I’ve given There is Nothing Left for Me Here (Dead Truth) a few spins now and I’m shocked that Ether has remained a secret in the underground metal community. It’s not like they’re novices to the game, these are former members of acts like Remembering Never and Into the Moat we’re talking about here. Judging by their welding of Sludge and Hardcore, it may not take long now for the secret to get out.

But to label Ether as punk kids who dabble in sludge is a bit of a half-truth. ‘For Every Nail, A Noose’ shows its Black Metal heart before the Doom washes over it and even that gets blindsided with haunting vocals not lost on a Type O Negative record. The track would truly be the standout of the pack if it showed a little editorial restraint and shaved off some of its excessive run time. The right balance of melody, aggression, and editing are struck on ‘We are the Empty Vessel Where Life Use to Grow’ and ‘No Gods, All Masters.’ Whenever ‘No Gods, All Masters’ seems like it’ll languish, a fresh storm of riffs or eerie atmospherics thunders right in and keeps the proceeding moving.

The most envelope-pushing number comes in the form of ‘Inextricably Bound by the Absence of a Ring Finger’ which only utilizes electric instrumentation for feedback noise in the distant background. And while the choice of vocals doesn’t completely work, you are taken on a journey down a scorched musical landscape that is as beautiful as it is desolate. Even interludes ‘The Burden of Trust’ and ‘The Burden of Hope’ aspire to be more than just placeholders and have a cinematic grandness to them.

All that’s left for me to say is to get in on this while you still can. If you’re interested in Sludge metal with Hardcore and atmosphere coded into its DNA in the wake of Isis, consider this your sign up.

8.0/10

HANSEL LOPEZ