Obsidian Scapes | Death Chants Echo From Aphotic Void | Darkness Shall Rise Productions

    Obsidian Scapes is a doom metal band from Zwickau, Sachsen, Germany, formed in 2017. The band consists of RCC on guitar and synthesizer and HZL on drums. Connected to other underground acts such as Charon and Derais, the duo creates music rooted in an oppressive, slow-moving atmosphere—thick with tension and steeped in funereal grandeur. Drawing from the deep well of extreme doom traditions, Obsidian Scapes merges abyssal pacing with spectral textures and an immersive, almost hallucinatory weight.

“Death Chants Echo From Aphotic Void” is their debut full-length, released on June 6, 2025, via Darkness Shall Rise Productions after the release of their self-titled EP in February. It runs for over 52 minutes and includes five tracks, each unfolding with unhurried severity and monolithic presence. The production by Thomas Taube is heavy as fuck and expansive, matching the band’s glacial approach. From the opening moments of “The Pettiness Of Life” to the closer “Trapped In Equilibrium,” the sound is defined by layered, mid-to-low eerie riffing and hammering percussion that alternates between tectonic drag and martial propulsion.

Vocals are used sparingly but effectively, buried deep in the mix as distant laments or distorted proclamations, adding to the overwhelming scale and detachment of the sound. The guitar tone is suffocating, with each chord crash dragging out over slow-motion rhythms. Synth passages form a backdrop of cosmic ruin—less atmospheric in a decorative sense and more like an integral, ritualistic element. The album flows as a single massive structure, less a collection of songs than a continuous procession through collapsing sonic temples.

Rather than dramatic shifts or contrast, Obsidian Scapes focuses on incremental movements and immersive tension. Each track stretches the limits of patience and endurance, echoing with the kind of desolation that feels both ancient and post-human. “My Utter Contempt For The Sun” and “Endless Sea Of Dead Mirrors” are emblematic in their use of repetition, slow layering, and harmonic decay—gradually drawing the listener deeper into an atmosphere of hopelessness. The final track, “Trapped In Equilibrium,” acts less as a resolution and more as a freezing over, ending the album with a sense of suspended stasis rather than catharsis.

“Death Chants Echo From Aphotic Void” is unrelenting in its single-minded approach. It demands attention on its own terms, rejecting any notion of immediacy or accessibility. There is no momentum toward uplift, no contrast, no narrative. Only the weight of vast spaces and the slow drag of entropy. As a whole, the album stands as a unified work—each track a pillar in the same collapsing temple, each moment a further step into the vacuum. A new force of doom has risen from the depths of the underground.

Score: 8.2