Released on: 6th June 2025
The Stillness of Dissolution, the fifth album from Australian duo Austere, gets off to a really strong start. Opening with a clean guitar passage that sets the moribund pacing for the following five tracks. With heavy compliments to the riffs of heavy metal. Of what can best be described coupled as blackened screamo meets the 80’s NWOBHM.
There is a lot of complexity within this album that is easy to overlook. As the bar is set high and the riffs consistently reach above the mark. Leaving no time for contrast. It beats hard and it beasts fast, but ultimately has soft fuzzy edges. The Stillness of Dissolution is an album scared of its own shadow in this regard. Where riffs hastily fidget between each other without much distinction. Overall, the atmospheric tone presented here diffuses into a nice gradient between riffs. A handsome blend of technique and ossified timbres; it sounds more filler than killer.
The duo certainly work well together and this is a good collection of songs. Metal by numbers, it ticks all the boxes. Moreover it is a great example of the yassification of the alternative scene. Where the mood, though sombre, gives a glimpse of beauty in suffering; charm. And yet, it misses the drive, the rash impetus of irresponsible egotism that propelled metal and its adjacent genres into the skies. As an article of todays’ creativity it is more hip technical wizardry than pop, shock and performance. It is comfortable; who knew easy listening could be metal.
6/10
