Sidus Atrum unveils itself with a second album.
Created in Ukraine in 2019 by Yulia Lykhotvor (all instruments/vocals), the musician releases a first album the same year, then announces Spiral Of Life for 2022. The artwork is made by Gogo Melone (Aeonian Sorrow, Luna Obscura, Clouds).
The melancholy begins with Fading Light, a melancholic track which places an abrasive and heavy saturation on this catchy rhythmic. The visceral screams settle on this oppressive basis which knows how to slow down to reveal us a dark and aggressive quietness, leading us to Sea of Life, a rather aerial track which slowly places a soaring atmosphere. The track remains quite dark while offering a heavy and melodic contrast, then the heavy finale leaves Breath of Agony offering us a devastating and suffocating sound. The dissonance reveals us an oppressive and heavy atmosphere, which lets the dissonance and the melancholic sounds play an important role in this universe which continues with Farewell and its very contrasted sounds. The clear vocals give way to devastating screams, but also to these slow and very soft sounds that explode before Rain Brings Your Voice and its Gothic accents. If the devastating parts offer us burning rhythmics, we also find softer and majestic elements that will feed this powerful contrast, which leads us to Regression, a dark composition that draws from these ritualistic sounds. The sound progresses slowly under throbbing percussion, coupled with leads and abrasive vocal parts, and then the track darkens and ends.
If Sidus Atrum does not look anything special, the project is excellent. The abrasive Black Metal basis also offers Shoegaze and more ambient elements on Spiral Of Life, which will remain a devastatingly contrasted album.
90/100