Album Review: The Astral Drain (The Suns of Perdition Chapter III) by Panzerfaust (Eisenwald)

Canada’s Panzerfaust, unleash their highly anticipated sixth album, The Astral Drain, on the 22nd of July via Eisenwald. The Astral Drain forms the third chapter of The Suns of Perdition tetralogy.

Throughout the “Suns of Perdition” tetralogy, Panzerfaust has managed to expand upon their distinct sound and infuse it with a clear vision and intensity. In the third act of the tetralogy, the band takes listeners on an incredibly immersive, yet harrowing journey to an outer darkness, documenting mankind’s descent into collective madness and forcing listeners to face the mirror of a hideous reality, in all of its glorious terror, horror, and disgust.

Produced by Greg Dawson at BWC Studios in Kingston, Ontario, and mastered by Sergei Lazar at CDM Records, Moscow, the sound of “The Astral Drain” is organic, whilst retaining clarity in all instrumental elements. The Canadian black metal 4 piece consists of Brock Van Dijk on vocals and guitar, Thomas Gervais on bass, Goliath on vocals and Alexander Kartashov on drums.

The Astral Drain comes with 9 tracks on it and a whopping run time of nearly 48 minutes.

We get underway with Death-Drive Projections, a huge 10 minute plus opener. It settles in gently, with backing noise fading up slowly before an epic boom of instrumentation grabs your interest. Its a blackened sound, dark and sombre, full of threat that gets realised when the black metal growls join the mix. Deep and aggressive, with more than one vocalist so we get that mix of tones, the vocals sit over a progressive drum beat and post guitar sound. Its a really interesting and effective mix and really packs in atmosphere.

The beat to the song, the rhythm is really cool – it seems almost pulse like, notes that are organic and alive. Quite haunting melody glues everything together while the drums and bass lay down a deep and reverberating foundation but the vocals, the different deliveries and tones, they stand out massively in all the best ways. The 10 minutes passes in seconds thanks to the sheer quality of this opening composition and I am blown away.

We get to catch our breath for a brief moment next with an interlude called The Fear (Interlude), a bassy and sample heavy atmospheric piece that sets the scene in the darkest of ways for the next track, B22: The Hive and the Hole.

It’s another beastly track, full of darkness and despair and expertly crafted. The slow thump of drums and bass bed in with the sombre melody as the vocals growl out viciously in deep, echoing tones. The drums switch up pace as the song progresses, feeling like we are reaching a precipice. We get an almost breakdown of sorts, unexpectedly, with the guitars taking the lead alongside intense roaring. The pace drops away as the song reaches it’s end returning us to the intense atmospherics of the opening section.

The Pain (Interlude) follows next and is again an effective method of linking the two surrounding tracks. Its a short, 30 second break with storm sounds and faded cries of anguish, I think. So onto the next we head with Bonfire of the Insanities. The post sounds ring out loud in the intro. Clear ringing melancholic guitar melody combines with the slow thump of drums. It teases us, threatening to explode, then returning to the melancholy – I like it, it fills me with anticipation.

Echoed haunting singing joins the despair filled mix and I love how it builds so patiently. As the vocals join in, passionately roaring out feeling and fury but over the almost ambient music, you are struck by the power and weight of the song. It is heavy, weighty, through intensity instead of pace and I love that. Well, except for the last minute where it explodes into a furious flurry of blast beats and pit destroying violence.

The Fury (Interlude) follows and continues The Astral Strain’s pattern of song, interlude, song etc…. It offers a breather, I guess, but is mostly just background noise that then leads directly into The Far Bank at the River Styx. A catchy as hell drum beat and guitar melody ease us in before a roar sees the tempo jump massively and we are into a raucous, but still intense, headbanger of a track. The drums are phenomenal, the blend of drums and guitars is perfect and the vocals come in delivering furious lines with that same mix of tones and vocalists.

Panzerfaust are reaching new levels of brilliance here. I am so impressed and fully hypnotised by The Astral Drain as we reach it’s closing section starting with the final interlude, Enantiodromia- (Interlude).  But here is a question for you. Can an interlude be 5 and a half minutes long? Well, this one is so I guess yes. Its an interesting question I think, when does an interlude become an instrumental. Anyway, who cares for now. Enantiodromia is an awesome listen with catchy rhythm and melodic guitars keeping that darkened atmosphere fully shrouding you as we head into the final track, Tabula Rasa.

Tabula Rasa is yet another stunner on an album of stunners. It’s deep and feels meaningful, heavy with intensity and bleakness. The drums mix through speeds and the guitars continuously lay down effective melody. The vocals are on point again. It’s not necessarily massively different as a track to some of the previous ones but if being the same just means also being fucking amazing, well, you can’t complain.

The Astral Drain may well be Panzerfaust’s most accomplished and ambitious work to date. The songs on this phenomenal release are deeply hypnotic and drenched in atmosphere. The way the songs have been formed into such dark and heavy slabs of metal but through intelligent musicianship forming intensity, not just a blast of speed is truly magnificent. The whole album flows wonderfully, keeping you fully involved throughout. The Astral Strain is a remarkable release, challenging genre convention and surely catapulting an already well respected band in Panzerfaust to leaders of the pack.

Preorder The Astral Strain from Eisenwald here. You wont regret it.

Panzerfaust Links

Facebook – Bandcamp – YouTube – Eisenwald Website – Eisenwald Facebook