Australian band Départe debuts in the metal scene with the album “Failure, Subside” characterized by lengthy tracks with pronounced black metal influences and heavily dark atmospheres.

“Ashes In Bloom” features a painfully ominous mood with a chaotic mixture of super heavy breathless drumming in old school black metal fashion and quieter passages conveying a tragic gothic/doom musical theme.

“Grief Echoes (Golden Scars)” follows a similar blackened structure with a heavy rhythmic backbone embellished by introvert melodic guitar accents but also favors an exceptionally dark ambiance that evokes an absolute sense of hopelessness.

“Vessel” packs a vicious crescendo of guitar riffs but maintains a generous dose of depressing melodies buried in a rather asphyxiating atmosphere occasionally interrupted by progressive tempo variations and brightening clean vocals.

“Ruin” has a calmer atmospheric theme that evokes a perennial sense of desolation. Doom and black metal influences are dominant in the guitar riffs and rhythmic section while the slow breakdown features minimalist arpeggios that portray an introspective serenity.

“Failure, Subside” is definitely a cohesive music piece that due to its powerful enigmatic extreme metal nature would attract mainly a very specific audience.