Panzerfaust – The Suns of Perdition, Chapter III: The Astral Drain
Release Date: 22nd July 2022
Label: Eisenwald
Bandcamp
Genre: Atmospheric, Progressive Black Metal.
FFO: Marduk, Uada, Gaerea, 1914, Funeral Mist, Deathspell Omega.
Review By: Rick Farley
This is what I imagine the sound of worlds being devoured must be. An immense soundscape of terrifying, viscerally arresting, enveloping annihilation. Blackened doomy skies with mournful hints of grey, bursts of beautiful colour from sweltering fires and intense light, war against the deep harrowing darkness. The soot gets under your skin and leaves an unsettling sense of madness. The brutality of its dark spectacle is as malice as it is resplendent. Torn between ugliness and beguiling calm. The Suns of Perdition, Chapter III: The Astral Drain is an intense, immersive sensory overload of unsettling black metal transcending into pure art. The full gambit of emotions is felt throughout. It expands on the passion and purpose set by the previous chapters.
Canadian black metalers Panzerfaust have already been an unstoppable force in the modern black metal scene. This being the bands sixth overall full length and the highly anticipated third chapter in the Suns of Perdition tetralogy. Chapter III: The Astral Drain is the bands most ambitious to date, combining textures of dark sounds and brooding atmosphere to a mid-tempo labyrinth of doomy progressive black metal. At first listen, die hard fans could be taken aback at the droning, almost meditative state of each song. It is not a straightforward black metal album in the sense of fast tremolo picked guitars and shrieky vocals with continuous blasting. This is not that, but it is a far greater achievement of viscerally evil black ugliness that will surely leave a much larger impression. Don’t fret, those traditional elements of black metal are a part of this album, but the impact left by the juxtaposition of diverse kinds of layered heaviness and menacing atmosphere is sheer songwriting brilliance. This is far more intense and brutal in the sense that it affects your consciousness and forces you to go to darker places and confront your own reality. The droning spidery guitars, hellish gutturals and an industrial tinged harrowing soundscape creates a living breathing leviathan with unknown intent. These bleak monolithic elements have always been present within Panzerfaust’s music, just too much lesser degrees, so it’s not overly shocking to me and feels like a natural progression from the previous two chapters.
Chapter III: The Astral Drain sounds massive and is utterly crushing. It spans forty-eight minutes, nine songs, with four being interludes. Each interlude effortlessly completing the previous song and leading into the next. Nothing here sounds unnecessary. This album is fluid and has tremendous flow. Every note makes sense in the context of the whole and should be consumed from front to back. The albums production is warm, dense, and organic. Allowing for airiness that breathes naturally. Each instrument is clear but leans to bass thick heavy sounds. Its unrelenting ambience is distinct, with stunning detail and dynamics from the band’s performance and the overall sound of the record. The production itself is an essential element of the record’s masterful execution.
As I stated earlier, there are complete fits of blackened aggression strewn throughout that’s sure to please long-time fans. The Far Bank at the River Styx could very well be one of the best black metal songs the band has ever written. Thick bass heavy riffs, haunting melodies, fast tremolo picked guitars and a drumming onslaught going for the kill with such purpose. It’s blistering and brutish as if its victim is flailing violently for safety, as the vultures’ circle above waiting for inevitable death.
For me personally, though, it’s the sprawling dark, dissonant wall of dynamic and oppressive music that creates a terrifying metaphysical awareness that’s both entrancing and possessing. Chapter III: The Astral Drain is a masterpiece of epic proportions. It will stick with you long after hearing it and will hauntingly beg you to listen repeatedly. I can’t even imagine how Panzerfaust will follow this up with chapter four, but in the meantime, I will continuously take chapter III’s glorious, unnerving journey. 
(5 / 5)
