Drift Into Black are marching towards their fifth album.
Two years have passed since the release of their last opus, but Craig Rossi (guitar/vocals/keyboards, ex-Grey Skies Fallen), Paul LaPlaca (bass, ex-Spiritual Sickness) and Klemen Markelj (drums, Obidil, Bipolar Disorder) are far from being idle, as they have already announced the release of Voices Beneath the Rubble, on Black Lion Records.
The album is immediately anchored in darkness with The Horns of Despair, a long disquieting introduction that brings in a female voice to bewitch us, while the rhythm leads us into In Turmoil, where the riffs become more aggressive. Mysterious vocal parts join heady harmonics and various keyboards that shape the track, sometimes giving it a modern touch, before The Great Machine offers a more jerky approach that remains heavy and relatively dark, with a few more energetic passages. Voices Beneath The Rubble, the eponymous track, follows with this more complex, polished touch, developing its soothing melancholy with occasional violin accompaniment, but the sound slows down before giving way to Last Hope, where pessimism and luminous elements come together in a languid, intoxicating dance. We return to violence with Forever King, where enigmatic keyboards once again flourish in the oppressive rhythm, recreating the contrast with majestic moments also found on Blood Storm, a composition whose anguished atmosphere grows almost imperceptibly thanks to its cold, tangled leads. What’s Left in the Fire adopts a much more pared-down but moody sound, starting with a repetitive piano, before vocals are grafted onto it and lead us towards the other instruments, first timid then much more assertive. Intensity fades for a while, then returns to lead us into Turning of The Tide, which draws on much more Old School influences as well as hints of Progressive Metal to weave a unique web before letting the gentle December close the album with its seemingly infinite quietude, sheltering a few voices and dissonant harmonics that precede the final climax.
Drift Into Black allows itself ever more nuances to make its Doom a unique sound with multiple influences. Voices Beneath the Rubble goes so far as to borrow from Prog to shape its riffs and give them an interesting relief.
80/100
