No matter how long you find yourself in the underground, it’s still a place that manages to surprise you when you least expect it. It’s not often that the depth of the murky underground allows you to get on any sort of a streak, but the rare occasions do happen when the stars align, and the right moves are made at the right time by the right people. Lately for me, it has been the scantly populated reaches of black-doom and blackened sludge metal that have been quite bountiful with releases from bands Hell, Lightless, and Loathfinder that have done real justice for their styles, and I genuinely thought it was the end of that streak as what are the odds of such a thing continuing? With its debut album, Fallen Short has well and truly caught me by surprise.

The sheer desolation and macabre emptiness that’s to be had in this particular section of the vast spectrum of metal is something that will always be fascinating for the sheer emotional depravity and suffering that can be had from any act that is able to harness those emotions and channel it all into a performance that can come in so many different forms. It’s untapped potential that has left this corner of the underground woefully underpopulated but acts like Fallen Short are what give me a glimmer of ironic hope that this style can still flourish given what’s summoned forth within “Hollow Screams of a Withering Soul”. An exquisitely desperate gasp for salvation in a harrowing world that offers nothing in return, this is a record whose diminished soul and immense anguish can be felt in every given moment to offer no sort of reprieve or the hope of a bright tomorrow as it’s through dense and dynamic songwriting that Fallen Short ensures a listen that’s as engaging as it is uncompromising, vicious, and raw in damn near every sense. Whether in come in the form of an unexpected riff or a dirge of contempt for the suffering of existence or a bout of atmospheric wandering through darkness with no end, “Hollow Screams of a Withering Soul” does far more than scratch the surface of what this particular style can be. Rather, it’s a tremendous demonstration that in capable hands this depraved, dark, and particularly harrowing form of metal can be something that is strangely cathartic as if there’s comfort in knowing that others too suffer greatly on this uncaring ball of spinning rock.

This is a debut that really sets the stage for what kind of act we’re dealing with here. We’ve seen loads of names come around over the decades that tap into many of these same themes, but it’s not nearly often enough that we see it done in the form of blackened sludge metal that manages to capture the raw immensity and scathing fury that one could ask for from such a style with that being something that simply not many are able to ascertain for one reason or another. For all that Fallen Short accomplishes within “Hollow Screams of a Withering Soul”, it demands to be made clear that the name certainly did not fall short.

LISTEN to “Hollow Screams of a Withering Soul” on Bandcamp here.

FOLLOW Fallen Short on Instagram here.