The winter months bring on the phenomenon known as seasonal depression, a mental health struggle that occurs when daylight is at its least generous, and the dark emotions have an easier time taking over our psyche. But it’s not like spring is some kind of cure-all that extinguishes the dread and sadness. Those forces remain, and it can be disheartening to realize a season change wasn’t an antidote.

That comes to mind as we settle into “Corrosion of Hearts,” the long-awaited third record from Australian depressive black metal force Austere that ends 14 years of full-length silence. While it’s a triumphant return to the metal world, it’s not like the shadows aren’t as thick and foreboding as they were before. The band—guitarist/bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Mitchell “Desolate” Keepin and drummer/keyboardist/vocalist Tim “Sorrow” Yatras—fleshed out their sound and added even more atmosphere and psychotic stress. But buried in that majesty is a dagger that opens up parts of the heart and mind that have kept you buried beneath insurmountable waves.

“Sullen” is the 11:55-long opener that takes its time to develop an aura, but it sure as hell does. Shrieks mar as the colors change before your eyes, their wrenching doom working into your psyche. Clean calls reverberate in the darkness as the atmosphere thickens, continually working into razor-sharp tumult, creaky howls mixing with great power. The singing swells as the shadows cascade, crashing down with electricity before burning off. “A Ravenous Oblivion” navigates through an oppressive fog, growls and clean singing uniting and delivering different versions of the same message. The weight continues to grow as gargantuan wails quake your insides, the pace chugging steadily, the storm continuing to threaten. The vocals wrench harder as the playing continues to soak the ground, washing you away with an attack that relentlessly saturates with gloomy tidings.  

“The Poisoned Core” has keys dripping as the darkness unfolds, the plodding pace putting the screws to you and fastening you to the ground. Synth thickens as the vicious howls dig into you, eventually working into calmer waters for a stretch before a mauling force returns. The vocals pummel, a frosty force sweeps over, and then the playing soars into the highest levels, the playing dissolving into strange energy. Closer “Pale” is the longest track here, running 13:39 and beginning in deep space, solemnity spreading into other galaxies. Wild howls whip through damp terrain, emotional caterwauling increasing, swimming through crashing waves and into jarring madness. The playing penetrates as melodic guitar work gets stickier, hypnotic melodies make your brain spin, and the dissolution happens slowly but steadily, leaving a bizarre mist behind.

“Corrosion of Hearts” is an experience as much as it is a record, and it’s something you should let wash over you and take you to wherever the music guides your brain. Austere always find a way to channel immersion and make you feel the psychological pressure and at the same time let you deal with your own psychosis. This album isn’t an easy lift, but if you allow yourself to take the trip and submit to this music, you’ll be left transformed and seeing your challenges in a different light.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAustere

To buy the album, go here: http://lnk.spkr.media/austere-corrosion

For more on the label, go here: https://en.prophecy.de/