Review by Alex on August 30, 2020.

To come from their debut demo to something this destructive is not a surprise to me at least. 2018's offering was a clear indication of the might Void Rot wielded, it was only a matter of time before that power transcended to a full-length commitment. Here be the date the band is set to plunge this whimpering world into darkness, September 11th, 2020. Of an unholy matrimony between death and doom metal, Descending Pillars collapses with the weight of the universe unto those who dare succumb to the abyssal daze. The ceremony of demolition arrives under the management of Everlasting Spew, an establishment that has overseen some of the most corrupt sects within the sub-currents of metal and having Void Rot under their umbrella, only strengthens their influence within the bowels of the underground.

Stand at the base of a goliath, tilt your head upwards and witness it sway as it prepares to crumble; then hear the crack of fright as its foundation can withstand no-longer the force of the sky. 'Descending Pillars' not only sets the tone of the album with its dreary guitar progressions and crushing drums, but submerges itself into a swamp of atmospheric, trance inducing frequencies that'd tell of a band continuing their devastative path since their split with Atavisma. Power chords, tremolo picking, and moderate waves of reverb, crash against the hypnotized cymbal and snare patterns whilst crushingly dense and cavernous vocals give verbal representation of the doom one is awoken to. Void Rot's hand in decomposition is felt distinctly; their properties emerge conspicuously and are put into demolishing motion on 'Upheaval' that applies a black metal technic to the landscape that adds to the idea of a plummeting fall.

Your astral temple is completely clobbered by 'Liminal Forms' that conducts itself similarly to the past two tracks, therefore creating a cohesive and very much connected musical effect as its dark and dreaded heavy thump unifies the seemingly primitive approach to Void Rot's music; with which they accomplish so much that it cannot go without mention; as a band they sound in control of what is being done; with patience being a key factor in the pacing of Descending Pillars.

And as the motor of this death/doom machine rumbles on, a somnambular hypnosis introduces you to a corrosive form of meditation in an attempt to locate and further devour the splinters of sanctity. The Krypts-like sprawling ambiance, guttural-elasticity and precise accentuations in some guitar sections matched with an overall careful (though linear) rhythmic conductivity, establishes this feeling. Bringing me to the point of Void Rot's music on Descending Pillars; there is nothing present on the record that seems out of place; rather, bulls eye concentration and undivided attention are given to the atmosphere evoked. Thus, it sounds as though the music itself was structured around the atmosphere, rather than have the drumming, riffing and vocal oppression be the center of attention. It translates to pieces such as 'Inversion' and 'Monolith (Descending Pillars Pt. Two)', both of which erect and disassemble monstrous atmospheric passages with authoritarian force.

Descending Pillars is Void Rot's most devastating work to date; cleverly commissioned to activate the processes of astral erosion and putrefaction.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by George on June 11, 2020.

My story with Shylmagoghnar's debut is long - longer, in fact, than any other metal album out there. This was the album to introduce me to the genre as a whole, shaping my current taste more than any other piece of music I've ever heard. Three years later, it still holds up as one of the most unique and well-crafted records I know.

The first thing that sets Emergence apart from similar atmospheric melodeath is the production. It's astonishing that the mixing and mastering was done by one guy in his home studio, because the result is one of the cleanest, most expansive sounds I've ever heard. On some albums a squeaky-clean production hurts more than it helps, but this album is so macroscopic and ambitious in terms of theming that it needs that clarity to fully convey the concept.

And Nimblkorg's talent as a producer is not only matched but actually surpassed by his mastery of composition. The 9-minute opener 'I Am the Abyss', which may just be the best metal instrumental ever recorded in my opinion, is a perfect showcase of this; it flows seamlessly between cleaner, more ambient sections and distorted, metallic guitarwork, with a subtle integration of synths at certain points adding to the grandiose mystique the track evokes. Dynamics shift often enough to keep it interesting for the full duration but not enough to make it feel disjointed or crammed.

