Released under Terminus Hate City, Asheville-based All Hell releases their fifth full length album entitled Sunsetter– fusing altogether first wave Black Metal references with many other references too such as Deathrock, Punk, and film score type of atmospheres. Best known for occult-horror storytelling and narratively transgressive sounds, this time they conceptualized an album with a vast range from ancient myth to modern day apocalyptic undertones. The core themes being explored on this album include exile, rebirth, cosmic vengeance, lineage, vices and virtues, as well as the ordeals of surviving as well as apocalyptic worlds– incorporating references like Lilith, the curse of Cain, and a bloodline that is damned.

While still preserving their core ethos, they continue to push sound forward, breaking boundaries and transcending beyond what is measurable or easily defined. They have previously performed across the United States and multiple renowned festivals, such as Decibel Metal & Beer Fest and Dark Lord Day and shared stages with fellow Extreme Metal infernal gods such as Ringworm, Turn Cold, and Black Tusk. Substantially, the album Sunsetter retains All Hell’s ever-independent, uncompromising approach– almost like a ritual, mythic prayer in a form of sonic chaos; from the way I see it, there’s a hint of Impaled Nazarene-like references as well as early Mayhem hints, only that they are then laced with Horror Metal influences and Thrash-adjacent notes. On technical terms, the album was recorded, mixed, and engineered by Chris Adams who is best known for Black Tusk, meanwhile the mastering and visual aesthetic was done by Jacob Curwen, who is the vocalist/guitarist of All Hell himself– making it a collaboration between familiar scenes. To me this album is ever uncompromising; presenting layers of mythical-occult nuances that only few could grasp –be it conceptually, metaphysically, or substantially–, but to the ones who do, it’s solid myth-making and worldbuilding in its purest form.

Not only does this album feature the involvelent of a Black Tusk member, it also features a guest solo by Nate Garnette of Skeletonwitch fame. The overall impression from this album that I catch is that it’s a dark, profound, introspective contemplation on the very ideas of lineage and survival; the very existence of sins and apocalypse– in a cosmic approach, packed in grinding riffs, ominous brass, and self-actualizing prophecy. It embodies the state where the cult seeks the return of ancient, infernal masters– finalized with absolute grandeur.

Buy the album here:
https://allhell.bandcamp.com/album/sunsetter

9 / 10
RALKA SKJERSETH
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