Review by Vladimir on January 26, 2024.

Despite the fact that I have heard people talking about the australian black metal band Deadspace for quite some time, I still regret not taking any free time to properly sit and listen to their music. However, despite this major flaw, I have decided to give it a go with their seventh full-length album Unveiling The Palest Truth, released on September 22nd, 2023 via Immortal Frost Productions.

Slowly building up with the opening two-minute track 'Enter The Valley Of The Dead', we kick the hornet's nest with the following track 'Within His Wretched Tomb', where we get a glimpse of what will be the pivotal point of this album. This album is predominantly characterized by diabolic black metal with dissonant guitar chords and tremolo riffs, double-bass drumming and tormented screaming harsh vocals. Upon listening to each song, you will notice that the music conveys a very macabre and gothic atmosphere, followed by feelings of despair, misanthropy and utter misery that has a nice and fluent shift between sections.

The songwriting is for the most part very traditional in the black metal sense, however it still manages to be both dynamic and complex with the overall arrangements. As with the general atmosphere, the riffs also nicely shift with the rhythmic changes, without breaking away the established vibe of the song. The only real downside to this album is that the delight of immersing yourself within the atmosphere lasts so shortly, mostly due to the fact that the tracklist consists of a total of 5 songs, whereas the overall length comes around to 23 and a half minutes. I will not lie to you, the overall length makes it feel more like it's an EP rather than a full-length, since it quickly jumps to its conclusion before you even knew what was going on. Another issue I have with the album is that once it reaches the final track 'A Feast For The Rats', it just ends without any grand payoff that really makes you think that this was so worth it. Aside from these issues, I still think that you will be able to enjoy the album for what it is and fully experience its charms. The album's production provides a strong and crunchy guitar tone combined with destructive sounding bass and drums, alongside the vocals with a bit of reverb that feel like "tormented cries from a distance".

Personally, it did feel like it was a bit lackluster once it reached its end, however I still think that it was worth the go. Even though I think the band could have done way better by adding just a couple of more tracks to keep the general vibe of the album going, I consider it a nice and fun thrillride that in 23 minutes manages to grab your attention and keep it going all throughout every song. Some fans of Deadspace might feel a bit disappointed about this, however I think that this is just a calm before the storm, and that the band's next output will be even greater.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10