Tempestuous Fall – The Descent of Mortals Past
Release Date: 14th November 2025
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death/Doom
FFO: Midnight Odyssey, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Virgin Black.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Tempestuous Fall is the project of Aussie multi-instrumentalist Dis Pater, whose debut album The Stars Would Not Awake You was released back in 2012. Although Pater has been busy in the intervening years, 2025 sees the release of the follow-up album, The Descent of Mortals Past. Described as a reworking of the death/doom style of the 90s, it is underpinned by his ‘growing maturity and experience’.
It is a concept album of sorts, with tracks being relayed through the voices of Greco/Roman mythological figures. This gives the album a grandiose feel about it. It feels expansive and melancholic, all driven with a narrative of various journeys to the afterlife.
The darkness of the album is consuming. This is driven, not by the lyrical content, but the clever use of cello’s in the opening track, ‘Theseus – Encased in the Stones of Hades’ and album closer ‘Aeneas – Guide Me Home’ as well as the rich organ that opens ‘Psyche – Temptation of the Divine’. These elements compliment the almost funeral doom nature that helps form The Descent of Mortals Past.
All this is well and good. We have a strong lyrical path, we have clever use of instruments to enhance the albums genre, and we have a very talented musician delivering all instrumentation and most of the vocals. Still, the album leaves you a bit, well, bored.
Even though it is not overly long, it feels its length. Tracks sometimes just don’t get going, and whilst it is a decent listen, it never rises above that level. It seems to lack the effortless nature of Tempestuous Fall’s debut, all those years ago.
There is a lot to like about The Descent of Mortals Past, however, the whole listening experience just leaves you with a feeling of disappointment and what could have been.
(3 / 5)
