Another chapter in the DEF/LIGHT saga. Fifth full-length, born out of Ukraine back in 2001, now reduced to two maniacs holding the torch. Doesn’t sound reduced though. Sounds heavier than before.
This isn’t your plastic black/death with clean studio gloss. The production is raw but not demo-raw - thick, smoke-choked. Riffs crawl, then slash, then collapse. Sometimes it’s death metal weight, sometimes black metal fever. They don’t separate it. It just happens.
Each track is called a “Book.” Not gimmick. Fits the whole thing. Feels like a sermon dragged through mud and ash. One long descent, no breaks, no “singles.” You don’t skip tracks, you just let it drown you.
The drums hit like old hammers, not click-track precision. The guitar tone is ugly in the best sense, sharp edges on rotten wood. Vocals - guttural, rasp, somewhere between a growl and a curse shouted down a well.
What makes it stand out? Atmosphere, but not the “atmospheric metal” people tag online. It’s oppressive. Feels like a real place - burnt fields, ruined cities, sky on fire. Not borrowed from Norway, not borrowed from Sweden. DEF/LIGHT sounds a bit originally, and that’s rare enough.
No reinvention here, no genre “innovation.” Just a band still carving, still mean, still not giving a damn about trends. Stygian Conclave feels necessary, which is more than you can say for 90% of releases clogging the underground right now.
Not easy listening. Not supposed to be.
https://www.instagram.com/deflightmetal
Thanks to Grand Sounds PR.
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