(written by Islander)
Listless is a new depressive black metal project born from the mind of Aidan Crossley, the guitarist and vocalist of the atmospheric black metal band Liminal Shroud from Victoria, BC in the Canadian West.
Those familiar with Liminal Shroud will detect some kinship in the music of that band and Listless, but in the case of this new project, Aidan has drawn inspiration from the likes of Austere, Woods of Desolation, Coldworld, None, and Gris, as well as depressive rock elements from bands like Lifelover and Psychonaut 4.
On April 25th, Hypnotic Dirge Records will release the self-titled debut album of Listless, and what we have for you today is a video for the first haunting and harrowing song revealed from the album. Its name is “Devoid“.
“Devoid” is like a gradually expanding spell of sorrow, leading the listener deeper and deeper into its dark grasp until there’s no escaping the torment it has revealed. It’s a beautifully crafted and even elegant spell, whose varying and recurring melodies feed themselves like tendrils into a listener’s head and heart, but it also packs a viscerally head-moving punch before it’s done.
The song builds gradually and evolves. A twanging riff slowly wanders around the steady snap of the snare and subtle throb of the bass, quickly creating a musing and morose mood. Somewhere in the middle distance we hear a harrowing scream, a rasping torment. A new skein of somber melody unravels in tones somewhere between a violin and an accordion.
As the layers accrete, other notes brightly ring like a chime and trill like a balalaika, but their moods are no brighter than anything else. They are new voices of sorrow, albeit entrancing ones. But by the midpoint of the song, the distress in the music swells and becomes intense.
All those layered sounds begin to sear and moan; the drums erupt in quick upheavals; the bass thrusts like a hard pulse; the vocals come to the fore in gritty choking snarls and harrowing cries; that twanging riff seems now to writhe in agony. The drums then hammer in a fury and the sweep of the music expands, creating an encompassing embrace of unmoored grief.
There’s no relent in the music’s now-burning emotional affliction. The rhythm instruments slug and batter; the melodic seas swirl and crash; the vocals come apart, lacerated by a soul in suffering.
Cast into the abyss
These vestiges of suffering
Drowning in a vast expanse
Of bloodstained memories
Even from just that one song, you’ll know that Listless is a powerful new presence in the realm of depressive black metal, well worth paying attention to.
Hypnotic Dirge will release Listless on CD with shirts and a merch bundle, as well as digitally.
ORDER LINKS:
CD: https://hypnoticdirge-eustore.com/Listless-selftitled-CD-p732452914
Shirt: https://hypnoticdirge-eustore.com/Listless-selftitled-Shirt-p732452943
Bundle: https://hypnoticdirge-eustore.com/Listless-selftitled-Bundle-p732450904
Digital: https://hypnoticdirgerecords.bandcamp.com/album/selftitled-3
LISTLESS:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566412347134
