Exiled From Light

Descending Further Into Nothingness

Hypnotic Dirge Records 2009

Hailing from the unlikely shores of New Zealand comes the latest black metal project of mastermind Mort (Winds of Sorrow).  Exiled From Light is depressive and atmospheric to the extreme.  The synths and slow, atmospheric riffs have shades of Burzum though Exiled from Light is far more expressive in its despondency.  After the ambient intro Descending, the title track corrodes any semblance of hope that lays within you.  Slowly drifting riffs, and sorrowful shrieking vocals scrape away all positive emotions while haunting synths lurk within dense clouds of depression on the track.  A lonely clean guitar ambles forward, as if in a mournful haze to announce the next track, Neath the Oppression Moonlight.  Somber, fuzzy guitars rise up like ripples on a cold, still pond, slow and unmerciful.  Lurking Within Twilight has the pacing of a funeral procession, lethargically advancing with grief as its sole concern, periods of tragic synth atmosphere break through the relentless march towards the damp earth.  Possessing an almost gothic, new-wave feel, Suffering Waits With Wide Open Eyes is the most oppressive of the songs on the album.  The riffs are heavier and darker lending an ominous tone to the depression meanwhile the song in its entirety is monotonous and repetitive instilling a hypnotic effect to the music.  A moment of tranquility settles in towards the song's middle with twinkling keys and whimsical drums.  The album closer, Drowning, is my favorite track on the album.  Gloom pervades the tracks essence while galloping double-bass drums mirror the faster riffing adding a sense of dread and apprehension to the omnipresent dreariness.  If you like your black metal atmospheric and melancholic and find Burzum perhaps a little too hopeful then Exiled From Light will extinguish all warmth and light from your shivering, naked body.