Labyrinthus Stellarum - Rift in Reality (2025)^{Release ID: 59453}

When I heard that Labyrinthus Stellarum had a new album in 2025, and in such short order after Vortex of the Worlds, I wasn't expecting the album to be this drastic of a departure. It still has what I would consider the essence of the Ukrainian atmospheric black metal project, but instead of playing into the expected tropes of bands like White Ward and Deafheaven, Labyrinthus Stellarum borrow heavily from Blood Incantation of all groups! Specifically, the minimalist electronics of the album Timewave Zero. Make no mistake, Rift in Reality is an EBM album, and that's not the abbreviation you think it is.

Rift in Reality is, by all accounts, a pop album that just so happens to use black metal foundations. And I could not help being a little bit excited with "Voyagers", "Take Us Home" and "Cosmic Plague". And because the tracks are so short in execution, it becomes really easy to digest a project like this; it feels like you're getting hit by a truck relentlessly, but before you know it, it's over.

I would say that's a good thing most of the time, but Labyrinthus Stellarum litter Rift in Reality with some truly gross mixing. This record has zero grit and no desire to grow or show any dynamic swell. The guitar playing on this record is so neutered by compression that it might not even be here at all. The idea that this album could be considered metal at all should be troubling. The bass might as well not even exist with the exception of the few synth breaks because most of this albums highlighted parts are the percussion and vocals. The vocals are pleasant enough, but the percussion, like with their previous album, has this faded reverb effect throughout the album, which contributed greatly to the spacey and existential themes presented, but without anything to ground it in place, it loses some of that grandeur.

Rift in Reality is an album that might be considered controversial, especially by the black metal purists. But I wanted to like Rift in Reality within its first few moments and its attempts to go more pop. But terrible production choices make the rift between artful black metal and mainstream electronic metal more defined than ever before.

Best Songs: Ravenous Planet, Lost in the Void, Cosmic Plague