From the onset of “Faces Turn Away”, an all-encompassing sense of existential terror and claustrophobic anxiety hits you and builds to a crescendo before everything descends into dread and finally nothingness. An album about the misery, futility, and madness of modern urban life, related in some ways to releases by netra but foregoing much of the trip-hop influence for a more abrasive and gritty black metal root that feels both urgent and cavernous. Besides its Black Metal root, the album also knows when to slow to a crawling funeral dirge to convey total despair and the loss of hope. A modern take on classic black metal marked by unconventional and enigmatic twists that are both genuine and timely.
