The underground is a truly magical place. Wherever the imagination can take you in your search for new music that channels all sorts of what metal can be transmuted into, there’s almost certainly a band out there that has tapped into a similar vein of imagination. Naturally, however, legions upon legions names have succumbed to the fate of obscurity overtime for a litany of different reasons, but there’s more than enough space for everyone to have their moment even if they’ve been whittling away towards greatness for decades. In celebration of their first album, Suffering Souls offers us a fresh vision of their seminal work that gives us a literal blast from the past.

The sheer density of the underground is something that can never be overestimated. You can sift through its blackened depths for decades on end and still be met with a name that has a cult following for all the right reasons yet never managed to break through the barrier to reach a wider audience to get much of the attention that they likely deserve. I, for one, have been steeped in the underground for almost twelve years now, and never once do I recall the name of Suffering Souls, but it is now having become lost throughout the redux of “Twilight Ripping Souls Apart” that I find myself wondering why Suffering Souls is not widely hailed as a true force of symphonic black metal the likes of which the underground rarely receives.

A sprawling performance given a reimagining with modern production and the know-how of certifiable masters that have had skin in the game for what’s now over thirty years, it should go without saying that Suffering Souls has done nothing but immense justice for their debut creation twenty-five years after its initial release. Each track has something special to call its own whether it’s a particular fascinating composition or such dynamic ferocity that keeps you guessing what’s to come next with the very essence of “Twilight Ripping Souls Apart” something that is downright compelling from beginning to end. None of this is to even mention the exclusive live recordings from 1998 and the addition of a further re-recording featuring the 1999 EP, “Cries of Silence”, all of which are simply pitch-perfect to show just how far Suffering Souls has come while making a clear move of reverence for where they began.

Normally, re-recordings aren’t my cup of tea when doing a review, but every now and then an exception is made for works that are nothing if not exception. From top to bottom with everything that it dared to bring to the table back then without losing so much as an ounce of its power over two decades since, “Twilight Ripping Souls Apart” is a work of symphonic black metal that demands the attention for fans new and old of the style who are looking for that shot of splendor and intensity the likes of which the sound does not get often enough, and Suffering Souls is nigh on the perfect vessel to bring about such a creation not just once but twice.

“Twilight Ripping Souls Apart” re-releases on December 12th via Solistitium Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Twilight Ripping Souls Apart” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Suffering Souls on Facebook here.

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