From Bandcamp, “Danish Progressive Doomers and multi heavy-metalists ALKYMIST enters the void between heaven and hell. ALKYMIST sets out once more on a trip that takes you far beyond this world and into their strange and crushingly heavy realm of brutal, yet beautiful and grandiose soundscapes.” The album has seven songs, and “The Scent” is first. The opening tones are very fuzzy, weighted, and dissonant, but the sound transitions to clean vocal passages with some melody, and the bottom end is filthy. From there, the two competing styles are locked in combat. “Digging a Grave” begins with smoother, and more tense tones. The song moves…actually more like it crawls forward, like a zombie emerging from a grave The main riff is fairly simple, but that doesn’t keep it from being devastatingly dirty to the listener.

The title track is a lengthy ten minutes, giving it a lot of time to develop. The opening tones are almost barren in their delivery, painting a picture of total loneliness. Once it gets moving however, the riff is punchy, powerful, and like a runaway freight train, there is no slowing it down. “Light of a Lost Star” has another massively weighted sound, but the quieter passages are very tense, and it’s the contrast between the two that makes each extreme stand out even more. Given the vocal style, this song has an IHSAHN influence as well. “My Sick Part” has some GOJIRA influence in the main riff, and it’s obvious that their brand of Prog Doom is a new breed.  “Fire in my Eyes” has another crushing, punishing riff that has plenty of life. Again, the slower passages are very tense, breathing life into the heavier passages like gasoline on a fire.

“Master of Disguise” closes the album, and it’s more weighted than a machine designed to crush things into dust. It paints a picture of absolute hopelessness mixed in with anger, and I’m not sure which one is larger. Overall, this album was as deadly as it was full of filth…the kind that you get covered in and it never washes out. It is indicative of a new wave of Progressive Doom, pushing the boundaries both deeper and wider, and it also an album that you won’t soon forget.