That compositional fluidity can be seen in many places throughout the album (though not on every track). 'Edin in Ashes' is the best example of its use on a vocal track, churning through an ever-changing array of riffs and emotions until it reaches a very well-earned conclusion. The other side of the coin is tracks like the titular 'Emergence', which build upon one central guitar-driven idea and create an atmosphere that way. Combined with the occasional weird experiment like 'This World Shall Fall' (a crawling, ominous melodeath track that somehow works without a single note played on guitar), the duo cement themselves as a creative force that does not restrict itself to any one structure or gimmick.

That being said, the album's vocals are a point of contention for some, consisting of simple mid-range screams for most of its duration. Skirge certainly does a capable job though, with several instrumentals and even Nimblkorg's takeover of vocal duties for one track offering up enough variety to stop the monotonous vocals from really becoming an issue.

Emergence is, overall, extraordinary. The combination of melodic death metal with elements of atmoblack is unlike anything else I've ever heard, and both the composition and the production give the release unique little quirks that add a lot of charm to it. The home-made nature of the whole thing is quite impressive as well - it sounds polished enough that I'd believe a big label like Nuclear Blast or Century Media was behind it, a far cry from most poorly produced home-studio efforts.

Melodic death metal is far from stagnant, and it's acts like Shylmagoghnar that keep the genre thriving. Be'lakor and Insomnium are still going strong, and it looks like an even newer wave of post-2010 bands are now taking it upon themselves to bring melodeath forward, each with their own personal approach to evolving the sound we've all come to love. And with two pretty much perfect releases under their belts, it looks like Shylmagoghnar are going to be the torchbearers in the movement.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10

Review by George on June 11, 2020.

My story with Shylmagoghnar's debut is long - longer, in fact, than any other metal album out there. This was the album to introduce me to the genre as a whole, shaping my current taste more than any other piece of music I've ever heard. Three years later, it still holds up as one of the most unique and well-crafted records I know.

The first thing that sets Emergence apart from similar atmospheric melodeath is the production. It's astonishing that the mixing and mastering was done by one guy in his home studio, because the result is one of the cleanest, most expansive sounds I've ever heard. On some albums a squeaky-clean production hurts more than it helps, but this album is so macroscopic and ambitious in terms of theming that it needs that clarity to fully convey the concept.

And Nimblkorg's talent as a producer is not only matched but actually surpassed by his mastery of composition. The 9-minute opener 'I Am the Abyss', which may just be the best metal instrumental ever recorded in my opinion, is a perfect showcase of this; it flows seamlessly between cleaner, more ambient sections and distorted, metallic guitarwork, with a subtle integration of synths at certain points adding to the grandiose mystique the track evokes. Dynamics shift often enough to keep it interesting for the full duration but not enough to make it feel disjointed or crammed.

That compositional fluidity can be seen in many places throughout the album (though not on every track). 'Edin in Ashes' is the best example of its use on a vocal track, churning through an ever-changing array of riffs and emotions until it reaches a very well-earned conclusion. The other side of the coin is tracks like the titular 'Emergence', which build upon one central guitar-driven idea and create an atmosphere that way. Combined with the occasional weird experiment like 'This World Shall Fall' (a crawling, ominous melodeath track that somehow works without a single note played on guitar), the duo cement themselves as a creative force that does not restrict itself to any one structure or gimmick.

That being said, the album's vocals are a point of contention for some, consisting of simple mid-range screams for most of its duration. Skirge certainly does a capable job though, with several instrumentals and even Nimblkorg's takeover of vocal duties for one track offering up enough variety to stop the monotonous vocals from really becoming an issue.

Emergence is, overall, extraordinary. The combination of melodic death metal with elements of atmoblack is unlike anything else I've ever heard, and both the composition and the production give the release unique little quirks that add a lot of charm to it. The home-made nature of the whole thing is quite impressive as well - it sounds polished enough that I'd believe a big label like Nuclear Blast or Century Media was behind it, a far cry from most poorly produced home-studio efforts.

