There’s never enough time in the day for everything you love. That’s just a simple fact of life. Try as you might, you get caught in the current and float along, missing things as you struggle to keep your eyes for next solid object to carry you through the waves. And so it was that Liminal Shroud entered my orbit just late enough that I added All Virtues Ablaze to my 2022 list of albums that “should” have made my end of year list instead of my proper list. Mistake acknowledged, because it’s been a constant presence when I want great melodic black metal that caters to all my particular penchants. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again, so here we are with Visions of Collapse, which pushes the band’s sonics even further into “Chris is gonna LOVE this” territory. Let’s jump into the “why” below.

I’ll still admit to some catching up to do: I haven’t check out the Victoria, British Columbia trio’s 2020 debut Through the False Narrows yet, but in my defense part of that is because All Virtues Ablaze was so damn good for a while it was the only black metal album I was listening to. Comprised of Aidan Crossley on vocals, guitar and piano, Rich Taylor on bass and Drew Davison on drums, the band focuses on modern and atmospheric black metal that is at once melodic and punishing, carrying through its riffs and propulsive tempos a deep sense of anxiety and loss, of embracing the dark and understanding just how small our lives are in the grand cosmic scheme of the universe, and it does it without resorting to anarchic chaos and terrible production. The same themes are apparently lyrically as well, and part of my love for All Virtues Ablaze was that lyrically this was more than simple misanthropic nihilism and anti-christian cliches. It’s rare that lyrics for this kind of music impact me, but the combination of music and words were rich enough to leave their mark.

All of the above is turned up to 11 on Visions of Collapse. Over the course of five songs and 45 minutes Liminal Shroud rage against the cosmos, crafting songs that are more ambitious in scope, flawless in execution but without losing any sharp edges. A huge piece of that – readily apparent in the first moments of opening track “Nocturnal Phosphorescence” is Davidson’s drumming. It may be impressive to blast your way through hundreds of BPMs, but it’s even more impressive when you can bring blast beats, Lombardo-styled double kicks, and wicked fills all in one song. As a three-piece it’s essential to have an anchor like this, and Davidson sets up Crossley and Taylor to basically do anything they want, knowing he’ll keep the rhythm locked and moving inexorably forward.

And they most certainly take advantage of it. Crossley’s guitar sounds great, mixing up the usual tremolo picked riffs with slower, harmonized licks and full chords that flesh out the bands sound, with Taylor’s bass not only providing the low-end frequencies but adding an additional layer of firmament for the songs to rest on. On “Nucleonic Blight” Crossley opens with a repeated clean guitar figure and grizzled snarl vocally that presages the glorious darkness to come. When he’s screaming it’s quite honestly some of the best black metal vocals I’ve heard in a long while, clear and up front but never standing too far in front of the music. It’s all of a piece, which can sometimes mean everything is a wash, but the dynamics throughout Visions of Collapse are phenomenal, a bang-up job by Matt Roach with additional engineering by Emily Ryan.

It’s hard to pick a standout track: of the five I’m currently really partial to the middle of the album with “Resolve” and the brief but explosive “Malaspina” which also features clean vocals moving at a doom crawl, an interesting direction against the mush more aggressive and moving arrangement. By the time of closing track “The Carving Scythe” that incredible drum opening should come as no surprise, and neither should the fact that Liminal Shroud continue to be one of the best metal bands trafficking in this kind of music. Whether you prefer your black metal more progressive or raw and traditional, I think there’s something in Visions of Collapse that will meet your needs. In the meantime I’ll be spinning this constantly, sinking into the abyss of guitars stretching into infinity.

-Chris

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Visions of Collapse is available now from Willowtip Records. For more information on Liminal Shroud, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.