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UNSOULING “Outward Streams of Devotional Woe”
UNSOULING “Outward Streams of Devotional Woe”
By Dr. Abner Mality
This is one of the most interesting one-man bands found on the I, Voidhanger label, which specializes in them. The man behind UNSOULING is one A.S. and he’s come up with a genre-blender that’s something I haven’t heard before. It’s a mix of doomy black metal, Gothic rock and post-metal that creates a very gloomy and melancholy sound.
I always appreciate when a creator can express himself in a focused and compact way, which A.S. has done here. Only one track exceeds the six minute mark, yet almost every song here features a rich mixture of styles and sounds. It doesn’t always take 20 minute tracks to explore ideas. The prevailing feel here is black metal, but in a measured fashion that’s not vicious or war-like. A lot of songs have moments reminding one of Gothic darkwave music or moody post-metal. But there are bursts of hard riffing that’s almost death metal in nature. The result is really intriguing.
First two tracks “Immaterial Entrance” and “Your Momentary Passing” are good introductions to the sound of UNSOULING, but the album really takes off with “To Come Unbound”, which is such a heavy and somber mix of death, black and Gothic elements. This is an almost perfect song and “Grief Reconfigured” almost matches it with a droning, dark and thick sound, like a night full of dense fog given musical form. “Towering Black Wave” starts very much in Goth post-punk mode with an incredibly catchy bass riff. The black metal cuts in about half way through and it does indeed feel like being enveloped by a huge wave of blackness.
“Passages” is mostly solemn post-metal while last song “Dissolved In Spiritus” is a dreamy weave of melodic darkness with a fast aggressive attack. A.S. vocals bob between creepy whispers and more typical death/black tones.
A very strong journey into blackened mists from UNSOULING with an appeal beyond just black metal.
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