(written by Islander)
Even after the enthusiasm that greeted I, Voidhanger Records‘ release of Unsouling‘s 2024 debut album Vampiric Spiritual Drain, it’s likely that the band’s Minneapolis-based creator Andy Schoengrund still remained best-known for his work in Feral Light. That’s likely to change after the release of Unsouling‘s forthcoming second album, Outward Streams Of Devotional Woe, and not simply because Feral Light has split up. As Andy has shared with us:
“Outward Streams Of Devotional Woe differs from its predecessor in that the meandering exploration of the first album has been replaced with a more sure-footed and focused journey. The anchor of black metal with the bleed into gothic, dark wave, and death metal influences is still very much present, but it is more reigned in and pointed.”
The new album will be co-released by I, Voidhanger Records, Canti Erectici, and Unsouling, and to help pave the road toward its October 3 release we’re now premiering the album’s first single, “Your Momentary Passing“.
We will likely have a lot to say about the new album as a whole as we get closer to its release, but for now we’ll provide just a partial preview by offering a few words about its opening song “Immaterial Entrance” — because it’s the one that immediately precedes “Your Momentary Passing” on the track list.
As an entrance to the album it does seem like approaching a shimmering door, a ghostly portal that beckons the listener forward. That’s the seductive effect of the glimmering synths and richly reverberating guitar melody that begin the song. It’s still enticing even after the slow, menacing clang of a bass and the heavy thump of a drum join in.
It turns out that the song’s mesmerizing overture is more than an overture: It establishes the melody that Unsouling then carries forward, while adapting it, and making it feel more menacing and distraught — though not as distressing as the vocals’ tormented howls and screams.
The music rings and rapidly ripples, still ethereal in its aspect, with a very heavy rocking groove providing a contrast — but then the music gets tangibly physical, viciously jabbing and brutishly punching, and the rhythmic groove hits hard too.
The piercing riffage also writhes and warps, and does so more feverishly as the drums furiously hammer, but the lead guitar also elevates in a whirring blaze, exhilarating to hear but still distressing (though things get ghostly again at the end).
That song provides a stirring opening act, a multi-faceted thriller, and it’s followed by the song you’ll now get to hear for yourselves.
“Your Momentary Passing” dispenses with an overture, and dives right in, with vividly slashing chords, scalding screams, whip-crack beats, and a gut-bruising bass. But like the first song, it passes through constantly changing phases. The music ripples, like voices of desperate chimes; it miserably whirls and manically darts; it sizzles and seethes; it seems to weap and wail.
Meanwhile, the drums batter and pound, or chop like an ax; the iron-shod bass murmurs and vividly throbs; and the vocals switch to gloomily spoken words. Continuing to deploy guitars of varying tones, the music also seems to descend into moods of oppression and grief, accompanied again by gritty snarls and larynx-ruining screams.
As previewed by the quotation far above, the song is indeed a genre-bender — “the anchor of black metal with the bleed into gothic, dark wave, and death metal influences”, and the song is also definitely focused, cohesive, and memorable, as well as emotionally moving.
The cover art for Outward Streams Of Devotional Woe was once again created by the always-excellent Luciana Nedelea, and this time the album was mixed by the famed Sanford Parker at Hypercube Studios and mastered by Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording..
I, Voidhanger will release the new album on CD; Canti Erectici will be providing a limited cassette edition; and Unsouling will handle the vinyl release. For more info today and in the weeks to come, visit the locations linked below.
UNSOULING:
https://unsouling.bandcamp.com/album/outward-streams-of-devotional-woe
https://www.instagram.com/unsouling_/
https://www.facebook.com/ferallight/
I, VOIDHANGER:
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/
EU: https://metalodyssey.8merch.com/
U.S.: https://metalodyssey.8merch.us/
CANTI ERECTICI:
https://linktr.ee/canti_eretici_productions