SOUL DISSOLUTION is a Black Metal project by Belgian musicians Jabawock (L'HIVER EN DEUIL, MARCHE FUNÈBRE) and Acharan (L'HIVER EN DEUIL, ex-SARIN). Formed in 2012, the band self-released released their first demo tape "Cold Rays and Grey Waves" this year.

The production quality of "Cold Rays and Grey Waves" would be impressive if it were a finished product, let alone a demo, especially considering the typically muddy quality of Black Metal recordings in general. The cool thing about the songs here is that there is a degree of relatability to it absent from most Black Metal music. While there is certainly nothing wrong with tales of frozen tundra's, demonic ceremonies or other fantastic themes, the songs here have a more human element to them, detailing feelings of depression, fear, and sadness.

The melancholic aesthetic of the lyrics complements the music, which is appropriately melodic, heavy and dark but generally less bombastic and dramatic than usual Black Metal fare. The opening track "The  Smell Of Freedom" carries with it an equal sense of hope as it does despair, and is as powerful at blistering speeds as it is in the slower, more crushingly heavy parts that bookend the song. The guitars in "Waves," for example, sweep over the listener, not unlike the ebb and flow of ocean tides. The effect is a continuous one, as there is no single, grand expulsion of emotion, but a single, prolonged experience with subtle yet distinct differences throughout. Elsewhere, "This Red Painting in the Sky" has an even more pensive, reflective effect in its riffs, an effect enhanced by the resonating atmospheric effects. "The Final Dissolution - Part 1" is basically a culmination of the musical ideas presented before it, an epic of great intensity musically and emotionally. The recording fades out to a muffled replaying of the prior song's main riff called "(dissonance)," which kind of recalls the motif of waves and repetition from before and is, in this way, an interesting way to close things out.

While the band's Facebook page indicates no plans to tour as of this writing, SOUL DISSOLUTION do plan to get a full-length album out for release in 2015. "Cold Rays and Grey Waves" is a mature, focused, and moving effort that gives plenty of reason for excitement for the band's future, so if you like Black Metal and are looking for something different, I would totally recommend checking these guys out.