"Despondency Chord Progressions", the aptly-titled and movingly dynamic third album from SELBST, finds the Venezuelan Black Metal band deepening, clarifying and confidently channelling the dark waters of their already elaborate sound.
Following the bludgeoning restlessness of DMP debut, 2020's "Relatos De Angustia", the band here steps forward with a fully-fledged sense of purpose - balancing introspection and anger via beautifully flowing arrangements brimming with impassioned melodies.
SELBST still rain down tumultuous hammer blows - their trademark 'dissonant' Black Metal intensity remains - but these now share equal space with elevated songwriting, assured vocal work, richly intricate musicality and mellifluous leads of the highest quality, glued together by a pristine drum performance from Jonathan Heredia (AVERSIO HUMANITATIS, ETERNAL STORM).
In the words of sole-composer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist 'N':
"This album represents a personal journey in which I have allowed myself to explore more open musical textures, hence the importance of the title itself. Lyrically, I have created manifestos of self-contempt and reflection that flowed through this solitary journey towards the edges of loneliness, attesting to how insignificant and futile we are in the face of the blind and indifferent nature that surrounds us, of which we will ultimately become a part at the end of our insignificant passage through this world, when it finally consumes us..."
Recommended if you like: ENSLAVED, MISÞYRMING & BLAZE OF PERDITION
