As I type these words I am currently drastically under the weather as something I caught at work has made a damned mess of my immune system. When I staggered over to my chair and went to go find something to listen to, I wanted to find something that would either alleviate me of some of my illness via thunderous resuscitation or provide the perfect cruise through my haze that’s as devastating as it is transcendent. As though they were sent right from the depths of a dark and intoxicating void, Hope Drone returns for a beautiful combination of both.

The wide world of post-black metal is one that, like many other styles of metal in our extremely rich and overflowing soundscape, has so much to sift through that sometimes it feels nigh on impossible to hear all of the good shit it has to throw around for us. We’ve always been treated to acts like, just to name two, Downfall of Gaia and even Wolves in the Throne Room to provide us with top-tier material that’s always propelled the style further and further into its own greatness. It was with their previous album that Hope Drone showed us just what they’re capable of, but it’s single-handedly with “Void Lustre” that this band delivers at every turn. With a five-track behemoth that easily clocks in over an hour long, Hope Drone has somehow crammed in everything that’s made the style such a treat, to begin with from the haunting atmospheres to the speed of the guitars that somehow amplifies the atmosphere to awe-strikingly awesome levels to a pacing that may feel sluggish for the uninitiated but there isn’t a single burst of power from “Void Lustre” that’s utterly satisfying! It all culminates in this gorgeously layered and incredibly well thought-out excursion through the darkness we’ve definitely experienced before, but it’s at every given opportunity that Hope Drone provides a new terrifying sight to behold.

Come the end of this record, we’ve been treated to a dazzling array of quality and talent that’s being swirled in darkness constantly with flickers of light peeking through such that we can see all sides of Hope Drone’s engorging sound that never once fails to deliver the goods. I may still be sick but there is reinvigorating magic that coats every inch of “Void Lustre” in glorious detail, and is undoubtedly an experience I’ll be coming back to time after time.

“Void Lustre” releases on August 30th via Moment of Collapse and Sludgelord Records!

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