It’s a great year to be a blackened death metal fan. There’s been an embarrassment of riches within this microgenre so far — Diabolic Oath, Endless Loss, Heresiarch, to name a few — and we haven’t reached the halfway point of the year yet. Adversarial, another caustic group, is set to release their third full length Solitude with the Eternal… nine years after their mind-warping sophomore album Death, Endless Nothing, and the Black Knife of Nihilism. In a year full of already great blackened death metal, does this new Adversarial take its place among the squad leaders, or does it fall in the ranks as just another album?
With no time wasted on an intro, Solitude with the Eternal… kicks off blasting the listener with feral vocals and a pummeling instrumental assault with “Beware the Howling Darkness on Thine Left Shoulder”. This blend of militant, menacing aural savagery continues on throughout the rest of the record, and it’s a relief to know that Adversarial haven’t lost the edge which hooked me on their previous records. “Merging with the Destroyer” is the album highlight, and showcases a particularly wild solo section that makes me want more. This blend of caustic blackened death metal is not usually known for conjuring up atmosphere, however there’s a pervading menace-like cloud that hangs over the listener for the duration. That being said, I’m not totally sold on Solitude with the Eternal… .
In a year so far packed to the gills with very good to great blackened death metal, Adversarial delivers a somewhat tepid response to this — the songs are rather repetitive, and the same punch that’s omnipresent on Death, Endless Nothing, and the Black Knife of Nihilism isn’t there. I do appreciate this record for what it is, however Adversarial could have done more to make it hit just a little harder, and to be just a little more memorable, but quite a few of the songs end up being formless mush, which is disappointing. I will give this more chances in the future, though. For its flaws, Solitude with the Eternal… is a decent record to bang your head to for thirty minutes, and there’s something to be said about brevity in metal — less is more, and all that. Even though only the most rabid of blackened death fans will adore it, this record is solid and deserves a spin or two.
