I enjoy horror and scary movies a lot and always have, but they don’t usually leave me existentially moved. They do their job and make you sit on the edge of your seat for 90 minutes, but rarely am I ever spooked past the credits. But something like Jesse having to watch as Todd murders Angela in season 6 of “Breaking Bad?” That sticks you with me because there’s a human toll, and it could happen in real life. Ay any time.

Taking on Bosse-de-Nage’s music is much like the latter example, as it’s music that sticks with you and sits with you and slowly sinks into your brain. It doesn’t let go once the music ends. You live these records. Their latest is “Hidden Fires Burn Hottest,” their sixth and first in eight years, and like the ones the precede it, it is transformative psychologically, giving the impact of seeing axtual cataclysm that is real and tangible. The band—vocalist Bryan Manning, guitarist Michael Smith-Brenden, bassist Drew Bonel, drummer Harry Cantwell—continues to blend black metal, post-metal, noise, and other elements into these songs that have a way of gnawing into reality.

“Where to Now?” starts with guitars trampling and chugging, Manning’s unmistakable howl peeling back your psychic wall, the playing tangling brain fibers. Jazzy keys splash as whispers haunt, then everything comes unglued, chewing on muscle before fading. “Mementos” opens with light drumming, Manning’s speaking feeling plaintive but starkly emotional, dusty guitars tracing before the fuel ignites. Howls snap as the playing speeds up, daring through cloud coverage, moans and chortles paying the toll through the heart, the drumming igniting and driving into the ground. “In the Name of the Moth” floats on strums before the strikes enter, speaking warbling, and then the pace turning animalistic and feral. Melodies gush as the pace tears open limbs, the guitars warping and trembling, the wails attacking as if acting as an exorcism, zapping into a spiral vortex. “With a Shrug” is an interlude that turns down the heat just a bit, strings rising and quivering, an ominous tone driving a fear response. “No Such Place” opens in a translucent gaze, speed entering the fray, Manning’s voice picking you apart, glorious leads hypnotizing and leading into a pocket of warmth. Then the playing wrecks shop, wails plastering, effusive riffs making cortisol charge, the energy tidal waving inside of you, feeling catchy and electric as it fades.

“Triangular Dream” is a second interlude with guitars frying, vocals appearing to loop frontward and backward, static spitting and gnawing on your psyche. “Underwater” has more of a post-punk feel when it launches, the vocals choking while the playing cuts, speaking feeling like transported from a dream. Guitars glow and then combust, the vocals hit a fever pitch, in that it feels like you’re hallucinating this, plastering emotion raging to a finish. “Frenzy” brawls right out of the gate, a fast, rabid attack coming for you, the force sprawling into a fog, emerging on the other side of a soundscape. Veins explode as the vocals twist wills, penetrating your senses before finally recoiling. “Immortality Project” starts spaciously, the bass plodding, spacey strains and mind-numbing speaking making it feel like your consciousness is losing. Synth whirs as the playing works into cooler pockets, its purple hues blending with the night sky. “Leviathan” is the closer, trudging as the vocals wrench, guitars boiling to a manic ferocity, the playing gnawing and chipping away at your brain. The drums destroy as tornadic colors spew mental shrapnel, spiraling and melting as the strings glaze. Manning’s damaged wails rush back to the surface, then finally the power melts into a void, taking you with it.

Bosse-de-Nage have been sorely missed during their departure, and their return on “Hidden Fires Burn Hottest” shows a beast in relatively the same form at its center with all types of new tentacles jutting from its body. The band’s music always was heavy and metallic at its core, but the mental weight and scarred humanity that flowed generously always was more the point. This is a band that can batter you sonically, but if you’re not paying close attention, they can untangle and reform you spiritually in a way you won’t suspect until the deed has been done.

For more on the band, go here: https://bosse-de-nage.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://nowflensing.com/collections/bosse-de-nage

For more on the label, go here: https://nowflensing.com/