With so many strings to his bow and even more collaborations in the works, “Much Unseen Is Also Here” serves as both a triumphant, retrospective gateway to LUSTMORD’s groundbreaking dark ambient origins as well as a tantalizing taste of what he is capable of now; what is still yet to come. Having performed live just 39 times across his 43-year career, maybe LUSTMORD is ready to share the cosmic secrets hidden within “Much Unseen Is Also Here” in the flesh, atop his inimitable, timeless concoction of earth-shaking sub bass, spine-tingling ritualism and inescapable, existentialist dread.

 “Behold a Voice as Thunder” is first. The sound eases in, with mystery and darkness, and the steady hum that fills the background swells and retreats again. Distant drum strikes rattle your sense of direction, and suddenly you don’t know where you are. “Entrails of the God Machine” has a similar sound. Without vocals, they only way to carry the sound is through various sound bites/samples, and the atmosphere he builds is one of what one might find in a black hole…void…nothing. “An Angel Dissected” has some deeper tones, but again, the music is very similar to the other two songs so far. It’s somewhat difficult to evaluate and album with such little sonority, but the feeling I get is foul.

 “A Shadow Cast upon the Deep” has just a little variation in sound in that the low notes are accented a bit more. It doesn’t venture out much from there however. “Invocation of the Nameless One” is really the first song that varies a bit. The opening horn notes in the beginning stand out in a three-note pattern, and what follows is more of a gloomy feeling…or is it a calm feeling? I can’t decide. “Their Souls Asunder” has a cold wind brewing in the background, and other sounds that are as deep as a cave sunken into the earth, far away from any human exploration. A steady vocal hum rises and wanes throughout.

 “Hence Shall They Be Devoured All of Them” has a slow and steady sound that sneaks up on you. Low notes and church bell strikes create a sense of forever being lost in the void, as well as the rise of a massively foul creature that stays hidden from view, but your skin can feel it. “Other Woes Are Yet to Come” closes the album. It might have the least amount of sound as any song on the album, but those deep swells and cracking sounds in the background are harrowing. For me, the album was as mysterious and amalgamous as the cover art. If you are old enough to remember, it sounds a lot like I-Dosers…something that takes root inside your soul and slowly turns it black.