The New Altarage Album is Full-On Sonic Punishment

Bleak and brutal come Altarage in the form of Endinghent, a crippling assault with a variety of styles and motions that show the band’s range and cohesion. No two songs sound exactly the same but never is there an element that comes out of nowhere; everything is perfectly placed to bring a dark and black world to life with tones of gray and white, making an environment of charcoal and ash. This album is a menace of blackened turmoil.

It is clear that Altarage are aware of the importance of variety, understanding that too much of the same sound can lead to something stale and boring. Each track flows excellently into the next, coming with a new form of aural torture – blastbeats and breakdowns galore that leave me begging for more.

Still, it batters and exhausts my ears. While fantastic in terms of ability, style, and sound, Endinghent makes me feel like I am going to collapse under its weight: not in that it’s too intense, but in that the beatdown and cacophony of darkness can be too much for me. That doesn’t mean it’s bad — on the contrary, it’s excellent — I just can’t withstand so much crushing force in one go. However, the track “Orb Terrax” employs much of the destructive power of the rest of the album and is one of the most brutal songs in the listing, becoming an astounding force of bleak and unadulterated rage that is undoubtedly one of the best on Endinghent. 

Endinghent is out today via Season of Mist and you can stream this bad boy below.