(written by Islander)

Shades of mental and emotional darkness have been features of heavy metal in general, and extreme metal in particular, for a very long time. Sometimes it’s been represented through supernatural imagery and lyricism, sometimes by more direct experiences of real-world turmoil and desolation.

But while it’s commonplace to see descriptions of metal songs or albums as “dark”, it’s still startling (and shuddering) to read about the ethos of Litosth’s forthcoming fourth full-length, Dreaming. It is described in the press materials proffered by Personal Records as a record that “offers no comfort, no resolution, no redemption”:

“What it offers is something more disturbing and necessary: the complete architecture of collapse. Eight tracks that do not describe the fall — they are the fall…. The album descends layer by layer through what remains when everything that was imposed is stripped away: faith, morality, purpose, and the illusion of ascent. What remains is not liberation. It is only ashes, emptiness, and silence…. Dreaming is not a record about dreaming. It is about finally ceasing to do so.”

How does this Brazilian duo of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Maicon Ristow and lyricist Wendel Siota plumb such desolate depths through their music? We have a partial answer today in our premiere of a guitar-and-bass playthrough video for the song “Eclipse“. Continue reading »