Suldusk treat themselves to a second album.
Following their first success in 2019, the Australian band made up of Emily Highfield (vocals/guitar), Shane Mulholland (vocals/guitar), Daniel Green (bass), Josh Taylor (guitar), Hayley Anderson (violin) and Frankie Demuru (drums) are back in the studio, releasing Anthesis on Napalm Records.
The album opens with Astraeus, a strange introduction in which a voice reveals itself, creating soaring tones that eventually ignite on Verdalet and its jerky Black Metal roots, while keeping clear vocals. A few howls also creep into the surge, calming at times but remaining intoxicating, including brief pauses in the rhythm before Crowns Of Esper takes over with its first steamy tones. A soothing voice dances between wisps of Folk-rooted quietude, before Crystalline quickly darkens the atmosphere, which quickly becomes stifling thanks to saturation and then almost hellish when saturated vocals reappear. The elements converge towards the final, merging into a catchy riff that transports us to Sphaera and its disturbing melancholy, which develops via a growing intensity that gradually anchors itself in visceral suffering, followed by a sample heralding the fall until Anthesis, the eponymous track, where the rhythmic pattern ignites for the first time. The fury expresses itself freely before falling back, then exploding a second time in a more lasting way, breaking suddenly to let Mythical Creatures plunge back into the gentlest, most bewitching elements. The melody occasionally becomes slightly more energetic, but its ballet is interrupted by Leaven, where the slow saturated riffs become massive, framing waves of benevolent lightness that lead us to A Luminous End, the final track, where the rhythm’s more playful approach finally summons the saturation’s rage and then finally Raphael Weinroth-Browne and his cello, giving the track an almost tragic final touch.
Suldusk wanders halfway between NeoFolk and Blackgaze, drawing on the quietude of one and the fury of the other to build its own universe. Anthesis finds the right balance between the two worlds to become unique.
80/100