It would be a great underestimate to say that emotion plays a big part in what black metal has always been. Whether it’s rage towards the world as we know it, sorrow for the isolation that is existence, the destruction of nature around us, contempt for society, or anything else in between, there’s loads upon loads of creations that have sought to bring emotion to the table in an impactful form. Unambiguous can be the messages and themes of such a creation of black metal, but truly exceptional acts that deliver such evocative material can feel few and far between in certain circumstances. Having made its mysterious name known in many circles for being such an exception, Isleptonthemoon has yet to disappoint with its newest album only furthering that trend.

Given the reputation that Isleptonthemoon has garnered for itself up to this point, a creation like this seems only fitting for those who are able to become lost within it. The sort of record that is simply defining for this particular corner of the underground with all the finesse, hypnotism, wonder, and intensity that you could ask for, “Only the Stars Know of My Misfortune” is what happens when post-black metal is taken to its greatest lengths without compromise nor with hesitation. An experience that’s born out of the experiences of a broken world, it’s through the expanses and under the blanket of night that this record wraps around you and allows emotions to run raw and unfettered for an otherworldly cathartic purge that you never thought possible. As meditative as it is eviscerating, “Only the Stars Know of My Misfortune” is gorgeous to a tee and never once disappointing when it comes to how dynamic, exquisite, and true it is to itself with practically every possible aspect of the style covered throughout these six mesmerizing tracks. Soul-touching and nigh-on intoxicating in its purging so long as you simply allow Isleptonthemoon to take you by the hand into the starlit wasteland, this is an album for the broken soul lost in a broken world with the only answers in the twinkling from brilliantly luminescent beasts that could never know our suffering. And yet, “Only the Stars Know of My Misfortune” is never once to take the darkness without the light for without despair there can be no hope, and this act expertly deals in both to masterful effect.

This is what it means to watch a real master at work. It’s not an uncommon sight anymore to see this kind of black metal that embraces solitude and evocative notions, but rarely do we get it in such a form like Isleptonthemoon but even rarer to see it culminate into creations like “Only the Stars Know of My Misfortune”. A true representation of what the sound can be in the right proportions, this is an album that meant for the broken world we find ourselves in.

LISTEN to “Only the Stars Know of My Misfortune” on Bandcamp here.

FOLLOW Isleptonthemoon on Instagram here.