(written by Islander)
The copy/paste keyboard function is vital to preserving the sanity of people who write about metal in its global settings. Sometimes that’s because band names, album titles, or song names are in a language different from that of the writer. Sometimes it’s because metal bands have a tendency to just make up words for such things, and the words can be unpronounceable due to confounding juxtapositiions of consonants and vowels. And sometimes, but much more rarely, something significant is expressed in long strings of numbers.
Which brings us to the Canadian band Endspace. The name Endspace can be typed without difficulty, but copy/pasting is necessary for the identification of its two members. They are: 040118180514 and 102119200914. Equally strange, this isn’t the first time those two members have identified themselves numerically, even though Endspace is a new band — because they are also members of Fractal Generator, in which they are known by the same collections of digits.
This might lead you to assume there are similarities between what Endspace is doing and what Fractal Generator have done. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but you wouldn’t be entirely right either. At a high level Fractal Generator lean into death metal, whereas Endspace lean into black metal. And yet they are only just leaning, because both bands put lots of often head-scrambling twists, turns, and layers into their musical (and lyrical) concoctions.
In the case of Endspace, their first concoctions are encompassed by a debut album named First Contact that will be released on October 2nd by Transcending Obscurity Records. As the label says, it is “sci-fi themed black metal”, and it’s “light years ahead of what we’re accustomed to hearing”.
To be very clear, the music of Endspace isn’t conventional black metal, as Transcending Obscurity acknowledges:
The songs are called transmissions here and each one has a different identity and purpose, making this an utterly fascinating and unique listening experience. The music is tenuously black metal, with its elements taken apart and pieced together using futuristic components, coalesced using death metal and industrial influences, and of course a wide range of all the weird, extraterrestrial sounds to make this record as convincing and out there as possible. Few bands have explored the sci-fi side of black metal but probably none sound as accomplished or go all the way as Endspace have on their very debut itself.
Until today, two of those Endspace “transmissions” had surfaced, and we will be surfacing a third one. “Sixth Transmission” surfaced quite early, because it was the opening track on Transcending Obscurity’s 2026 Label Sampler released in early January of this year.
The guitar tone of that song’s opening riff makes a striking impression all by itself, and the way it vividly rings and ripples sounds like the exotic accompaniment for a whirling dervish (it sounds more Sumerian than futuristic — though let’s not forget the theory of Ancient Astronauts!). The deep vocoder-assisted ugliness of the vocals and the vibrant dynamism of the drumming also make a hell of an impression.
As that song evolves, the exotic melody sometimes slows and mysteriously flows, even while the drums are blazing, and it does begin to sound more futuristic and unearthly. Endspace also embellishes the song with the rapid clatter of chime-like percussive tones, eerie chant-like singing, yowling frequencies that pulse like a slow siren, and shrill sonic quiverings that seem to wail in despair.
As a first statement (though a sixth transmission), that song plants a big flag of unorthodoxy (frightening unorthodoxy) in rapidly shaking ground. It’s exhilarating, and it does sound like extraterrestrial transmissions. And then T.O. debuted “Second Transmission“.
This one rapidly glitters and swirls from the first moments, though pinging tones slowly reverberate from within the gleaming swarms. The music sounds both mechanistic and maniacal. To continue with the alliteration, it also sounds monstrous, thanks to the vocal cavalcade of horrid guttural growls, screeching screams, wild yells, and robotic pronouncements.
The drums furiously hammer; synths create dreamy cosmic cascades; electronics skitter and short out; and a rapidly darting keyboard solo near the end pops eyes wide open in its display of strange machine-mind ecstasy.
And that brings us to the song we’re now premiering, “First Transmission“, which you can guess is the opening track on First Contact.
There’s more madness to be found here, but also a kind of grim savagery. The pace of the drums is fast, and the vocals are horrid and harrowing (except when they dismally chant). The music rapidly jolts like an industrial dye-stamp, and it also viciously pulsates, woozily wails, and savagely stitches.
Endspace also use their variable keys to create moods of desperation and dismay. By the hopeless end you might feel your heart sinking.
Just these three songs have proven that First Contact will be one of the most fascinating (and strange) albums of the year. Come October, all the other transmissions will only strengthen that conclusion.
Transcending Obscurity will release First Contact on vinyl LP, digipack CD, and digital formats, with accompanying apparel and other merch, all of it featuring the First Contact cover art created by Midge “Mantissa” Sinnaeve. T.O. recommends the album for fans of Darkspace, Aborym, Thorns, Labyrinthus Stellarum, Midnight Odyssey, and Imperialist.
Find pre-orders and more info via the links below.
PRE-ORDER:
https://endspace-label.bandcamp.com/album/first-contact
http://us.tometal.com/
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
ENDSPACE:
https://facebook.com/endspaceband
https://instagram.com/endspaceband