Exitium Sui returns after a three-year absence.
Having successfully completed his other projects, E.S. (all instruments/vocals, Humanitas Error Est, I Am All Wounds, Lebenssucht, Veils of Fog, Deadspace, ex-Cancer) ventures into the world of Doom with Endless, his new EP.
The musician first exposes us to his new universe with Forlorn, a composition where the introduction’s majestic keyboards are joined by massive screams and heavy riffs. The contrast between melodic and oppressive elements is perfectly mastered, with soft touches regularly buried under darkness without disappearing, while leads guide us to Abysmal and its quiet touches. These are, of course, crushed by a pachydermic rhythm before the howls appear, also inviting R.F.S (Kintsukuroi, Wendol, ex-Afraid of Destiny) to join in on the vocal parts, leaving the duo to guide us through this thick mist. The final light fades to make way for Despondent and its Doom/Death influences with heady melodies, allowing the rhythm section to advance at its own pace beneath the howls. The central break proves rather soothing, reinforcing the return of saturation and, by the same token, the appearance of cries of despair as the keyboards become more menacing before the melancholy gives way to Escape, a track that quickly becomes suffocating in the company of Nick Magur (Irreparable, ex-Greytomb, ex-Adamus Exul) who helps to darken this devastated landscape once again, keeping airy harmonics in the background all the same. The track features a few moments of clean vocals before the final point is marked by Treading on the Bones of Loneliness, which takes us back to the haunting approach of a Funeral Doom filled with intense hatred, anguish and distress embodied by both the vocal parts and the sudden conflagration that leads to nothingness.
The physical version includes a few additional tracks. One of them, Beyond The Black Gate, lets us gradually sink between whispers and backing vocals, revealing its slow oppression only after a few minutes of anguish.
Although still rooted in darkness, it’s with the abysmal slowness of Funeral Doom that Exitium Sui evolved on Endless. Five (or more) tracks that lead to one and only one conclusion: the musician knows exactly how to spew out his darkness.
95/100
