ALBUM REVIEW: Void Lustre – Hope Drone

When it comes to the balance of post and black metal, HOPE DRONE certainly tip the scales in the blackened direction following along the same frost-bitten vein as WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, but with a hardcore twist to the vocals. Both the title of their newest record – Void Lustre – and, indeed, the band’s own name suggest this is going to be a depressing journey, albeit a beautiful one through a forlorn landscape brimming with moments of existential crisis and suffering if previous 2015 album Cloak Of Ash is anything to go by. Perhaps better suited to frost-bitten winter nights than sunny summer days which, for an Australian band, may come as a surprise.

Void Lustre’s opener Being Into Nothingness has a buildup of gentle textures morphing into pounding toms and post-y strummed guitars. Devastating strained and anguished howls kick in alongside earnest poignant guitar which speed up to blackened tremolo and crashing cymbals which coincide to really up the ante of brutality. But in amongst the chaos there are mellow, bleak textures of subtle and shimmering guitars with gently rumbling toms which ascend in speed and volume up to the conclusion of agonising screaming.

Forged By The Tide features high pitched scorching guitars to contrast the tortured vocals and the blackened onslaught of thunderous blast beats continues whereas the tides turn and the storm breaks In Floods And Depths, which is the most post-metal influenced track of the album. Veering more towards a CULT OF LUNA feel with celestial guitars breaking through the gloom and doom but still following an ebb and flow from merciless to forgiving tones and pace with plenty of pedal effects and reverb.

This Body Will Be Ash has a brutal start with another unrelenting blackened cacophony of frantic but tightly controlled precise drumming and lightning fast tremolos with moments of instrumental reprieve but never a break from the ongoing dismal vocals writhing in misery. Concluding and tying Void Lustre together is In Shifting Light which binds the brutal elements of previous tracks with the softer moments of introspection into hope and loss.

Throughout, Void Lustre is a pretty cathartic experience with raging fires and cooling waves which quench the flames. However, a lack of variety and too much repetition does lead to the record becoming somewhat draining – however, this is the nature of oppressive music. Regardless, HOPE DRONE offer a strong feeling of despair for humanity, dragging the listener across a desolate and burning wasteland.

Rating: 7/10

Void Lustre is out now via Moments Of Collapse Records. 

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