ALBUM REVIEW: III. The Path – Challenger Deep
Yes, the year is almost done. We’ve barely got any reviews left to publish here at Distorted Sound and you’ve probably wrapped up your AOTY list by now if you’re an AOTY kind of person. But please don’t let whatever you’re up to in these last few days of 2023 mean you miss this, the new album and first full-length in nine years from CHALLENGER DEEP. Of course, it is entirely up to you whether it grabs a last minute spot on that list of yours, but where there is considerably less room for debate is over the fact that The Path is absolutely phenomenal.
Though far from a be-all and end-all, CHALLENGER DEEP’s limited streaming numbers suggest it would be most helpful to start with a few notes on genre for anyone who is completely new to the band. It is probably easiest to call what they do ‘post-metal’, albeit with an important qualifier that they draw particularly heavily from hardcore and black metal and have shared stages with bands like CELESTE, WIEGEDOOD, and DOWNFALL OF GAIA which all makes a lot of sense when presented with The Path’s six tracks and 37-minute runtime.
And thus some natural conclusions can be drawn about this record. The Path is dynamic; The Path is expansive and atmospheric; and, when CHALLENGER DEEP unleash the full might of their classic five-piece set-up, The Path feels for all the world as though it might just put a crack in the crust of this planet and maybe even several others. Mixed by Igor Ovcharenko and mastered by the seemingly omnipresent Brad Boatright, every part of it sounds massive – the thunder of the drums, the force of the vocals, the soar of the guitars and the weight of the riffs… someone somewhere once said something to the effect of anyone can make good post-metal, but only a few can make great post-metal. This is definitely the latter.
Part of it comes down to the sheer emotion of it all; The Path tells “the story of a man who, while watching the day-to-day disasters, sacrifices everything to eventually find peace”, and whether you’re following closely or not it is impossible to miss how the record goes on something of a journey from the agony and desperation of opener Sacrifice to some semblance of triumph in closer Joy, with all manner of mesmeric stops along the way. Vocalist Anton Dandarenka is arguably the stand-out, his screams and bellows raising the stakes further still on the maelstrom intensity that the band conjure all around him.
They save the best for last too, with fifth track Indifference and the aforementioned Joy each landing just a few seconds either side of the eight-minute mark to provide more than a quarter of an hour of some of the best post-metal of the entire year. The former is probably the album’s most dynamic offering, with shades of SVALBARD in the way its guitar leads pull on the heartstrings, and even GOJIRA in the heft of its riffing. Joy meanwhile provides the climax to a record that is climactic from the outset, its leads gigantic as the band bring things to a hugely cathartic close.
Really the only thing CHALLENGER DEEP haven’t nailed here is timing, because there’s a real risk this record could slip through the cracks of everything else that demands one’s attention at this time of year. And it really shouldn’t; The Path is nothing short of outstanding – a record that invokes all manner of feeling in its listener and will no doubt have them coming back soon and often to experience it all over again. If you like post-metal or post-hardcore or any form of atmospheric heavy music really then please do this band – and yourself – a favour and make sure they don’t just disappear into the end of year aether.
Rating: 8/10
III. The Path is set for release on December 22nd via self-release.
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