Pulvis et Umbra is an Italian one-man death metal band and this is his third album.

This is death metal that mixes in aspects of thrash metal and metalcore, making for a dynamic release that has a decent amount of extremity included alongside some more accessible moments.

The singer has quite a harsh growl, quite savage and barbed. It’s somewhere between a growl and a scream, actually. Either way, his voice is nicely ferocious.

The music is generally less ferocious than this, with the death metal elements of the songs being offset by the thrash/metalcore ones, as well as a good helping of softer moments and atmospheric enhancements. Sometimes the aggression just takes over though, and at times like this I’m reminded of something like Lamb of God if they were a bit more extreme, maybe. A melodic black metal feel makes itself known here and there too.

The weakest part of the album for me is the production. Although not awful, it does let the side down. Something to be hopefully improved upon for next time.

Atmosfear is a decent listen, with some good songs and riffs included in its playing time. Hopefully production issues will be left behind for the next release. Despite this though, I still found enough listenable material on Atmosfear to enjoy.

Check this out and see what you think.