Melodic death metal is far from stagnant, and it's acts like Shylmagoghnar that keep the genre thriving. Be'lakor and Insomnium are still going strong, and it looks like an even newer wave of post-2010 bands are now taking it upon themselves to bring melodeath forward, each with their own personal approach to evolving the sound we've all come to love. And with two pretty much perfect releases under their belts, it looks like Shylmagoghnar are going to be the torchbearers in the movement.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10

Review by George on June 11, 2020.

My story with Shylmagoghnar's debut is long - longer, in fact, than any other metal album out there. This was the album to introduce me to the genre as a whole, shaping my current taste more than any other piece of music I've ever heard. Three years later, it still holds up as one of the most unique and well-crafted records I know.

The first thing that sets Emergence apart from similar atmospheric melodeath is the production. It's astonishing that the mixing and mastering was done by one guy in his home studio, because the result is one of the cleanest, most expansive sounds I've ever heard. On some albums a squeaky-clean production hurts more than it helps, but this album is so macroscopic and ambitious in terms of theming that it needs that clarity to fully convey the concept.

And Nimblkorg's talent as a producer is not only matched but actually surpassed by his mastery of composition. The 9-minute opener 'I Am the Abyss', which may just be the best metal instrumental ever recorded in my opinion, is a perfect showcase of this; it flows seamlessly between cleaner, more ambient sections and distorted, metallic guitarwork, with a subtle integration of synths at certain points adding to the grandiose mystique the track evokes. Dynamics shift often enough to keep it interesting for the full duration but not enough to make it feel disjointed or crammed.

That compositional fluidity can be seen in many places throughout the album (though not on every track). 'Edin in Ashes' is the best example of its use on a vocal track, churning through an ever-changing array of riffs and emotions until it reaches a very well-earned conclusion. The other side of the coin is tracks like the titular 'Emergence', which build upon one central guitar-driven idea and create an atmosphere that way. Combined with the occasional weird experiment like 'This World Shall Fall' (a crawling, ominous melodeath track that somehow works without a single note played on guitar), the duo cement themselves as a creative force that does not restrict itself to any one structure or gimmick.

That being said, the album's vocals are a point of contention for some, consisting of simple mid-range screams for most of its duration. Skirge certainly does a capable job though, with several instrumentals and even Nimblkorg's takeover of vocal duties for one track offering up enough variety to stop the monotonous vocals from really becoming an issue.

Emergence is, overall, extraordinary. The combination of melodic death metal with elements of atmoblack is unlike anything else I've ever heard, and both the composition and the production give the release unique little quirks that add a lot of charm to it. The home-made nature of the whole thing is quite impressive as well - it sounds polished enough that I'd believe a big label like Nuclear Blast or Century Media was behind it, a far cry from most poorly produced home-studio efforts.

Melodic death metal is far from stagnant, and it's acts like Shylmagoghnar that keep the genre thriving. Be'lakor and Insomnium are still going strong, and it looks like an even newer wave of post-2010 bands are now taking it upon themselves to bring melodeath forward, each with their own personal approach to evolving the sound we've all come to love. And with two pretty much perfect releases under their belts, it looks like Shylmagoghnar are going to be the torchbearers in the movement.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10

Review by George on June 11, 2020.

My story with Shylmagoghnar's debut is long - longer, in fact, than any other metal album out there. This was the album to introduce me to the genre as a whole, shaping my current taste more than any other piece of music I've ever heard. Three years later, it still holds up as one of the most unique and well-crafted records I know.

The first thing that sets Emergence apart from similar atmospheric melodeath is the production. It's astonishing that the mixing and mastering was done by one guy in his home studio, because the result is one of the cleanest, most expansive sounds I've ever heard. On some albums a squeaky-clean production hurts more than it helps, but this album is so macroscopic and ambitious in terms of theming that it needs that clarity to fully convey the concept.

