(Our writer DGR is still playing catch-up in reviewing albums released earlier this year, but now taking them one at a time instead of presenting collections. Today the subject is the fourth album from the Swedish post-black metal band Together To The Stars.)

Much like actual interstellar travel (or interstellar travel as we would imagine it) it has taken a while for us to come into the orbit of Sweden’s Together To The Stars. The group, having existed for seven years and four albums, have never found themselves on a trajectory that brought them close to our lovely little corner of the internet. Their newest album Iridescence – which saw release in early June, though truthfully yours truly finally glanced in the direction of its eye-rending pink in early August – offers us an opportunity to rectify that.

Together To The Stars’ take on black metal – of the much acclaimed post-metal variety – is both enrapturing and infectious, without devolving into a series of tropes or markers so recognizable you can hear the gears of the machine turning in the background. By focusing heavily on climactic moments within each song, as well as memorable guitar work, and a shade of the depressive world of black metal, Together To The Stars find themselves with a gorgeous amalgamation of music that lands them pretty close to Harakiri For The Sky territory while still maintaining an identity free of expected histrionics. Continue reading »