(written by Islander)
We have been closely following the works of Exitium Sui since its inception, but for those who might be newcomers, it is a one-man band created in 2020 by E.S. (vocalist of the black metal band Deadspace) from Perth, Australia, and at a high level the music could be branded as a fusion of atmospheric black metal and funeral doom.
Breaking a two-year silence, Exitium Sui will be releasing a new album named Unravelling in cooperation with Meuse Music Records on September 4th. It is described as an album that confronts “the dark chasms of the human psyche” and “negotiates liminal space between utter chaos, complete seclusion, and fathomless depravity”.
Two of the songs have been revealed so far, and today we premiere a third one — “Until the End Hath Found Us” — which arrives as the subject of a shattering video.
This song originally appeared on Exitium Sui’s 2020 debut EP, Nuclear Sundown, but E.S. has re-recorded it for the new album. We have this description of the song to share (the video also captures this narrative):
“Until The End Hath Found Us” is the first tangible fulfilment of Exitium Sui’s narrative vision, shedding light on the mysterious world that E.S. has forged within its music hitherto.
The chronicle reveals the realities of starting anew and the various stages one must overcome, following a character that has once been and will be again. Awakening in darkness, he must first regain ownership and agency of his body. His mind plagued by illusionary threat of the formless shadow, a falsified embodiment of the past that obstacles the present moment and pursues him into the uncertainty of the future.
Only when the shadow is confronted head-on does it disappear entirely, and the character rises as the half-blind wanderer to commence his journey into the future.
Exitium Sui’s musical evolution has followed a similar path — “from the total darkness (Nuclear Sundown), harrowing mania (The Sinister Business of Selling Hope), the facing of demons (Ad Personam), the blind wanderer (Endless/Regression), and the triumphant return (Unravelling).”
In its rendering of the journey described above, the song you’re about to hear builds slowly, reaches crests of power and intensity, and ends mystically. It’s fair to call it “epic”.
At the outset gleaming notes ring like chimes above the dim bowing of a bass and beneath shimmering sonic cascades high above. It’s a beautiful overture, a mysterious and melancholy one, made even more beautiful by flute-like notes that join in the melody.
That engaging melody persists even when the song’s intensity magnifies dramatically through the advent of steady drums, searing sounds that are panoramic in their scope yet also throb, bass-lines that more heavily throb, wrenching screams, and frightening guttural roars.
The song’s intensity continues escalating as the drums erupt in a torrent of blast-beats and the dense, searing music seems to writhe in desperation. Those monstrous roars trade off with the shattering screams, and as the drums grow steady again, a new sound (almost like a saxophone) traces a more broken-hearted and desolate melody beneath those stratospheric swaths of sound. The flute melody also returns, like a hopeful friend in the midst of an eye-popping blaze.
At the peak of that final crest choral voices soar, helping propel the song to a breathtaking crescendo… and then the music transforms into a closing blanket of ethereal, shimmering mystery which is beautiful but also haunting.
As you will see, the video is itself a dark, viscerally powerful, and often harrowing presentation of the journey encompassed by the song, a journey by E.S. as the video’s protagonist. It was edited by Anett Gebauer, with footage captured by Joseph Varley at DarKSpiritPhotography.
LYRICS:
Hold my hand and squeeze it firmly
Until the end hath found us in our hole
To meet us with her cold, dead stare
Obliterate all peaceful moments
In massacre and chilling silence
For now, and ever we live in violence
And here we stand before the final sunset
Left with only memories of the dispossessed
Until the end hath found us
The new version of “Until the End Hath Found Us” will become available on other platforms on the September 4 release date for Unravelling.
The new album was written, recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced by E.S. alone. It includes guest vocals by Drew James Griffiths (Ashen, Ur Draugr, Deadspace) on the song “Septikinesis“, and guest vocals by John Pescod on a bonus track. The artwork, photography, and layout are the work of Anett Gebauer.
Find pre-orders via the links below, and at Bandcamp you can also listen to two other previously released songs, “Crippled By The God-Hand” (reviewed here) and the afore-mentioned “Septikinesis” (the song that features a guest vocal appearance by Drew James Griffiths).
PRE-ORDER:
https://exitiumsui.bandcamp.com/album/unravelling
https://meusemusicrecords.bandcamp.com/album/exitium-sui-unravelling-mmr070
https://www.m9music.eu/products/exitium-sui-unravelling-digicd
FOLLOW:
https://www.facebook.com/exitiumsuiband/
https://www.instagram.com/exitiumsuiband/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6n5jje19qVNAihWEKid9x5