The storm arrives slow, never passing the threshold of ominous presence as it mills about in miserable bluster. When it finally passes the scars upon the landscape are daunting, lasting in their destruction to an unexpected degree. The struggle back to a thriving state never fully pans out per a wholly lost state of mind, whatever had been shredded away by tumult is someone else’s detritus now. Australian depressive black metal duo Austere thrive beyond the wear of time and distance, bringing themselves back to build upon their incomplete legacy with a third full-length. Rather than wallow in recreation of a past self ‘Corrosion of Hearts‘ thrives within a better rounded sonic identity, tempering the naked indulgences of yore while leaning into the gloom-ridden atmospheric values and distraught friction they are known for. Matured and melodic, this unexpected return makes a case for future miseries within its own doomed state of yearning, lifting away the charm of not-so distant nostalgia with an inarguably finest yet result.

Austere formed circa 2005 in the suburbs of Wollongong, New South Wales by way of Desolate who most will recognize as the founder of Temple Nightside as well as a former contributor to Pestilential Shadows alongside several of his own projects, such as the underrated and now defunct Ill Omen. By 2007 an album had been largely penned and drummer/co-vocalist Sorrow (Germ, ex-Grey Waters) was brought into the line-up as they’d soon complete ‘Withering Illusions and Desolation‘ (2007), an album which is remembered by most for its over the top, primally shrieked vocals and waltzing, depressive rhythms. While this style eventually became a staple for many in identifying the depressive black metal sub-genre headspace it was rare that a vocalist took it quite that far and managed exactly that well with it. For the band the initial three year run from that point wasn’t much more than a self-cleanse of pestering sullen mood but for fans it’d read as genuine existential torment, a form of deeply emotional black metal theater which uncorked their own examination and expression of mental illness. The emotional value of their work was telegraphed by a certain sub-genre niche, sure, but I’d suggest it as the rare case of the music holding up well beyond the expected tormented melodrama of the DSBM zeitgeist.

That earliest vision of the band was steadfast in a style Desolate had meticulously crafted and the debut was brilliant in its own right but their approach would refine and evolve rapidly, taking advantage of broadened dual vocal options/register and writing longer, more involved pieces; As we step into their two substantive split albums with Lyrinx (‘Only the Wind Remembers‘, 2008) and Isolation (‘Break…‘, 2008) those were the releases where the “Austere sound” had developed as many remember it today, each are worth revisiting as vital context for the band’s best-remembered and still revered sophomore full-length (‘To Lay Like Old Ashes‘, 2009). While many folks celebrated that second album for years after release it’d taken some time for it to catch on and the project officially split in 2010 as a myriad of other projects burst from each member, the space between then and now was full and, from the looks of it, prosperous for each. For many black metal fans struggling to find value in the trendiness of the times, myself included, the “mainstreamed” boost given to the depressive suicidal black metal sound was a faceless, intensifying fad which couldn’t pass any sooner per the absolute schlock it’d produced. Point being that if you had to limit yourself away from the noise and into a particularly pristine realm, Austere was always a brilliant choice with a clearly defined pair of entrance and exit statements.

The chip on my shoulder is more of a chunk. — If you’re one of many who’d intentionally avoided the history of ‘depressive’ black metal as it rose from the extreme sound design and emotional outbursts of peak 90’s transgressors unto a strangely exploitative haven for Bandcamp-era opportunists and prolific bad actors in the late 2000’s I’d assume you missed at least a few valuable recordings in the 1999-2004 era per the obvious choices: Silencer‘s record has some strong melodic and performative merit which still stands out, early Forgotten Tomb made the key connection between 90’s dark metal and ‘depressive suicidal’ black metal traits, and of course Shining‘s debut is more essential for its marriage of vocal personae and actual black metal guitar interest. I don’t intend these thoughts as a primer for the sub-genre or too personal testimony but rather to set a surface level standard of tension from which I could plate up Austere as an idyllic article in a sea of comparatively formative, thoughtless or amateurish flippancy. Their work hit at exactly the right time in the late 2000’s, presenting a mixture of heavily influential rhythmic traits and generally irreplicable performances that presented as additive definition for the sub-genre per the general public: Coldest dark metal rhythms, atmospheric black metal production values, and vocal performances intending to convey an individual in the midst of emotional shatter, heaving out the mill of the mind in complete nihilistic distress. The argument I’d make here is that the sub-genre was still questionably defined as a loose lyrical and aesthetic phenomenon ’til bands like this one added key defining musical value to the zeitgeist through smartest yet use of all requisite traits to reach a point of personal expression. Pretentious as it is to say on my part, this type of holier than thou skeletal definition is all that remains once a bestselling trend is picked clean of merit by the masses.

Austere might not’ve been as big a name as some others at their grandest point of visibility but ‘To Lay Like Old Ashes‘ brought in some unrequited experimental ideals to the formula which are still unique. The title track’s use of electronic beats are still a smartly achieved addition, the improved timbre/diction of the clean vocals added much to their emotional reach which features as a vital thread on pieces like “Just For a Moment”, which predicted some of the intrigue of post-black/blackgaze to some degree. I go into some detail here for the sake of setting expectations with precedence, knowing that after ~14 years the duo would sound a bit different but not so drastically that their first three years of activity would be lost upon them in effect.

