Reviews list for Dimscûa - Dust Eater (2025)

Of all the genres I enjoy in my metal journey, there's one I somehow seem to neglect in favor of everything else, post-sludge. I don't think I've discovered much from that genre beyond its Big 4 (Neurosis, Isis, Cult of Luna, The Ocean) and Rosetta. Many of its songs guide you through transcending realms, showing that metal doesn't always have to be about chaos and speed. So when this Dimscua EP was brought into discussion, I thought it was a good time to catch up with what I was missing out on.

And wow, what an EP! Dust Eater is the start of a promising career for this UK post-sludge band. We haven't heard anything new from Cult of Luna for a while, but this offering feels like a solid continuation to that band's sound. Dimscua has only just formed this year, and they already have a lot of emotion and grief in their music.

"Elder Bairn" already sets up the atmosphere with its bleak guitar tone and screamed vocals. The riffing rhythm rises before reaches its height in an apocalyptic explosion. The riff storm strikes down as the screams haunt you like tortured souls. An absolutely devastating start to the adventure! The title track seems a bit stretchy in the rhythm, but that's my one and only complaint. The music still sounds huge and emotional.

Raw emotion continues to shine in "Existence/Futility", with different melodies built to last then built to fall. It's like a strong fight that you end up winning and losing multiple times. And is it all worth it? For sure! "On Being and Nothingness" is the 10-minute final epic and a true example of the post-sludge sound developed by the earlier masters of the genre, proving that it's far from dead. The chords and vocals drift through a dimension of catatonia. By the time it all ends, you become one with the astral plane. A dark satisfying end to this atmospheric journey!

As cheesy as this may seem in theory, tragedy has turned into art that can easily resonate. The tragedy that is guitarist/bassist Adam Campbell-Train losing his daughter (RIP). The end result is the amazing return of the post-sludge sound we know. Here's to a possible full album from the genre's new chosen ones!

Favorites: "Elder Bairn", "On Being and Nothingness"

Thundering out of Berkshire, England to truly throw a spanner in my ‘EoY Fallen Album List’ come atmo-sludge quintet, Dimscûa. I would say that 2025 has been the year that I started to explore atmospheric-sludge metal for the first time, its calmer post-metal tendencies offset nicely by the harsher vocal attacks and smothering heaviness of the riffs that are my usual (and still preferred) listening fodder. Listening to Dust Eater sort of feels like I am in familiar territory nowadays which has most certainly helped me warm to it quickly. Hidden behind the straight delivery and more subtle sections, there is a sense of the epic going on also though which adds extra interest into proceedings.

This may just be clever use of guitar tone in all honesty, with some well-placed chiming effect adding some positive volume to the already doughty performance. Dust Eater is delivered with an attack that brings to my mind that each of the band members are grinning with each blow they make in their flannel shirts and jeans – another image I have in my head for some reason. Whilst I cannot describe the EP as uplifting, it does possess a pragmatic approach that gives the music a sense of being constructive without being restrictive. There’s no question that the band have gears they can get through, but they are always in full control, not just when ticking over in first or second gear.

The poignancy in the strings that open the final track, ‘On Being and Nothingness’, set against that haunting ambience that drifts through the background of the track, shows a band who can play with real emotion in their performances. Whilst the subject matter may explore darker tropes, the five-piece are unafraid to display the inherent beauty that can still be found in the themes of grief or loss. Of the content of this sub-genre that I have heard this year, Dimscûa chart pretty highly to my ears.