INTRODUCING: Underdark

Despite having existed as a band in some form since around 2015, Nottingham post-black metallers UNDERDARK had yet to release a full-length album. There’s been a well-received split with ANTRE, an EP in Mourning Cloak and now, finally in 2021, they’re set to release their debut Our Bodies Burned Bright On Re-Entry to the world. 

“It’s certainly a long time coming isn’t it!” guitarist Adam exclaims. “We recorded [the album] back in 2019, January time. So we’ve had to wait a long time and been through a hell of a lot to get to this point, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster”, he explains of the delays that forced them to shelve the album for a while. One thing that’s changed since the original writing of the album is that new vocalist Abi joined the band, which led to the release of last year’s Plainsong // With Bruised And Bloodied Feet single as a sort of introduction.

Of the decision to release the single, Adam explains “due to the pandemic we were eager to release [the album] and you know, showcase Abi as our new vocalist. With not being in a position to put the album out, it was perfect to do a cover and With Bruised… which we sour quite highly from the first record.” Abi expands on this; “at the time we weren’t really sure when the album would be out because even if we did get hold of a label for it, we didn’t really want to be releasing it in the middle of lockdown and not being able to tour. So the plan we concocted was to release this to introduce me and the little tweaks to our sound that we have going into the album.”

This lack of label might have proved a stumbling block initially but, thankfully, wasn’t to last. Eventually, they found not just one but three labels willing to release Our Bodies… in various territories; Surviving Sounds in the UK, Through Love in Europe and Tridroid Records in North America. “Tridroid was one that we really wanted to work with if we were going to be distributed in the Americas; they were always on our radar as a label we could realistically get who also align with us in terms of the sound, aesthetic and in terms of causes as well. They do a lot of charitable work through [the label] and that’s really cool,” Abi expands. Anyone who’s seen the Tridroid variant will also know – it looks a lot like the Northern Lights, something the band deliberately chose to do. “We really wanted to, as a way of saying thank you for being so patient for this record to come, we wanted to get more than just the black disc with the songs on it. We wanted to have a proper, nice collector’s item that people can enjoy with more of their senses than just hearing,” she explains. 

Of the record itself, the band are clearly very proud of it. “We’ve recorded every song we’ve ever written,” Adam says, “[and] we’ve always tried to progress from there and do something different, refine our sound. The opening track was written fairly close to when we went into the studio so you’re shown a vast array of how we’ve progressed and where we’re going with our sound overall.” That sound is an amalgamation of black metal, post-metal, atmospherics and even some flourishes of death metal from Abi’s lower growls. Despite being rooted in black metal, they don’t feel that they’re necessarily a black metal band – Abi herself feels they’re closer to some post-metal than anything else. “I’m not even sure that we could realistically be called a black metal band,” she says. “Like, there’s definitely elements of it, there’s my vocals particularly and the blast beats and stuff. I think we probably sit more comfortably along the lines of a CULT OF LUNA type band.” It’s an interesting claim and even on cursory listens to Our Bodies Burned Bright On Re-Entry, one that does hold some water, certainly. Songs are longer and take listeners on a journey as opposed to remaining rooted to one place or emotion. 

This journey is crafted quite deliberately and carefully, too; “creating that shift of emotion – starting somewhere that’s quite dark and negative and going somewhere a bit more pleasant,” as Adam describes it, is key to their process. “Everybody struggles and I like to think that you can get through it and there’s light at the end of tunnel.” Abi echoes this sentiment as she talks through her lyrics and delves into some of the themes she explores on the album, from the deeply personal to the more political. 

With Ashen Hands Around Our Throats, for instance, is about the Grenfell disaster, the personal effects of that and the political decisions that lead to it. “The first verse is about the events, the displacement but later on I go into the wider reaching effects, like the fact this was allowed to happen and nothing has changed since.” But again, this isn’t merely a political album; Qeres deals with something intensely personal for Abi. “The title is a reference to Catholic occultism. Qeres is a substance which is referred to like, once, in the Old Testament. It’s this incense which, if you coat a blade in it, it’s the only thing you can use to kill an angel. And the reason I called the song that is because it’s about a friend of mine who survived a suicide attempt, the song itself is kind of a dramatic retelling of the events of that night.”

This might seem to sit at odds with the scene and movement that they’ve been lumped in with – RABM, or Red & Anarchist Black Metal, used to denote bands of left-leaning political views. Instead, it’s something they see as a part of them but, while it is useful, it’s ultimately reductive. Abi is frank in her answer. “I don’t think we fit the mould of being a political band in that sense. They will write about politics, but you know, you listen to a band like DAWN RAY’D, and it’s very much a call to arms and I don’t necessarily write in that same sort of style. I think I’m more of a storyteller than an orator!” But they don’t reject the label, “I get the impression that there’s very much a sense of like, you need to be vocally against it. Like within black metal, you either need to be like, vocally against fascism or tacitly okay with it. And obviously if that’s the choice then denounce it because Jesus Christ who wants to be associated with those fucking losers?!” She laughs. 

While their political convictions are important to them – standing against fascism, standing up for the downtrodden and oppressed, demanding those in power be held accountable for their actions and more – it’s abundantly clear UNDERDARK are far more than just their politics. The deeply personal nature of songs like Qeres and the title track itself show a more introspective side to the band, but still one that confronts the darkness in both humans and society before moving towards the light and showing that there can, and must, be a better way. 

Our Bodies Burned Bright On Re-Entry is out now via Surviving Sounds (UK), Through Love Records (EU) and Tridroid Records (US/CAN).

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