There are just some artists that cannot be kept down for too long. Whereas most tend to pace themselves, there are a select few that refuse to sit in one place for any amount of time lest they lose sight of their vision, lose their creative momentum, or something else entirely. The underground is no stranger to such acts as we have seen several units of such whose tireless efforts are making their impact known with the artists in question continuing to challenge themselves to a terrific extent. Escaping Aghartha has easily been one such name for years now, and it’s here with its latest effort that we see the American act challenge itself once more.
Nature has always played a big part in what a lot of metal acts bring to the table, but I think it’s safe to say that few have been as persistent or passionate in those themes as Escaping Aghartha. For several years and several albums now, this has been an entity that is nothing if not a champion of nature. The last six years has seen Escaping Aghartha work tirelessly to spread awareness of nature conservation across many different fields of the natural world through the use of as many different genres of metal and adjacent styles. With “Lurkers of Languid Waters”, we see Escaping Aghartha move its focus to that of the plight of endangered eels all across the world, and it would be an insult to say that anything less than a victory is what’s to be found throughout this patient but effective seventy-four-minute run time. To say that these eight tracks are as expansive as they are effective would be to it mildly. “Lurkers of Languid Waters” doesn’t just encapsulate its themes perfectly but accomplishes the impressive feat of being what could easily be considered the most mature Escaping Aghartha record to date. After loads of experimentation across multiple different styles, it’s in this extrapolation of black metal and doom that we see this act deliver unto us an experience that constantly keeps up on the edges of our seats, drowns us to electrifying depths, and sways us to the cause at hand with the craftsmanship here the perfect catalyst to stir one to action.
Escaping Aghartha has always been an act to respect, but it’s here with the culmination of virtually everything that has come before that this North Carolina act should be incredibly satisfied with what it has thrown down throughout its ninth album. For everything that it dares to drag to the surface, “Lurkers of Languid Waters” is a fascinating work of passion born out of acute suffering that delivers on all possible fronts to make this art as genuine as it is well-executed.
LISTEN to “Lurkers of Languid Waters” on Bandcamp here.
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