What a weird, wonderful clusterfuck of sounds Superterrestrial bring to our collective earholes with some “Space-themed Black Metal” on their latest effort, The Fathomless Decay. Add in an overall haunting and menacing atmosphere to all the heaviness that comes off like a nasty wraith who just won’t leave you alone (Think Samara in The Ring) and Superterrestrial’s newest is one that you should definitely pay attention to in 2023.
“Dark Energy” starts us off with almost seven minutes of straight up, um, dark energy and vocals that are practically indecipherable yet potent nonetheless at the gooey center of some serious Black Metal chops (Read: Blast Beats and shreds!) surrounded by an iridescent atmosphere that just elevates everything here to another stratosphere of sonic superiority. Get all that? Good, because it’s only going to get more complicated from here on out.
“Transient Lunar Phenomenon” has bouts of buoyancy amidst a gnarly pummeling and shrill incessant shrieks culminating with an ominous outro that’s reminiscent of The Lion’s Daughter or the more experimental bits found on the later Nachtmystium recordings and then “Escape Velocity” goes for the jugular instantaneously but swerves into an almost spiritual place where the specters dwell. “Solar Constant” gets even more extreme with a barrage of beats and riffs before diving into another ambience of its’ own which also acts as a fitting prelude to the haunting synthetic interludes that break up “Periastron” that are downright scary with the air it creates while heading toward this majestic guitar-driven movement akin to many a Slayer breakdown/beatdown back in the day.
“Planetesimal” offers one last blast (beat) of straight up galaxy galloping Black Metal replete with some interstellar interludes before “winding down” (If that’s even possible on this adrenaline heavy album) for “Heliacal Rising” which has a long drawn out synth-laden intro straight outta Suspiria that quickly devolves into yet another ferocious sonic tirade from all parties involved.
The Fathomless Decay arrives on January 27th. You can pre-order and pre-save your copy now when you head here or here or by clicking on the stream below.