Artist: Autumn Mountains / Witchlike Star Cones
Country: Japan / Israel
Label: Rat Covenant
Formats: Split Tape
Year: 2025
‘The Land Where Light And Sky Will Wither’ is the title of a split tape that brings together Autumn Mountains from Japan and Witchlike Star Cones from Israel. The latter has been slowly building a name in the deeper underground regions of the Black Metal of the more quirky kind. And, to be clear right away: quirky in a good way. Autumn Mountains, on the other hand, is a relatively new entity that debuted earlier in 2025 with a split tape with Käferpalast.
Autumn Mountains, another project of Ryotaro (Eternal Ice, Dark Fog Eruption, Remina a.o.), starts off with two tracks, spanning just over twelve minutes and offer a rather enigmatic sort of Black Metal that is both dreamy and atmospheric. With very prominent, soothing keyboards and guitars pushed so far back that they are almost inaudible, it is very reminiscent of how Drowning The Light has been shaping his music in recent years. Regardless whether this part of Autumn Mountains’ sound is labelled “Dungeon Synth” or “Ambient”, the blend with the Black Metal fundamentals makes it a very atmospheric affair. Even with the harsh guitars and ear-piercing screams, the emphasis is on the atmospheric part of the music. It may not be unique anymore, but it’s certainly not something you come across every day. Great band!
After the dreamlike adventure that was Autumn Mountains, the transition into the Witchlike Star Cones side is remarkably smooth. At least, for the first part. It starts in the same fashion as Autumn Mountains ended their part. But it quickly turns into the twisted beast that Witchlike Star Cones is known for. None of this project’s releases are strictly following the same patterns or musical vision, it even seems improvised to some extent. But there’s some elements that ties all of this project’s work together. There’s always a good portion of synths and unexpected twists and turns take does feel rather unorthodox to begin with. As usual, the “tormented soul”-like vocals are the icing on the cake, making this song as intriguing as it is astonishing.