And Nimblkorg's talent as a producer is not only matched but actually surpassed by his mastery of composition. The 9-minute opener 'I Am the Abyss', which may just be the best metal instrumental ever recorded in my opinion, is a perfect showcase of this; it flows seamlessly between cleaner, more ambient sections and distorted, metallic guitarwork, with a subtle integration of synths at certain points adding to the grandiose mystique the track evokes. Dynamics shift often enough to keep it interesting for the full duration but not enough to make it feel disjointed or crammed.

That compositional fluidity can be seen in many places throughout the album (though not on every track). 'Edin in Ashes' is the best example of its use on a vocal track, churning through an ever-changing array of riffs and emotions until it reaches a very well-earned conclusion. The other side of the coin is tracks like the titular 'Emergence', which build upon one central guitar-driven idea and create an atmosphere that way. Combined with the occasional weird experiment like 'This World Shall Fall' (a crawling, ominous melodeath track that somehow works without a single note played on guitar), the duo cement themselves as a creative force that does not restrict itself to any one structure or gimmick.

That being said, the album's vocals are a point of contention for some, consisting of simple mid-range screams for most of its duration. Skirge certainly does a capable job though, with several instrumentals and even Nimblkorg's takeover of vocal duties for one track offering up enough variety to stop the monotonous vocals from really becoming an issue.

Emergence is, overall, extraordinary. The combination of melodic death metal with elements of atmoblack is unlike anything else I've ever heard, and both the composition and the production give the release unique little quirks that add a lot of charm to it. The home-made nature of the whole thing is quite impressive as well - it sounds polished enough that I'd believe a big label like Nuclear Blast or Century Media was behind it, a far cry from most poorly produced home-studio efforts.

Melodic death metal is far from stagnant, and it's acts like Shylmagoghnar that keep the genre thriving. Be'lakor and Insomnium are still going strong, and it looks like an even newer wave of post-2010 bands are now taking it upon themselves to bring melodeath forward, each with their own personal approach to evolving the sound we've all come to love. And with two pretty much perfect releases under their belts, it looks like Shylmagoghnar are going to be the torchbearers in the movement.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10

Review by George on June 11, 2020.

My story with Shylmagoghnar's debut is long - longer, in fact, than any other metal album out there. This was the album to introduce me to the genre as a whole, shaping my current taste more than any other piece of music I've ever heard. Three years later, it still holds up as one of the most unique and well-crafted records I know.

The first thing that sets Emergence apart from similar atmospheric melodeath is the production. It's astonishing that the mixing and mastering was done by one guy in his home studio, because the result is one of the cleanest, most expansive sounds I've ever heard. On some albums a squeaky-clean production hurts more than it helps, but this album is so macroscopic and ambitious in terms of theming that it needs that clarity to fully convey the concept.

And Nimblkorg's talent as a producer is not only matched but actually surpassed by his mastery of composition. The 9-minute opener 'I Am the Abyss', which may just be the best metal instrumental ever recorded in my opinion, is a perfect showcase of this; it flows seamlessly between cleaner, more ambient sections and distorted, metallic guitarwork, with a subtle integration of synths at certain points adding to the grandiose mystique the track evokes. Dynamics shift often enough to keep it interesting for the full duration but not enough to make it feel disjointed or crammed.

That compositional fluidity can be seen in many places throughout the album (though not on every track). 'Edin in Ashes' is the best example of its use on a vocal track, churning through an ever-changing array of riffs and emotions until it reaches a very well-earned conclusion. The other side of the coin is tracks like the titular 'Emergence', which build upon one central guitar-driven idea and create an atmosphere that way. Combined with the occasional weird experiment like 'This World Shall Fall' (a crawling, ominous melodeath track that somehow works without a single note played on guitar), the duo cement themselves as a creative force that does not restrict itself to any one structure or gimmick.

