Comprising gentle melodious segments with bone crushing black metal, Discarnate Ails is the latest release from Texans Haunter. Formed in San Antonio in 2013, the four-piece’s latest work combines progressive ages of clarity with thunderous tremolo riffing in a kaleidoscope of intoxication that weave sinister patterns around the listener.
It’s a shortish album, but that’s somewhat deceptive, as it comprises a mere three tracks. The opening song “Overgrown with the Moss” is a rampaging and relentless battery, featuring soaring lead breaks that burst through the cacophony of drumming, guttural roars, and bruising riffing. Haunter has welcomed the arrival of Cole Tucker on bass for this release, and his playing locks in with the blistering battery of Marc Cruz whose drumming is exceptional. “Overgrown with the Moss” is close to 11 minutes in length, which provides a canvas for the flexing of musical muscles. They do it in impressive style.
The track segues into the shortest piece on this release, “Spiritual Illness”, which features more interlinked play between the band , shimmering guitars working overtime, delivering intricate patterns that web their way through and around the relentless blast beats that erupt and continue to flow like an explosive volcano.
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The intensity is incredibly increased in the final track, the gargantuan “Chained at the Helm of the Eschaton”. A massive 14-minute workout, it once again delves deep into the darkness with some morbid growls and cries that echo with a harrowing malevolence. The blistering wall of sound that is created is phenomenal, with an underlying melody that flits across the whole track. The driving delivery is unrelenting, the twist and thrust creating a sonic soundscape which mesmerises. The combined musicianship is tight and interwoven. It’s a breath-taking journey with the constant switches between slower ages and full-blasting delivery making it a truly hypnotic piece of work. Unsurprisingly, the track slows towards the end, switching from the frenetic to the ethereal, as the song is brought to a melancholic and peaceful conclusion.
It’s the subtle balance between dissonant and melodious segments that make Discarnate Ails an excellently crafted release. Certainly, one that black metal fans should consider investing time to explore.
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Header image by Oscar Moreno
Discarnate Ails is out on May 6th
Haunter: facebook | instagram | bandcamp | spotify
