Austere – The Stillness Of Dissolution

Written by on 15-06-2025 at 20:00.

Hop, all the way to the other side of the world for a touch of sadness, a bucket of tears and a deep valley full of human drama and melancholy. Who of you already knows which band I am talking about? Austere, of course. Obviously this was already in the title of this review, and if you hadn’t noticed that, you are a revolving door or a fool, you can still choose. Not even that long since their previous album, Beneath The Threshold which was released via Lupus Lounge in July 2024, this duo is back with album number five since conception. The work was given the title The Stillness Of Dissolution.

The duo consisting of Sorrow and Desolate seemingly hadn’t been able to completely write off their misery of the past months or even years. This results in an album with seven tearful gems on it, at least I hope so.

Austere is a very recognizable band, just like their genre brothers Heretoir, Harakiri For The Sky and a few others. These Australians show a lot of their own uniqueness in their melancholic, meandering playing. Take the very narrative solo or lead part in the first track that is given all time needed. The songs on The Stillness Of Dissolution are given enough space to develop musically. But don’t forget the scratchy vocals also claiming their place. Not only those scratchy vocals are vying for your attention, clean vocal lines are also getting the handkerchiefs ready to wipe away every tear, Time Awry being an excellent example of this. If you listen carefully, you will hear the main theme repeating itself in the background until it is replaced by another driving part.

I can safely say that writing down and then performing layered, sensitive guitar parts has been this duo’s trademark for many years. In Redolent Foulness, for example, they take you along in a slightly thundering manner, while the clean vocals grab you by the throat and expertly squeeze all the air out of your lungs. An acoustic guitar that enters into an argument with a distortion part can be heard at the beginning of The Downfall, returning by itself, lonely, at the end. What flows through the rusty veins of this duo? I wouldn’t know but I am naming melancholy, sadness, loneliness, but certainly also black metal, gaze and post-black elements, and this storms its way into everyone’s heart. You can be sure of that.

After being away for quite some time, the two gentlemen have fortunately returned. This The Stillness Of Dissolution shows that there is certainly room for Australian Austere in the depressive, melancholic black metal landscape that was painted decades ago by Scandinavian bands and later added to by like-minded people on the European mainland. Let’s hope that this duo does not quietly disband again.

Score:

85/100

Label:

Prophecy Productions, 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. Dissolve Exile
  2. Time Awry
  3. Redolent Foulness
  4. The Downfall
  5. Rusted Veins
  6. Storm Within My Heart

Line-up:

  • Desolate – Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboard
  • Sorrow – Vocals, drums, keyboard

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