Review: Austere – The Stillness of Dissolution

Review by Jeger

Austere – The Stillness of Dissolution

Record Label: Prophecy Productions

Year: 2025

Rating: 10/10

There is beauty in depression. Yearning for a better day and that feeling of how things cannot get any worse – the bottom reached; assuring that ascension can be the only outcome, as long as we survive the night. To be so close to death, and the blessed freedom of just thinking about letting go; surrendering to the end, holding on! And once the dreaded fog has lifted, there’s the reality of having made it through, and a feeling akin to surviving a shipwreck on the frigid seas, or a battle that seemed impossible to win. The beauty of depression has inspired countless artists and musicians for hundreds of years. In this day and age, the ins and outs of despair are being detailed through the art of Depressive Black Metal by bands like Australia’s Austere. On June 6, Austere released “The Stillness of Dissolution” via Prophecy Productions.

Austere

The calm, the peace or the desolation following the collapse of suffering’s gestalt. Moving on, it seems, is the theme here, or perhaps a lengthy sojourn in some place of deep meaning following the dissolving of things that once were. A new beginning… The next chapter is defined by beautiful tracks of music: “Dissolved Exile” and “Time Awry”. Sensual melodic bliss so melancholy, so somber and yet lined with silver. Instead of sheer dread, we’re met with soul-stirring passages in the former that evoke a sense of hopefulness if only for a moment. The latter is tinged with a realer air of desperation. Urgency in the atmosphere and rhythm like a heartbeat just before a panic attack takes hold. Becoming trapped in this thing now, not fighting back, just allowing the experience to carry us where it may, like riding waves of sorrow onto barren shores of regret.

There’s a doom-like feel to “The Stillness of Dissolution” in the vein of Hangman’s Chair, along with similar, soulful cleans during some parts of the album, particularly during the chorus to “Redolent Foulness”. Definitely not your traditional guy-sounding-like-he’s-crying set to crusty tremolo riffs, Depressive Black Metal. More of a Depressive Post-Black Metal vibe, as I’m reminded of Harakiri for the Sky throughout most of the recording. That beautiful melding together of conventional BM sounds and contemporary, multi-influenced stylings.

Embrace the dissolution! Or submit to its surety. The dawn of a new day is upon us. A day of rejoicing? Or a day of complete contrition… Depression’s sway to determine our perception and Austere to guide us along its treacherous path. “The Stillness of Dissolution” to soundtrack the expedition: stunning, moving and liberating. As you take it in, do so in remembrance of the macrocosm that once was and with admiration of such beautiful music. What a unique take on the DBM sound. Evolution in action and class rarely paralleled. With “The Stillness of Dissolution,” Austere puts on display their erstwhile talents, all the while as they stir up a sense of pride for Prophecy Productions. A powerful record that will no doubt age as gracefully as an effigy and haunt you for years to come.