As time has gone on, black metal has seen tremendous expansion in virtually all directions. We’ve witnessed what feels like every kind of experimentation come into the modern landscape of black metal with some obviously succeeding more than others. By all accounts, it’s safe to say that the sci-fi corner of the genre has seen loads of success with the approach gaining traction more and more as the years have gone one with the cosmos far more of a prevalent theme in the genre than ever before. Joining that sensation, it’s with their first album that Endspace shows us how it can still be done in a way that’s as aggressive as it is unforgiving.
Already, it can be quite difficult to stand out in black metal in general, but now with a sound that’s become as rich as the sci-fi reaches of the sound? It is damn near mandatory that you find yourself in a special position to not just subvert expectations of the listener but manage to craft something that embodies only the finest aspects of the sound without outright copying what’s come before. In no small way, Endspace understood that intimately so as they were crafting “First Contact” with virtually every given minute of these nine transmissions offering the listener nothing short of a potent and disorientingly doomed journey beyond the stars. With this duo’s experience in Fractal Generator, the black metal and digital assault of this record already feels incredibly fleshed out and appropriately mechanical at times as the line between atmospheric metal and computational chattering blurs in multiple instances to make this record one that throws you into the deep end where the only salvation lies in the beings which you aren’t yet sure are here to help or harm. Aggressive, cold, and never afraid to dive headfirst into the nitty gritty of what sci-fi black metal can become, “First Contact” is the end-result of a band truly going all-in for something fantastic with the sheer magnitude of the record speaking for itself time after time.
What’s just the beginning for Endspace stands tall as a monolith in the void of space whose power and presence is not something to be underestimated. Everything brought forth throughout this creation ensures that it’s an unyielding entrance that leaves nothing on the table and eviscerates in virtually every instance with the end of “First Contact” opening our eyes to terrifying visions across interstellar reaches so rich and vivid that one cannot help but dive back into the album to experience them once more.
“First Contact” releases on October 2nd via Transcending Obscurity Records!
LISTEN to advanced tracks from “First Contact” on Bandcamp here.
LIKE Endspace on Facebook here.
FOLLOW Endspace on Instagram here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pICVcKfDDCE