The years betwixt, the souls a’twain. — In fact one could argue that there is some lineage in the spiritus of Austere to be found in Woods of Desolation‘s first two records (especially ‘Torn Beyond Reason‘) despite that having a bit more to do with Sorrow‘s collaboration with that artist (D., who is not Desolate) in Grey Waters. The spark of notice they’d gotten from Austere was a boon and a bit of a typecast situation, wherein that early work brought enough momentum that they’d each kept busy-as over the years but they’d always been adamant about never reviving the group in interviews, ready to acknowledge and move on. It’d definitely been a surprise reformation circa 2021 but enough time had passed that their work had been reframed as vital by the trash compactor that is the underground extreme metal internet mind palace. — Anyhow, with my tangential indulgences set aside the bigger point to make is that Austere still sound like Austere despite each half of the duo having naturally grown more capable, more expressive over time on their own. ‘Corrosion of Hearts‘ cannot escape its matured status as a more black-gazing and differently atmospheric droning sense of dread drives the experience. The dissonance of the soul is emphasized here and, oddly enough, not a in a cheap or too overtly mainstreamed point of restoration.

The pervasive mood found on ‘Corrosion of Hearts‘ is listless, a loss of temporal grounding within deep melancholia which is quietly severe but not desperate for engagement. This tragedian, doomed and distanced affect naturally thrives within longer, and dramatically presented pieces which are far less raw than expected as elegant and complete statements which are yet conscious of what’d been worth keeping from 2000’s dark, blustering and depressive music. On a fundamental level the four longform compositions on this third full-length are structurally based in atmospheric black metal and not the increasingly dated surface-level depressive rock and/or post-rock rhythms which have become cloying and overstretched tropes over the last decade. This makes for a more serious, at times ominous and decidedly less playfully writ entrancement which I’d immediately connected with. The gloom comes with waves, some of it even appears hopeful in its lilt until the phrase has completely turned (see: “Pale”); There are of course elements of what some would consider blackgaze in the depths of certain songs but this has precedence in past works, a natural build upon the legacy of Austere who haven’t lost sight of their original sound in any too drastic sense.

Whereas the gimmickry of early depressive black metal builds certain expectations the ease of ‘Corrosion of Hearts‘ is its most unnerving trait, there is some grand vision manifesting in each ambitiously stated piece here yet none of it feels muscular or wrathfully set upon the ear with any force. Austere are seeping in from all angles, greying the mind with more than just one “thing”, rather they present tuneful and dynamic pieces which grant some new experiential value beyond spectacle. With “Sullen” we don’t get the random interruptus of ‘Withering Illusions and Desolation‘ in terms of shrieked vocals and freely-spouted outbursts, instead there is a deeply buried howl ~3:45 minutes in just as the hanging melody of the piece begins to realize. Spoken layers surface for a moment, and it’d seem the first movement of the song lands as roughly five minutes of foreshadowing before a lead guitar melody reminiscent of early October Tide takes the directorial path forward, rising to a sort of morose fold where harmonized vocals set a hook (which repeats around the ten minute mark) deep in the dermal layers of the generally rich sound design, sending the ear pricking towards that detail. As is the case throughout the full listen the more rousing, shrill register of the vocals is contained and parsed for the deeper pockets of certain songs (see: the last two minutes of “A Ravenous Oblivion“) as, one part of their oeuvre used with sense rather than presenting naked spectacle. If the full listen doesn’t initially sound like Austere in passing, I’d suggest their signature is not only broader than many remember (revisit the second album, specifically) and that all of those sensibilities arrive reworked and reconsidered for effect on this third album.

Though the compositional flair of this record is expectedly enriched with emotional heft and watery, dreaming-dead surrealism Austere have surprised me most in their incorporation of keyboards/synth from Sorrow, which are set beneath the prioritized layers of the render as I’d perceive them: Rhythm guitars facing forward on a high-set plane, drum kit aback but centered in a large room, bass guitar and leads set at shoulder height, and vocals crumbling beneath. The use of keyboards is set somewhere beneath those already shimmering, distorted placements and may very well go unnoticed until “The Poisoned Core” presents its brooding, doomed main riff and the accoutrement begins to shape the ominous feeling of the piece. This is also the song that showcases some of the finesse available to the drum performances, a somewhat underrated aspect of Sorrow‘s work in general. We likewise find keyboards as an important introduction the grand dissolution, the longest and perhaps darkest song on ‘Corrosion of Hearts‘ in “Pale”, this isn’t the most cumulative piece to best sum the effect of the full listen but its wandering-high rhythms, tentative but sort of bopping pace of its verses, and restrained yet withering vocal performances solidify the feeling that this is a valid Austere experience rather than an imitation. The full listen makes a great case for what we’d already knew, that this band could easily build upon and beyond their past without plainly recreating it and the hope is that there is some deeper creative satisfaction for the group compared to how they’d viewed the brief but celebrated traipse that was their first ~five years back in the late 2000’s.

Though the term depressive black metal is more functional in describing a moment in time than it is a viable sub-genre anymore there is some argument to be made for that which was popular, and that which will always be valuable and in the case of Austere they’ve made some convincing argument that what was always great about their music was unrelated to a trend or movement in style/culture and that they are capable beyond revivifying as a zombified form of past works. ‘Corrosion of Hearts‘ is expectedly listenable, expressive and immersive in its ~47 minute sitting which floats past with some vigorously communicable yearning that I’d found particularly effective when set to repeat as an uninterrupted full listen. It wasn’t damningly emotional as an experience and I was not quite as crippled as I’d have liked to be but the thoughtful, depressive passing of its movements nonetheless communicated a hopeless, mournful distance which is well in line with what I’d wanted form the group upon return. A high recommendation.

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