From Bandcamp, "VARIALS," formed in Philadelphia, built their name on raw honesty across their early records. Their 2025 album "Where the Light Leaves" marks a rebirth, pulling from their heaviest roots and introducing Skyler as the band's new front man. Produced by Josh Schroeder, it captures them at their most instinctive. Onstage, Skyler, Mike, Sean, and Shane remain one of heavy music's most cathartic live forces." The album has thirteen songs, and "Where the Light Leaves" is first. It's a short, mood-setting lead in, and the mood is tense. What follows is a devastating breakdown, and it segues right in step to "No Like Untouched." The bottom end of this song is as thick and concrete, and there are also some nifty electronic effects that mix in with the crushing riffs and feedback.

"Conscious Collapse" has a brutal sound from both the riffs and the vocals, which seem to rage uncontrolled. There is very little melody on the album so far, and the afterthought was purposeful. It allows the punishment to be amplified. "Your Soul Feeds" features more punishing guitars but also thick and meaty bass notes. The bass helps firm up the lower end of the music and give it more of a bite. "[wouldyoufollowme]" being with gentler tones. There is still a measure of tension in the music, and you can feel the big drop right around the corner. The vocals are clean, ambient, and even whimsical, occupying the foreground like a half-lucid dream. Segueing into "Silent Demise," the impossibly weighted sound returns. When you talk about how deep a band can go with their music, this album might be the measuring stick.

"Blissful End" is a ball of energy wound up so tightly if you touch it, it explodes into a million pieces. The riffs are so full of punch, they last in your memory long after their impact. "Romance II" has a slower pace, and those meaty bass notes could crush bone into ash. The band explores some clean vocals at times, and there are even some moment of warm melody. Like the flower that attempts to bloom too early in spring, however, it is crushed back underground by the weight and fury of Old Man Winter. "I'll Find the Dark" is even deadlier. Forget about pounding things to ash…this song pulverizes them and they materialize to nothing. "[intothequiet]" is the final song, and it's a minute of white type noise. It's like a vapor trail that is left from the album's burn.

The songs are short, because they have to be. Packed to the gills and overflowing with density, if they lasted longer, you might not still be living. 13 songs of brutality overstayed its welcome just a bit, but there is no doubt…it's one of the heaviest albums I have heard this year so far.