Album Review: Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust (Metal Blade Records)

German extreme/blackened post-metal band Downfall of Gaia will release their brand-new album, ‘Silhouettes of Disgust’ on the 17th of March 2023 via Metal Blade Records.

In a fascinating move, Silhouettes of Disgust finds Downfall of Gaia looking back to their DIY/crustpunk early days and combining that with their more modernised style of blackened post. Creating a sound that is both familiar to long-term fans and erratically fresh sounding. Styles that don’t make for good bedfellows, but in the hands of such a beast of a band, sound like they were always meant to be together.

With the aptly titled, Existence of Awe, Downfall of Gaia showcase this brilliant combination and how they make it flow in such a captivating way. From face-tearing speed and heaviness to dramatic melody and ambient tones. It’s an awe-inspiring start.

Building on this momentum, The Whir of Flies is extremely chaotic at first. Downfall of Gaia delivering coarse intensity as they showcase just how extreme they can be. Yet, the way in which this track evolves and becomes more and more post-orientated is simply outstanding. The melancholic melody that comes along at the halfway point is exceptionally dramatic sounding.

The longest track on the album, While Bloodsprings Become Rivers, continues the fascinating dichotomy of chaotic noise and layered post-driven melody. Albeit with a more fundamental focus and delivery. It feeling less like one extreme to the other. The flow of this track, perhaps because it is the longest, is much more layered.

The halfway point of the record reached with aplomb as Downfall of Gaia dig into dark pits with Bodies of Driftwood. Before wrecking all the senses with the enigmatic Eyes to Burning Skies. One of the album’s most intriguing and inimitable offerings, thanks to a haunting combination of vocals and melody.

Can it possibly get any better? Downfall of Gaia have the answer with something far more abrasive. Something downright nasty, but undeniably epic, called Final Vows. Followed then by an infusion of doomier tones, which, when combined with the blackened post-rhythm and later burst of fiery intensity, makes Unredeemable one of the more discordant efforts on the album overall. Although, that shouldn’t undersell the overall frictional quality that the whole record has.

No complaints here though, Silhouettes of Disgust is a stunner of a record, and the finale of Optograms of Disgust is just another apex for Downfall of Gaia to reach. Cold melody that transitions into something more metallic and coarser, but then scales back into more puzzling territories, before ending in blistering style.

Downfall of Gaia have absolutely smashed it here and delivered an eight-track album that combines the best of the past and the best of the future. It takes a special kind of band to make the combination of genres work, but it takes a band unlike any other to make it so memorable.

Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust Track Listing:

1. Existence of Awe
2. The Whir of Flies
3. While Bloodsprings Become Rivers
4. Bodies as Driftwood
5. Eyes to Burning Skies
6. Final Vows
7. Unredeemable
8. Optograms of Disgust

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