Dirge are a French atmospheric post-metal band and this is their latest EP.

Making my 2014 end of year best of list, I’m a huge fan of the band’s previous album Hyperion, so it’s great to have some new material from this band.

Alma | Baltica has a different focus to Hyperion, however. Clocking in at a respectable 35 minutes in length, this EP emphasises the more ambient, spacious side of the Dirge sound. Layered with melancholic sounds and experimental, exploratory psychedelic atmosphere, the songs on Alma | Baltica deliver electronically-enhanced moods and downbeat atmosphere.

These are subtle and nuanced mood pieces that ebb and flow through the playing time like gradually building portents of cataclysmic times to come. Are they saviours or destroyers? Who knows, but either way, the tracks make a lasting mark with their subtle, sometimes delicate presence.

Dirge are clearly adept at crafting affecting, textured soundscapes that border the hinterlands between beauty and ruination. There’s a sometimes subtle differentiation between the two, but frequently the material finds these two aspects entwined and coexisting.

Alma | Baltica may not be what I was necessarily expecting from new Dirge material, but that’s not a bad thing. This is a very strong collection of music, and I highly suggest you give this a listen and lose yourself in its expressive delivery.