That being said, the album's vocals are a point of contention for some, consisting of simple mid-range screams for most of its duration. Skirge certainly does a capable job though, with several instrumentals and even Nimblkorg's takeover of vocal duties for one track offering up enough variety to stop the monotonous vocals from really becoming an issue.

Emergence is, overall, extraordinary. The combination of melodic death metal with elements of atmoblack is unlike anything else I've ever heard, and both the composition and the production give the release unique little quirks that add a lot of charm to it. The home-made nature of the whole thing is quite impressive as well - it sounds polished enough that I'd believe a big label like Nuclear Blast or Century Media was behind it, a far cry from most poorly produced home-studio efforts.

Melodic death metal is far from stagnant, and it's acts like Shylmagoghnar that keep the genre thriving. Be'lakor and Insomnium are still going strong, and it looks like an even newer wave of post-2010 bands are now taking it upon themselves to bring melodeath forward, each with their own personal approach to evolving the sound we've all come to love. And with two pretty much perfect releases under their belts, it looks like Shylmagoghnar are going to be the torchbearers in the movement.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10

Review by George on June 11, 2020.

My story with Shylmagoghnar's debut is long - longer, in fact, than any other metal album out there. This was the album to introduce me to the genre as a whole, shaping my current taste more than any other piece of music I've ever heard. Three years later, it still holds up as one of the most unique and well-crafted records I know.

The first thing that sets Emergence apart from similar atmospheric melodeath is the production. It's astonishing that the mixing and mastering was done by one guy in his home studio, because the result is one of the cleanest, most expansive sounds I've ever heard. On some albums a squeaky-clean production hurts more than it helps, but this album is so macroscopic and ambitious in terms of theming that it needs that clarity to fully convey the concept.

And Nimblkorg's talent as a producer is not only matched but actually surpassed by his mastery of composition. The 9-minute opener 'I Am the Abyss', which may just be the best metal instrumental ever recorded in my opinion, is a perfect showcase of this; it flows seamlessly between cleaner, more ambient sections and distorted, metallic guitarwork, with a subtle integration of synths at certain points adding to the grandiose mystique the track evokes. Dynamics shift often enough to keep it interesting for the full duration but not enough to make it feel disjointed or crammed.

That compositional fluidity can be seen in many places throughout the album (though not on every track). 'Edin in Ashes' is the best example of its use on a vocal track, churning through an ever-changing array of riffs and emotions until it reaches a very well-earned conclusion. The other side of the coin is tracks like the titular 'Emergence', which build upon one central guitar-driven idea and create an atmosphere that way. Combined with the occasional weird experiment like 'This World Shall Fall' (a crawling, ominous melodeath track that somehow works without a single note played on guitar), the duo cement themselves as a creative force that does not restrict itself to any one structure or gimmick.

That being said, the album's vocals are a point of contention for some, consisting of simple mid-range screams for most of its duration. Skirge certainly does a capable job though, with several instrumentals and even Nimblkorg's takeover of vocal duties for one track offering up enough variety to stop the monotonous vocals from really becoming an issue.

Emergence is, overall, extraordinary. The combination of melodic death metal with elements of atmoblack is unlike anything else I've ever heard, and both the composition and the production give the release unique little quirks that add a lot of charm to it. The home-made nature of the whole thing is quite impressive as well - it sounds polished enough that I'd believe a big label like Nuclear Blast or Century Media was behind it, a far cry from most poorly produced home-studio efforts.

Melodic death metal is far from stagnant, and it's acts like Shylmagoghnar that keep the genre thriving. Be'lakor and Insomnium are still going strong, and it looks like an even newer wave of post-2010 bands are now taking it upon themselves to bring melodeath forward, each with their own personal approach to evolving the sound we've all come to love. And with two pretty much perfect releases under their belts, it looks like Shylmagoghnar are going to be the torchbearers in the movement.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10