The very concept of raw power is something that is to be found throughout metal for one reason or another to varying degrees depending on what style we’re working with, but it’s in the blended territory of death/black metal that we see it either meticulously tempered or cut loose without a thought. It’s quite a sight to see either one of those pulled off to any sort of level of success since it virtually always makes for a good time, but to see a band walk the line between unkempt ferocity and focused execution is to witness a special brand of mastery at work with very few managing to find that balance in a capacity that ends up sounding compelling. With their debut effort, it’s in one fell swoop that Tenebral Rift accomplishes that and somehow even more.

It takes something very particular in order to bring such a voracious and typically unforgiving, unrelenting style as death/black metal to life in a significant form that manages to really live up to the vicious tendencies of both of the involved sounds while still having those calmer moments that not only add contrast and thus depth to the creation at large, but to simply make them flow together and not feel forced. Such a dichotomy is a goal that many seek to achieve simply because when it’s done well it’s always a sight to behold and it doesn’t take a genius to look at what Tenebral Rift has crafted for their debut album, “Umbra”, to then quickly come to the just conclusion that this record effortlessly achieves that strived-for status. The very whole of this record has a lot to dig into as it’s throughout each track whether it be a full-frontal assault upon light itself, a brief interlude of darkly lit mist in the void, or something in between that the record is constantly moving, never once sitting in one place for too long as Tenebral Rift keeps the mind occupied as they take the listener deeper and deeper into their darkness in which they have complete and unquestionable dominion over. It quickly allows “Umbra” to become a damn near-perfect effort of what it means to dive into the deepest reaches of the psyche where no light is likely the penetrate with all but the most unwelcoming thoughts coming to term which then pull you even further into that claustrophobic darkness, and it’s with every facet of their debut in exquisite detail that Tenebral Rift smashes that approach to make it just as gripping as it could be unnervingly relevant for anyone lost in the throes of darkness in the mind.

The mixture of these two styles has long produced some of the most potent works of extremity that metal has ever seen with many still doing their best to bring such efforts to life, but it can be a real boon to an album’s sound to hold back periodically and create a contrast that’s just as harrowing as it is fantastic to bear witness to with bands like Tenebral Rift continuing to bring us creations that are more than fitting of achieving such works. This is a brand of darkness that we’ve seen many times before without a doubt, but there’s a particular dark magic to “Umbra” that makes it interesting right from the beginning and I can only imagine that this is it but the very start of what Tenebral Rift is capable of.

LISTEN to “Umbra” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Tenebral Rift on Facebook here.