Two active metal bands have adopted the name Sunken, and both of them are releasing excellent albums this year. Because we’ve already devoted some attention to the Finnish doom/death band Sunken at our site, we thought we’d explain up-front that the Sunken whose music we’re premiering today isn’t that one. This Sunken is a Danish collective, and on their newest album they devote their talents to a heart-rending and immensely immersive form of atmospheric black metal.

That album, Livslede, is set for release on September 18th by Vendetta Records. It’s a 43-minute work divided among four substantial tracks and one comparatively brief introductory piece. Those four main songs are long for a reason, and the time is not wasted. Sunken use the time to create experiences of such deep emotional power that it’s hard to imagine how the soul-swallowing effects of them could have been achieved in less time.

It happens that the track we’re bringing you today, at nearly 12 1/2 minutes, is the longest of those four. One of the best compliments we can pay to successful long-form music is that in listening you lose track of time passing, as you lose yourself in the music. And that is certainly a compliment that “Ensomhed” richly deserves. Continue reading »