Artist: Adversarial
Country: Canada
Label: Dark Descent Records
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2024
Admittedly, after the band’s first few releases I kind of lost track of Adversarial. In the early 10’s I did pick up the band’s debut album, ‘All Idols Fall Before The Hammer’ (2010, Dark Descent Records), ‘Prophetic Plain Of Abyssal Revelation’, a compilation LP of some of their demo material (2011, Dark Descent Records) and their split LP with Antediluvian (2012, Nuclear War Now! Productions). That, in itself, gives a firm basis and idea of what the band stood for, but for reasons unknown I never picked up their subsequent split LP with Paroxsihzem from 2014 and their sophomore album ‘D.E.N.A.T.B.K.O.N’ that came out a year later. In fact, running into the band again in 2024 I felt that I must have missed a bunch of records… but seemingly the band more or less laid dormant for a decade.
‘Solitude With The Eternal…’ is indeed the band’s first sign of life since 2015, but it is safe to say that although the band seemed to have been swept of the earth, they have no changed all that much. Not on a musical level, but it is also good to see that all three members of the band are still on board, still with a never changed line-up since their inception in 2007 – quite rare these days. So, let’s take a dive into the album, shall we?
Compared to ‘D.E.N.A.T.B.K.O.N’, which is short for ‘Death, Endless Nothing And The Black Knife Of Nihilis’ (so let’s just keep using the shorter version of the title), the sound on this newest piece of work is much darker and especially heavier. If we even take a few steps further back in time, ‘All Idols Fall Before The Hammer’ had quite a piercing sound with a very prominent snare and tom sound, something that not everybody seemed to appreciate equally. Yet, it was that particular and rather specific sound that allowed the band to bring forward their penchant for razor sharp Black Metal-tinged riffs – despite the almost Devourment like drums. While the band always kept that Black Metal character, it is clear that on this ‘Solitude With The Eternal…’ the band strikes an almost perfect balance between the band’s Death Metal basics and their tendency for dark Black Metal riffs.
The darker and more brooding sound definitely fits the music best, all instruments are boiling down into a thunderous and impenetrable wall of sound. The massive production, however, still leaves enough space for eerie and contrarian sort of guitar leads and the necessary dynamism. Yes, ‘Solitude With The Eternal…’ offers more dynamics than the band has ever done, not only giving the listener a bit of change to get a breather but even more so to give the music a heavier and sinister overall sound. The whole thing, together, makes that the band, anno 2024, sound way more mature and balanced: there’s still enough chaos and confusion being offered, but it feels more measured and calculated, resulting in a more than convincing return for the Canadians.
