The world of atmospheric black metal is a place that I’ve visited many times and it’s a place that has given me endless hours of entertain while never ceasing to promise even more to lose myself in. And yet, it can be very easy for many bands to sound practically the exact same given the oversaturation of the style with Bandcamp virtually acting as a breeding ground for the style and more. But, like any style of music, you gotta put in some legwork every now and to find something good if you really want it, and my search was rewarded pretty quick tonight with a humble debut that promises a lot.

I could sit here and label Silence Thereafter as a very obscure act, but that doesn’t really mean a lot in this scene as virtually every single band outside a select few have been, and always will be, obscure on some of the most minuscule level that can be attained for music. Plus given the fact that “Hollow” is the debut from this little Italian act, it feels like a real authentic underground experience like many other works of atmospheric black metal, but don’t let that make you think Silence Thereafter is something else to take a hard pass on. Taking the occasional page from the world of post-rock to make their atmospheres even sweeter on a degree that many others have tried, but we never really see it pulled off as well as “Hollow” does. Across just three tracks, Silence Thereafter makes a terrific experience that’s all but textbook for the style and it’s immensely satisfying to boot as we’re guided through that murky forest on the cover with “Hollow” giving us marvelous peeks of the sky in its beauty while the very trees seek to keep us locked away as Silence Thereafter makes an experience that feels just as claustrophobic as it is occasionally liberating. That’s an extreme hard combination to attain, but somehow Silence Thereafter nailed it with this small debut as they show us just what they’re capable of: far from anything new to our ears in the grand scheme, but even further from anything that’s not worth listening to.

It could be almost effortless for any band of atmospheric black metal to become forgettable, but through careful maneuvering and talented musicianship, Silence Thereafter easily dodges such a pitfall. I can easily see that “Hollow” is just a minor stepping block for Silence Thereafter in the long run with the quality very clear to me for the entirety of this EP, and I truly can’t wait to see what that will sound like.

LISTEN to “Hollow” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Silence Thereafter on Facebook here.