“Post-black has often struck me as expressing a decadent sort of misery, one which is more malaise than malice, an effeminate whimpering against the dying of the light. It seems to cry out to the God it vehemently denies exists and beg for a purpose, painting a bleak sort of hopelessness; a musical version of an off-brand Sartre, if you will. Like Sartre’s Roquentin, post-black bands create to find a purpose, but they end up stuck in the slime, accepting the hilariously overstated “death” of God and tradition, whining like Nietzsche’s Last Man for the dull pain of a meaningless existence to stop.” Feel the Nietzsche.
Pestilential Shadows
Pestifere – Hope Misery Death Review
“Want to hear a bunch of metal bands you probably like chopped up and thrown together in some sort of audial stir fry? The Revenge-y titled Hope Misery Death is here, it’s Pestifere, and now I’m going to write about it.” Black metal salad, anyone?
Vargnatt – Grausammler Review
“After a slobbery storm of critical fellatio that even the Farmer’s Almanac would’ve had a tough time predicting, Deafheaven’s Sunbather ended up toppling Kanye West’s Yeezus as the mainstream’s champion of unbridled artistic genius in 2013. Far from the first band to follow the post-black-gaze muse, the near-consensus on Deafheaven’s supposed brilliance was monumental, creating a prime climate for followers to begin putting their own spin on the style.” Sigh…. Deafheaven is creating clones again, and they are sunbathing!
Pestilential Shadows – Ephemeral Review
“Pestilential Shadows comes from the land down under, where the women glow and men plunder. Listen closely, and you’ll hear their black metal thunder. Listen even closer, and you’ll run for cover. Gimmicky introduction aside, the men in Pestilential Shadows have been at work making some seriously bleak music since 2003, and their fifth album, Ephemeral, shows no signs of deviating from this path.” Anyone want a Vegemite sandwich?