This is the third album from US black/death metallers Haunter.
Following on from 2019’s very well-received Sacramental Death Qualia, Haunter have now returned with 32 minutes of new material. The band’s style can be termed progressive black/death metal, and within that description lies a twisting, slithering malefic monster of a sound. It may be ugly, foul, and torturous, but it’s also a striking and notable idiosyncratic example of the style.
The band create dissonant nightmarescapes that are wrapped in expressive blackened melody and driven through complex progressive structures. The well-written songs balance harsh brutality, emotive resplendence, and engaging atmosphere well. The band deliver three songs that all tell a story of their own, while also flowing from one to the next in (un)natural ways.
All of the instruments are played well, but Haunter have a way with their guitars in particular; some of the otherworldly riffs and grim melodies used here are simply outstanding. The music has both direct instant appeal and a darker, deeper longevity and depth of composition. This is blackened death metal that stalks its own pathways into the darkness.
If a combination of Suffering Hour, Opeth, Immolation, Mayhem, and Deathspell Omega sounds good to you, then I urge you to check out what Discarnate Ails has to offer.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 
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