DEPARTE is a Post Black/Death Metal band from Hobart, Australia and they were formed in the year 2012. It is rather difficult to put this band in any category as their sound is the culmination of different forms of metal and includes influences of Doom, Death, Sludge, Atmospheric and Post Metal sounds. Perhaps another description of their music would be Extreme Metal and even then it's not entirely accurate. The band began its musical journey as an Atmospheric Black Metal band but has since gone on and strayed from their sound and have also ditched the corpse paint. The band looks to Sam Dishington for most of the lyrical and musical content. "Failure, Subside" is their debut full length album and it is a very bleak affair. The band struggled for years to write a full length album despite having released a demo with two songs in the year 2014. The band plans to write new music, record and tour in the future.
"Seas Of Glass", the opening track is a three minute melancholy track that has hardly has any lyrical content. It's a slow brooding atmospheric track that paints a tapestry of absolute despair and despondency. A gloomy melancholy song, it sets the tone to the album." Wither" is a ten minute track and it is a continuation of the mood that the first song sets. The vocals are tortured, angst filled and gravelly and provides a perfect foil to the mournful music. The song is about the weakening of Death and that is found crawling in its shadow. The song has Emma Dishington as a guest vocalist on it and she sings a haunting part that captures the soul of the song. The song has an innate calmness to it in parts and is also replete with changing patterns and tempo.
"Grief Echoes (Golden Scars)" is the next track and it is a harsh backfire to the previous track. A violent track, the track continues from the previous track in a lyrical sense and is a fitting second to the previous track. Lyrically the track deals with themes such as rebirth and guilt."Ruin" is the last track on the album and is the longest one clocking over 11 minutes in runtime. The song begins bleakly and is one of the slower tracks of the album. The lyrical theme of this macabre song is about being overpowered by loneliness and being crushed by it and the eventual relief of having been rid of it.
The band paints a very melancholic soundscape and each song has a life of its own. Seven songs of absolute torment and hopelessness that are bound together by chilling guitar riffs and scathing Death Metal growls of the lead singer. Tight drumming accompany atmospheric grief filled music make this an album to look forward to. The only downside, if any, was some of the songs were too simplistic and is a wall of balefulness that takes away from the abundant talent of the musicians involved. On a whole, this album conjures up images of grief, sorrow and utter despair.
