Pittsburgh collaborative, experimental sludge trio PYRITHE announce the band's long-awaited, debut full-length titled, "Monuments to Impermanence." Thematically, the band sees the world as apocalyptic and dreadful but through a lens of hilarity and absurdity. "It's more about understanding, embracing, or jovially mocking those things with strange reverence," shares PYRITHE multi-instrumentalist Kerr. While broadening their scope both musically and thematically, PYRITHE have achieved an unforgettable and masterful new take on songwriting. The album contains eight tracks.

"Asurviance" leads off the album. It opens with a completely punishing and chaotic sound. The sound drops to near nothing, then slam back in. Dissonance is featured very highly here, and we finally get some vocals. They are harrowing, as is the music. "Glioblastoma" is another brutally lawless song. I don't hear many jovial elements at all. Indeed, the first two songs are just blasts of pure death. The vocals here are about as harrowing as you will hear, and the music isn't much different. "In Praise of Enochian Trickster" begins with quieter and softer bass notes. Sterile, clean vocals enter. The sound begins to pick up just bit, with a good deal of building ambiance. Stealthily it moves, until the song explodes.

"Heaving Roots II" begins with more quiet tones. Cymbals swell, then retreat. The landscape that builds here is very under-the-radar. "Luminous" begins with heavy accents of dissonant guitar and vocals. To say that this album is experimental would be stating the obvious. Once it gets going, it brutally moves forward with purpose and power. "Earthen Anchors" opens with a more traditional riff. Still dark and brooding, it takes a while for the sound to develop. Tortured screams carry things forward, with fast moving thunder clouds on the horizon. You don't want to get caught in this maelstrom. "Ekphrastik I" might be the first song where some of those (slightly) jovial elements but they don't last long. Chaos ensues, then the sound backs off to clean guitars and heavy bass fuzz. It stays in the shadows for the rest of the song.

The lengthy "Ekphrastik II: Gifts of Impermanence" closes the album. It begins with heavy and aggressive tones, and chaotic leanings. Weighted dissonance carries the song forward from there, with very little hope. When things end, they will end bloody. On the album, I can clearly hear the tones of dreadfulness and apocalyptic leanings, but very little jovial qualities. The album paints a picture of a very painful ending to humanity along with every natural disaster that you could imagine.