Hailing from Berlin, Germany, come forth the sludge metal band, LARES. Forming in 2015, the band has put out an EP before their full length album, "Towards Nothingness," which was released June of this year. This eight-track length album explores the depths of beyond through the usage of and reliance upon bass parts and space-like synths. At times, the album proved itself to be fascinating than just energetic, though at other times, the album focused on too many ideas, or not enough. Thus, the album could be thought of as ungrounded and frantic. Nevertheless, this is their first album, and in doing so, they have made something that is malleable but also directional.

In reverberance, "It Burns" begins in an intangible scenery where a man speaks under the surface of the water so garbled that one cannot fully understand. The tune changes to a darkened element where the bass overrides the high-pitched guitar and synth notes. A voice growls as the lower tuned patterns and gloominess continues before shifting back towards the first segment. The drum patterns keep at a steady pace, though given some personality in the gaps of the sounds. In the playful basslines and drums they have created, the track's energy increases before the song dulls.

A keyboard creates a celestial air of a creepy hymn that is brushed over and resettled into different planes of reality in "Theiaphobic Ansia." The spacious sounds make for the entire track, and though reformulating its thoughts often enough, its despair pokes through the holes of the sci-fi-like atmosphere.

The drums beat sordidly and the guitars flow similarly throughout "Cursed With Embodiment." The layers of the piece blend well together, with points where the synths rise to the height to gain more focus. Whilst the voice is growling, the song breaks down into simpler high-pitched guitar notes that are accompanied by synths that elevate the atmosphere. This eventually reworks itself back into the song. Before too long, the track breaks down again, in a smoother and more interesting fashion with its hidden layers of instrumentation rising to the surface.

In a SUMMONING-like start, "SN1987A Space Alteration Machine" beats joyously as the intangible synths dance solemnly. A bassline is added within this layer allowing the piece to feel dingier. More space-like synths are added to the track, and the melody shifts completely to an era of growls, and where the guitars and bass move at their own creation. In almost a middle-eastern sound, the song continues much differently than the previous tracks as its sludge sound in the backdrop tends to override. The track breaks down several times, and though the breakdown sections different sounding, I had a difficult time understanding why they needed to break the song down when they could have kept the bass flowing throughout. Nevertheless, this is phenomenal track from the album, but needs some work in their skills.

In a typical black metal-like beginning, "Grey Haze" features guitars tremolo picking a short melody, as the drums beat alongside this. The voice growls at uneven patterns, and though it works, I had a hard time understanding the randomness of the voice. The track breaks down slightly by losing instrumentations at a time, though their melody does not shift at all. Eventually this goes into a total breakdown where there are nature-like air sounds. This forms into a lonesome guitar playing a memorable riff to match the atmospheric understanding. Though simplistic, it is peacefully beautiful.

In "Oumuamua," synths resound like metal chimes against a reverberating arena. The layers of the noise coincide with one another making for an ominous cloud resting over the surfaces of the instrumentation. Static corresponds to another static and the tune fades.

In a similar fascination to the pieces before, the static reigns over the beginning parts of "Catacomb Eyes," as the bass and drum beat peacefully. As the static abruptly stops, the voice growls at an even spread. Bass notes are held and prolonged. The guitar static begins once more, accompanied by its synths. The track breaks down several times, which could be thought of as one large breakdown with individual sections of ambience and bass tones.

In "Towards Nothingness," a metallic groan empties its way for the closing of the album. The bass drags on a continuous note. Like a whispered air brushed through rough objects, the track painfully allows this until the final gasp.

LARES' "Towards Nothingness" is a dark creation of altitude shifts with no oxygen to grasp.  The bass notes were almost impeccably performed with the synths exhibiting a fascinating mixture of sci-fi with more melodious tones. Though at times the piece felt a little all over the place, even within the tracks, some tracks were remarkably done-though too stately for the genre. Nevertheless, this is LARES' first album, and for that, it is very well done.