MARES OF THRACE returns with “The Loss”, their highly anticipated follow-up to 2022’s “The Exile.” Known for their masterful fusion of sludge, doom, and blackened post-metal, the Calgary-based duo pushes their sonic boundaries further on this new album, crafting an intense meditation on grief, longing, and resilience. “The Loss” explores the emotional weight of absence and the raw process of healing, weaving themes of vulnerability and catharsis into every crushing riff and anguished lyric. With their signature blend of heaviness and atmospheric nuance. MARES OF THRACE deliver an album that feels as punishing as it is profoundly introspective.

The album has nine songs, and “Anticipatory Grief” is first. I was not expecting the thick slab of Extreme Metal that came out of the gates…it’s aggressive, weighted, and even has some dissonant lead breaks together with horrid vocals. There are some tender moments also, showcasing that the band can’t be pigeonholed. “The First Stage: Shock” has more Hardcore tendencies, especially in the shouted vocals. Things grow more solemn as the sound drops and is reduced to cleans, but the anguish is still very much there. You can hear the shock in her voice. “The Second Stage: Denial” feels very antagonistic…someone can take denial deep into themselves, and that is what you hear. Therese’s vocals are torturing, and the longer you hear them, the more they settle into your soul.

“The Third Stage: Anger” is about what you would expect from the title…an urgent, powerful, and weighted song that deftly combines Sludge and Doom Metal into a slow, brutal offering that has as much anger as any song on the album. “Disenfranchised Grief” is a shorter song sandwiched between the five stages of loss. It’s an instrumental that is just as powerful at carrying the message. “The Fourth Stage: Bargaining” features very solemn tones, as if you have one last effort to plead to the Gods and trade a life for theirs. The vocals are harsh nearly the entire way through, and paint a story of desperation. “Complicated Grief” is a bit more tentative, and sort of lives between two worlds of emotion…as the title suggests, it’s complicated.

“The Fifth Stage: Depression” is longest on the album, and get ready for a ride that will try to buck you off every chance it gets. The depressive tones are deep, like a crevasse in the ocean without a bottom. At times, the depression manifests itself in anger, and at other times, in near silence and defeat. “The Sixth Stage: Acceptance” is the final song, and the final stage of grief. You may have finally reached acceptance, but at what cost? This was a complicated album in terms of how many different styles of Metal were represented, but the messages were received loud and clear. Although I personally don’t care for some of the shouted vocals, that is a preference only and not reflective of how well the album is constructed. I will say one thing for sure, don’t listen to this if you are already in a bad mood, because its tentacles might reach out and pull you under the water.