The End of the Sun Season
Exhausted

From Bandcamp, "One of the most revered cult names of the Portuguese Death/Doom underground, officially return after a long silence. Maintaining the original line-up that defined their early identity in the 1990s, the band resurfaces with renewed purpose while remaining firmly rooted in their bleak origins. "The End of Sun Season," released on CD in collaboration with Chaosphere Recordings and Caverna Abismal Records, presents a new EP alongside the legendary 1996 demo Frozen Embrace, long regarded as a cornerstone of the national death/doom underground. Faithful to their DNA, they continue to explore slow, crushing riffs, suffocating atmospheres, and an unrelenting sense of melancholy — now captured with greater sonic definition without sacrificing the raw spirit forged in the '90s. Rather than reinventing themselves, the band resumes a path once interrupted, reaffirming a legacy that never truly faded despite decades of absence."
"Falling Sparrow" is first. It rattles with that old school energy of Death/Doom…slow, weighted riffs, horrid gutturals, and the feeling that your life has been stretched out to centuries, but you don't feel like living anymore. When you think about that, it's a dreadful existence, and each note passes like another year. "The White Winter" is like a frigid blast of arctic air that blows in from nowhere. During winter, everything freezes, and it's a solid reflection of the slow moving song. There is dissonance in the riffs, and the gutturals are filthy. Like winter, it crawls with the pace of a snail until it picks up after the halfway mark. The vocals gain energy, and the entire song comes alive. "Silent State" is another low and slow offering, capped with more dissonant riffs. At this point in the album, if you are ready to just throw in the towel, you will be. It paints a picture of utter desolation.
"Final Chapter" is the last song, and it closes any sense of hope you may have had before you undertook the listening experience. The vocals are clean at first, but that stubborn and fiery old man takes his place soon enough. The gutturals rattle in your chest like a bullet trying to find an exit point, and the riffs leave no mistake…the door has been shut. Overall, this was an excellent album, Picking up where they left off decades ago, it's still ripe with fervor, with feeling, and with dread. But I appreciate their dedication to the genre that was budding when they formed. It doesn't have any fancy tricks, or much experimentation, so fans of their original sound will love it.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"The End of the Sun Season" Track-listing:
1. Falling Sparrow
2. The White Winter
3. Silent State
4. Final Chapter
Exhausted Lineup:
Kastagir Aaron Forbes – Bass, Flute
Hykaru – Drums
Daniel – Guest Flute, Boomerang
Luisa Lello – Guest Vocals
Iang Ludwig Bellethauser – Keyboards, Violin
Ekaterina Serbryanskya – Vocals
Byron Symm – Vocals, Guitars, Flute, Folk Instruments
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