Mailman -Bass/Vocals

Review

On Through The Sky Maze is the second full length album from Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers AAWKS where they blend dark tales of the Occult that’s merged with Psychedelic and Spaced Out folklore. This is an intriguing and quite original concept of how AAWKS have approached the album with. At one moment the album is a full on Occult Doom record and the next it’s a trippy Space Rock adventure with AAWKS taking influence from the likes of Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Electric Wizard and FU MANCHU whilst keeping to their own creative narrative.

The sludgy guitars are powered by a dirty and seedy avalanche of FUZZED UP guitars which has a slight Swamp Rock attitude. Vocals switch between SHAMANIC CHANTS and SATANIC GROWLS with a heavy emphasis on both clean vocals and distorted growls courtesy of Kris Dzierzbicki and Ryan “Grimepup” Mailman. 

WIth a non-stop style of distorted Doom/Stoner Metal paranoia running amok through the album with AAWKS thriving upon their heavy distorted loops, spectacular amounts of reverb and amplifier feedback that adds a unhealthy level of SONIC aggression into the whole VOLUME department of the record. The songs themselves all have their own exciting story to tell with dark tales of the night and the far reaches of the COSMOS which is brought very early on tracks such as: Celestial Magick, Death Trip and Lost Dwellers.

AAWKS undergo a sudden shift into Psychedelic and Space Rock tendencies on the excellent second track Second Trip with the opening track of Celestial Magick having a classic ELECTRIC WIZARD vibe. 

Things get ever more serious and creepy with the great use of classic soundbytes on the stunning fourth track of Caerdroia which opens with a brilliant vocal clip which sets an unexpected scary tone for this track alone. The music is mostly Proto-Doom with AAWKS surrounding themselves with harsh Fuzz, Sludge and Stoner Rock passages. The lyrics are quite subversive with AAWKS fully selling their full-on hybrid OCCULT/SPACE ROCK musical odyssey.

AAWKS are at their absolute best when they embrace the heavier, primal and psychedelic tendencies of the record as that’s where the heaviest and unexpected violent melodies appear. The vocals can be disgustingly filthy but delivered with real purpose. The album becomes ever more creepy, disturbing and dare I say self obsessed which I mean as a huge compliment.

Other standout tracks include: The Figure, Wandering Supergiants, Cursed Soul and my absolute favourite track Sky Maze. 

This part of the album is where AAWKS explore Psychedelic Myths and technical methodology or should I say riffology which feels inspired by Mastodon at times mostly on the standout final track Sky Maze. This track alone makes the album worth the purchase alone. There’s some thrilling “INTERDIMENSIONAL SPACE GOAT” territory on the final parts of the record.

On Through The Sky Maze is an absolute crushing record that’s full of epic sounding grooves throughout that allows this record to quite an original album on its own merits and stand out as one of the definitive Doom/Stoner Metal records to be released this year. 

This is most definitely ALBUM OF THE YEAR material. No Question.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to C Squared Music for the promo.

On Through The Sky Maze is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Black Throne Productions.

Links

Official Website: https://www.aawks.ca/
Bandcamp: https://aawks.bandcamp.com/
E-Shop: https://blackthroneproductions.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AAWKSBAND
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aawksband/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/aawks666?t=

Lightless - A Foreseen Loss (Album Review)

Release Date: April 30th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD/Tape/Vinyl

A Forseen Loss - Tracklisting

1.Social pestilence

2.Alternating preeminence

3.Malicious hopes turned to dust (feat. Val Atra Niteris)

4.Humanity's closing chapter

Members:

Dr. Christian Engelmann - Guitars, vocals

Marc Odin Kade - Bass, backing vocals

Martin Heidler - Drums

Review

A Foreseen Loss is the debut album from Doom/Sludge/Post-Metallers Lightless who bring an aura of destructive Black Metal surroundings to the record. This is quite an expansive album which is told across four epic tracks lasting around eighty minutes in length. Some listeners may have their work cut out for them here with Lightless playing a sullen and moody piece of music at times though there’s a lot of different styles that Lightless never fully align themselves to.

The songs are highly complex, multi-layered and beautifully melodic when the times call for this with perhaps Lightless playing a brooding style of Cinematic based Blackened Doom. There are echoes of Ambient Metal and depressive slabs of Sludge Metal that ultimately takes time to fully form and appear within the majority of the songs held on the album. The music switches between slow-paced Post-Rock sounds and faster Post-Metal/Blackened Sludge grooves which aren't afraid to venture into more extreme styles especially with the excellent vocals from Dr. Christian Engelmann and Marc Odin Kade. 

Lightless feel inspired by the likes of Wolves In The Throne Room and Fall Of Efrafa especially with the album’s take on HUMANS destroying NATURE and everything around them. The organic tone can brilliantly be felt through the lyrics and harsh vocal delivery that Lightless provides. With Lightless focusing primarily on slow-paced melodies and blackened Post-Metal structures for the majority of the epic opening track of Social Pestilence which transforms into a whirlwind of destructive passages fuelled by moments of Thrash, Death, Sludge and Prog Metal technical ability.

A Foreseen Loss continues with the hard-hitting and emotionally damaging social commentary which allows the record to be quite a thought-provoking record which becomes even extreme throughout the likes of Alternating Preeminence and Malicious Hopes Turned To Dust. The music once again opens with slow paced instrumental passages with a deft touch of uplifting melody and even clean vocals appearing. 

The deeply engaging and brilliant emphasis on environmental themes allows A Foreseen Loss to be an unnerving and unforgiving experience. The technical ability that Lifeless perform on the record is nothing short of spectacular with different levels of Prog Metal, Extreme Metal and intense Sludge Metal vibes making this record truly a product of the wonderful underground metal scene. 

Maybe the record maybe too long for some but if you’re a fan of the likes of THOU, Neurosis, Primitive Man, SUMAC and Wolves In The Throne Room then A Foreseen Loss is a record that will fully consume your soul and still leave you wanting to hear more. Lifeless experiment with Psychedelic sounds and long drawn out distorted notes which once again allows the band to play a sublime mixture of slow paced and fast paced grooves that results with a socially aware message that makes the listener feeling being knocked out by the worst case of BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA imaginable.

A Foreseen Loss is a jaw-dropping experience and if you’re a long time admirer of the Blackened Doom/Post-Black Metal scene then accept no substitute as these guys are real FUCKING deal.

Words by Steve Howe

A Foreseen Loss is available to buy now on CD/DD/Tape/Vinyl via Ligthless BandCamp Page.

Links

LinkTree | BandCamp