Beats and yelling shorts, 16th June 26

Dysthen: DysthenOut 29th May, self-released Brings a tight, crisp survey of Nordic black metal that, whilst not exactly offering anything new, justifies the extent of its emotive intensity through a sharp consolidation of melodic talking points alongside a bracing momentum sustained throughout the course of this brief EP. In this endeavour it conveys a sense of the epic within a relatively short runtime, stretching out the listener’s perception of time by asking them to undertake a journey that, whilst obvious in terms of sequencing, is rewarding regardless. The seamless blending of melodic euphoria with light dissonance, jagged staccato edges with flowing tremolo passages, and a fine balance of trancelike galloping rhythms with blasting ambience and funereal marches all supervene on one another into a cinematic unity. Beginning, middle, and end are all clearly articulated and spelt out in neat episodic chunks, evincing a compositional nous that is all too rare amongst Dysthen’s…