Xasthur

The one-man harbinger of sorrow has once again surfaced from the bowels of hell with another soundtrack to your most gruesome and disturbing nightmares. Rest assured, Xasthur’s grandiose and macabre cacophony has remained unscathed. Still skilfully building atmospheric melancholy, the music plays out like the feeling that sets in on the foggy morning after you’ve killed your family. A big part of this project’s appeal is the trademark lo-fi, dreary recording that gives Malefic’s horrific hymns the haunting presence that comprises the majority of its merit. Staying true to this approach, the volume has gone up to 11 and this time around it’s a little louder. Though the vocals occasionally breach the mix a little too highly, this creates that grating and grim effect that makes Defective Epitaph oh so terrifying. Unlike Subliminal Genocide, this record isn’t immediately spellbinding and it may take a few listens before the complete hypnotism takes hold. Still, one must be wary, for once you’ve been taken by the symphonic and scornful misanthropy there’s no turning back.