As a music fan, every Friday release is a blessing. It’s the best way to end the week. You’re getting ground down by the monotony of the 9 to 5 and just need something to boost your spirits for the next 8-10 hours to carry you into the weekend. You may get a little boost if you’ve heard of the artist and like them. The biggest boosts happen when one of your favorites returns with a new record. Ever so rarely, an artist comes out with multiple records in a year. We have been blessed in 2018 with multiple releases from Soul Dissolution.
Belgium’s atmospheric black metal duo is back after March’s Stardust with nowhere, a 2 track EP clocking in at 25 minutes. While that may not seem like very much, any Soul Dissolution track is more like a journey than it is a top 40 radio hit. You may start in one place with the song but the distance you travel over the course of the track is comparable to the Oregon Trail. You may start as one person, but you’ll think a little differently by the end.
Despite being a black metal group, they don’t allow their songwriting to be limited by that label. Their music, especially on this record, is very contemplative. They allow tracks to build up to something instead of forcing them to be one way or another. It’s a very progressive-style of songwriting. By essentially writing their songs in suites like prog bands do, you’re letting the tracks breathe a little and expand organically.
This way of songwriting also allows for the songs to go where they need to. Soul Dissolution doesn’t feel any need to stay in one kind of genre or another. They have a signature sound of atmospheric space to allow each instrument to breathe and be, but they aren’t so tied to being a black metal band that they force the issue. While these two songs do have their depressive vibes, they also have moments of rising and triumph to a certain extent. There are both major and minor riffs and licks. It’s very unique to hear from a genre that fights itself to be “trve” or “kvlt”.
Look at “Fading Darkness”. The track starts off with a slowly plucked chord and simple riffs with a plodding beat accentuated by the slightest of cymbal work. Then it’s kicked up with some distortion and a little attitude, though it’s hard to describe what Soul Dissolution uses as attitude. More like aggressive melancholy. Vocalist Acharan expresses such pain and sadness in his gravely screech, and you can just feel it when he’s expressing his thoughts. The song goes through a number of sections, some more “metal” than others. But it’s really more about the ebbs and flows of the drama. The rise and fall of the music is the most interesting part, and it’s what certainly keeps me interested.
Soul Dissolution is easily one of the best up and coming songwriters, and this new record proves that. They don’t talk about how they’re trying to prove how metal or extreme they can be. They are accomplished songwriters that lean into the darker side. Everything they do is calculated carefully and composed thoughtfully. It’s really a treat to hear them continue to outdo themselves, and I personally look forward to seeing what else they produce in the future.
…
Nowhere will be available everywhere on 10/18. Grab it from the Bandcamp link above.