It tends to be the case that whenever I find myself in the depths of the more depressive reaches of black metal that the themes and quality can take a real nose dive if not even care is taken into the crafting of the material. There is always something to be said about more lo-fi black metal that can really bring about the real evocative ends of what the style is capable of, but few things can compare to a competent creation of the sound that has the quality production to match. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into the latest work from Mother Augusta after seeing them tag themselves as “depressive”, but what I found in these eight tracks are easily some of the best that this corner of black metal has provided me in far too long.

Immediately, this Italian act showed their quality and aptitude for this breed of black metal where many others either fail outright or need time to really show their worth. It is here that Mother Augusta instantaneously makes their presence and excellence known in just the first track of “Low Lights” with the very whole of the album showing us time after time that this is a name that takes their sound seriously, embodies the themes that they bring forth, and know precisely how to bring them to life in magnificent form. With concepts that show how some of us take the sidelines to purposefully walk between the light and dark reaches of our dense, unforgiving society where penance via solitude is the only salvation the soul can ever hope to truly achieve, “Low Lights” taps into the key elements of its style without invoking suicide or anything of the sort. Add alongside all of that a clear rock influence that goes surprising well with the black metal at play here, the album takes on post-like notes that never once bog down the black metal to quickly make for a lively and dynamic sound that is more than I would expect from the style, but it never allows the core ideals to slip from the very fingers of Mother Augusta.

It is with but their second full-length album that Mother Augusta shows us that they are a step ahead of much of their competition at damn near every turn with practically every facet of this performance being done with real mastery and a clear understanding of the craft with everything down to the tasteful Marilyn Manson cover done to glorious effect. This may not be what everyone is looking for when they think of depressive black metal, but there’s no way that I can look upon “Low Lights” and not feel as though I’ve been a witness to something that deserves praise and immense respect for all that it accomplishes.

LISTEN to “Low Lights” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Mother Augusta on Facebook here.