Even as we find ourselves in a realm that has as much beauty and fascination that one could ask for, one simply cannot deny at times that to live is to suffer. We find ourselves deeply intertwined the world over thanks to social media and the internet in general, and with that comes a deep-rooted frustration and distaste for all the corruption, hate, and violent vitriol that this world seems so desperate to cling onto. Black metal has always been perfect for putting a mirror to the world itself to show the nastiness and the dark underbelly of human behavior that some would rather pretend didn’t exist. With their new EP, Thlipsis tackles such a concept in terrifying detail.

It’s no stretch of anybody’s imagination to craft black metal that is caustic, aggressive, and oftentimes hateful for the topics that the sound tend to bring to the table. It’s the sort of thing that the sound was all but crafted for even in its earliest days, and there’s still so much to be had so long as there’s new blood coming into the mix with their own fury and wrath even amongst the well-established bastions of intensity. For all that they bring to the table, Thlipsis is a name that many of us should have been aware of long ago, myself included, with the arrival of their newest EP, “Servants of Apathy”, nothing less than pure black metal with all the menace, power, and rage that one could ask for. Turning the hideous nature of the world back onto itself, Thlipsis offers no reprieve in this seemingly scant EP that has only three tracks to call its own across sixteen unyielding minutes. Yet, “Servants of Apathy” delivers much more in such a relatively short span of time than what others are able to accomplish across a full-length album. Compiling their years of roiling in the underground, it’s throughout the whole of this EP that Thlipsis demonstrates immense melodies and fiery dirges of anger that are addicting once they all wash over you to realize how far this world has fallen in its false state of enlightenment with black metal such as this a truly appropriate vessel to convey such maddening disappointment in the direction the world has gone.

Where many in black metal hope to succeed by keeping things relatively simple and along the same lines of those who have come before, it cannot be stressed enough how uncommon an act like Thlipsis can be. Captivating for all that it dares to bring to the table and offering a caustic spectacle the likes of which the sound was always destined to make, works like “Servants of Apathy” make damn sure that the world knows the horrors it has wrought even if we all try to ignore what has been done.

“Servants of Apathy” releases on January 25th via Fucking Your Creations Records!

LISTEN to Thlipsis on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Thlipsis on Facebook here.