Panzerfaust ends its tryptich with this new album.
Created in 2005 in Canada, the band composed of Brock Van Dijk (guitar), Goliath (vocals), and recently Thomas Gervais (bass) and Alexander Kartashov (drums) announces in 2022 the release of The Suns of Perdition – Chapter III: The Astral Drain at Eisenwald.
The album begins with Death-Drive Projections, a long composition which progressively mesmerizes us with this mysterious and haunting blackness before allowing vocals to appear, strengthening the oppression. The weighing ambience will also make ghostly scream spawn in the background as well as solid riffs to complete the airy and melodic sonorities, then the band allows us to breathe with The Fear, an unhealthy interlude which drives us to B22: The Hive and the Hole. After this introductive sample, the wave of darkness refurfaces to flood us with ghoulish screams and worrying melodies to create a head and quite majestic sound. We also have rawer parts and massive howlings before the atmosphere calms down with The Pain, offering faraway sonorities to drive us to Bonfire of the Insanities and its slow dissonance which slightly moves forward before unveiling screams. The song’s main theme is oppression, which invades us at the first moments, and which only leaves us when the song ends with a raging blast, letting The Fury deliver quieter but still mysterious sonorities. The mesmerizing melodies of The Far Bank at the River Styx come next, allowing effective riffs create a hooking contrast between the two universes. The middle break will temporize the slaughter while feeding the sway riffs have over us, and it will last until the void absorbs the sound, letting Enantiodromia, a long interlude, offer us primitive Folk sonorities while the band settles again its airy tones before Tabula Rasa comes to close the album. Howlings come to life into soaring harmonics, while finally letting intensity increase until the final and chaotic explosion which suddenly sets us free.
Panzerfaust finally unveils the last part of its oppressive universe with The Suns of Perdition – Chapter III: The Astral Drain, and saying their art just reached its peak would be such an euphemism. Blackness and mystery are melted into all songs, unveiling waves of increasing intensity before leaving us alone.
P.S.: a fourth part was announced, extending this univers as a quadrilogy.
90/100
