Austere - Corrosion of Hearts (2023)

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Gladly surprising everybody about a comeback a few years back, Austere returns with a brilliantly hypnotic and demoralizing release with “Corrosion of Hearts”. Featuring four tracks and clocking in at 46 minutes, this release is everything that any fan of the band could have expected, and then some. As one of the best outfits of the Depressive Black Metal movement, their mid 2000’s “Withering Illusions and Desolation” release is soul crushing, and this release shows they didn’t skip a beat.

Opening with “Sullen”, this track was premiered during their first live shows in 2022 at Dark Bombastic Evening and Prophecy Fest. For nearly 12 minutes we get that signature trance inducing melancholic riffing alongside the signature screams of Tim Yatras. Always perfectly in sync with Mitchell Keepin’s dramatic atmospheric and hypnotic songwriting, the band unleashes sheer misery inducing onslaughts with the moody tempos of “A Ravenous Oblivion”.

As one of our favorite tracks, “The Poisoned Core” has a certain Burzum-esque vibe to it, delivering slow and painful riffs while slowly clawing away at the listener’s soul and psyche. Closing with “Pale”, we get a more modern and Germ-esque vibe, with clean vocals thrown into the mix alongside very bleak passages. It is quite awesome that while the songs are long, this album goes by in an instant, creating a total aural vortex that the fans of the band will love.

Delivering more than one would expect, “Corrosion of Hearts” brings back one of our favorite outfits with a mean punch. The band is far from rusty and even tighter than before, delivering misery inducing anthems like it is a walk in the park. If you love melancholic and yet punishing music, you cannot miss out on Austere and their crushing sound.

Band: Austere Album: Corrosion of Hearts

Label: Lupus Lounge / Prophecy Productions

Release: April 28th, 2023

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Genre: Depressive Black Metal

Country: Australia

Rating: 97/100
Year: 

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