For all that doom metal is able to bring to the table, it’s in its more expansive and wide-reaching forms that people tend to become fascinated with for all that such an approach can offer listeners be it in the form of dense psychedelia or a slow-moving monolith with immense power whose weight crushes all that come before it. Both are lofty visions to achieve with many striving to bring them to life in such a form that’s compelling and engaging from beginning to end, yet it still requires a deft hand in order to bring everything together in magnificence. Swiftly following up their debut album from last year, it’s here with their second that Vast Pyre shows us how they bring such glory to the table.

You have a lot to offer your listeners, but it all means nothing if you don’t ensure that your substance has weight and presence to call its own. A hollow performance is one that’s exceedingly disappointing, and that’s a pitfall that can act as a truly tragic downfall for bands throughout the underground. It’s with intelligent songwriting and patient craftsmanship that Vast Pyre avoids such a fate with the five tracks of “II | Bleak” to ensure that their quick appearance in the underground is not made with a whisper but a deep resonating roar that reverberates through much of what doom can become throughout its psychedelic and stoner reaches. Offering a wide-reaching capacity of what doom can become from its pummeling riffs to its immersive atmospheres that are as rich in flavor as they are uncompromising in its artistic vision, “II | Bleak” takes its own name incredibly seriously while always ensuring that there is a substantial factor of light mixed into the sound that offers a satisfying reward to those that comb through these depths to find it even if it is only fleeting. A deeply layered experience that has much to offer throughout its five tracks that allow us to see a broad spectrum of what doom metal can still become when a band actually manages to put weight and substance behind their creation. This is something that Vast Pyre should be quite proud of.

What could have easily been little more than a half-baked effort that was made too quickly after its predecessor, Vast Pyre ensured at practically every given turn that this record would succeed for its many different facets that are all brought together brilliantly by a pair of musicians that clearly know exactly what they’re doing. “II | Bleak” never misses an opportunity for greatness with the results of Vast Pyre’s hard labors speaking for themselves in virtually every minute.

“II | Bleak” releases on November 28th!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “II | Bleak” on Bandcamp here, or via YouTube below.

LIKE Vast Pyre on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Vast Pyre on Instagram here.