Acathexis – Immerse (Review)

This is the second album from Acathexis, an international black metal band.

Acathexis is given dark life by Jacob Buczarski(, the artist behind the amazing Mare Cognitum), the insanely prolific Déhà, (COAG, Cult of Erinyes, Silver Knife, Slow, We All Die (Laughing), and many others), and a singer from some bands I don’t know, (Dany Tee, from Los Males del Mundo and Seelenmord). Immerse may only have four songs, but with a total duration of 50 minutes, there’s a lot here to delve deeply into. The album is Well-named, and the songs are sprawling and immersive.

Acathexis play a form of atmospheric black metal that combines blistering blackened violence with forlorn introspective melody. It’s a mixture of harsh aggression and textured darkness, resulting in music that’s bleak and mournful, yet also resplendent and light.

The songs are sharp and melodic. Many of the melodies are highly emotive and remarkably memorable over time. All aspects of the music are well-rendered and laid out though, not just the melodies, and all band members get to shine in their roles. Acathexis know how to structure and shape this sort of long form atmospheric music, and each song has its own character within the whole.

As mentioned above, I haven’t encountered the singer before, but he puts on a very good performance. With a range that sees him deliver screams, growls, roars, and other vocalisations, he complements the rest of the music well. In places, he also boasts a very high pitched scream that reminds me of the singer of Cradle of Filth, which is no bad thing at all. I do feel compelled to point out though that Cradle of Filth are not an appropriate band to compare Acathexis too – think Mare Cognitum as the obvious reference point, alongside elements of acts such as Aara, Astral Path, Ecferus, Chaos Moon, Spectral Lore, Void Omnia, and Vukari.

Immerse is a very strong album. Best approached as a whole and given multiple spins to let its manifold charms fully unfold, this is a very engaging and enjoyable record from an accomplished set of musicians.

Essential listening.