Depressive Suicidal Black Metal

Austere – Beneath the Threshold Review

Austere – Beneath the Threshold Review

By Dear Hollow on April 5, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 32 comments

“Austere’s third full-length, and first album in fourteen years, was one of my biggest disappointments of 2023. Corrosion of Hearts was listenable as a pleasant form of DSBM, but showcased a unique and legendary act fall into the tropes of the genre. It felt as though depressive black metal moved on while Austere stayed stuck in the past, and I’ll be the first one to admit that expectations were unfairly high for this duo. Austere on To Lay Like Old Bones is no longer – the Austere of now is more important. In many ways, this is what makes Beneath the Threshold even more crucial.” Stoic refits done real fast.

Austere – Corrosion of Hearts Review

Austere – Corrosion of Hearts Review

By Dear Hollow on May 13, 2023 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 9 comments

“Atmospheric black metal has long been relegated to the woods and to the peaks – to the frigid north. Neglected has been another form of desolation. While the abyss has many names, whether nature offers its lush arms of shelter or the lament of desolation can be heard across the cruel cityscapes, we think cold and bleak. When fused with the depressive and suicidal musings of life’s cruel hand, we seek shelter in ColdWorld’s snow-laden shores, smell the whiff of Silencer’s smoking gun, or indulge in Lifelover’s melodramatic puppetry. We typically don’t think desert, desiccation, or aridity; Austere does.” Sand-tyricon.

Unguilty – Gray Review

Unguilty – Gray Review

By Dear Hollow on February 27, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 5 comments

“Unguilty’s legacy of misery dates back to 2018, having released two full-lengths, an EP, and a split with fellow Brazilians, Fentanil. Gray is DSBM, and everything you expect, but amplified with a mammoth doom heft, the emotional devastation reigns supreme. Perhaps an interpretation of Saturnus’ underrated Veronika Decides to Die.” Days of Gray.

Adaga – Das Ruínas do Ser Review

Adaga – Das Ruínas do Ser Review

By Thus Spoke on October 21, 2022 in Reviews, 12 comments

“Black metal has never been a cheery subgenre. Flavors that lean towards the charmingly-titled depressive, suicidal black metal obviously even less so. There is also no rule that this music—or indeed any music—that deals with existential despair, and depression need actually sound overly melancholic, though it certainly helps. Adaga play black metal of the DSBM-leaning kind. A solo project (of course), whose origin and constitution is opaque, their debut Das Ruínas do Ser fulfills virtually all the expected criteria.” Sad hard.

Núll – Entity Review

Núll – Entity Review

By Grymm on August 31, 2020 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 22 comments

“Off the top of my balding head, I can’t think of a genre that’s more difficult to pull off convincingly than depressive suicidal black metal. It takes quite a talented hand to navigate that particular battleship down those choppy seas. Go too hard, and you run the risk of being unlistenable, borderline or not. Go too soft, and you’re tossed into the tar pits and forever labeled a “try-hard edgelord” by those who should know better than to go that route. So I can empathize with any band trying to crack into that difficult niche market, and it doesn’t hurt that in this case, we have a band comprised of members of Carpe Noctem and Misþyrming.” Balancing despair.

Advent Sorrow – Kali Yuga Crown Review

Advent Sorrow – Kali Yuga Crown Review

By Doom_et_Al on October 8, 2019 in 2019, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Werewolf Records, Black Metal, 29 comments

“Modern life is safe. Extreme danger and fear are rare, which makes experiences that mimic them memorable. The genre of depressive/suicidal black metal (DSBM) appears to support this, because not much is more extreme than profound depression and suicide. Yet those of us who listen, do so because it makes us feel better; that dabbling in the pain through music lessens its impact in the real world.” Depression lite.

Suicide Forest – Suicide Forest Review

Suicide Forest – Suicide Forest Review

By Master of Muppets on July 10, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Avantgarde Music, Black Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 27 comments

“Summer: blah. Rampant blinding sunlight, not a dead tree to be found, and everywhere I go is plagued by incessant seasonal euphoria… I hate it, yo. Without autumn’s dying beauty or the melancholic jubilation of winter nights, I find little to sustain the part of me that feeds on natural darkness and am forced to hunt down anything that’ll let me at least hear that which I cannot presently see or feel. Enter Suicide Forest.” Put some winter in your summer.

Mist of Misery – Unalterable Review

Mist of Misery – Unalterable Review

By Dear Hollow on April 16, 2019 in 2019, Black Lion Records, Black Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Symphonic Metal, Black Metal, 122 comments

“As I’m typing this, I’m staring out the window at a dead tree across the street. It may be past the start of spring, but much like a stereotypical black metal cover, cold dominates the sky and spring seems to have missed the memo. It’s perfect for some depressing tunes, and Mist of Misery’s fusion of symphonic black metal and depressive suicidal black metal fits the bill.” Winter is still here.