Illusive Key | Consume Us | Amor Fati

 

Release Date: 8 October 2025

Format: CD, Vinyl

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Belgium/Germany/France

Illusive Key emerged as a union between three musicians already well-known in the underground: MK from Häxenzijrkell, CSQN from Trogne, and Déhà, whose countless projects have built a vast reputation in atmospheric and experimental metal. Their alliance was not announced with much noise, yet it immediately drew attention among followers of deep, immersive black metal. Signed to Amor Fati Productions, the trio present their debut “Consume Us”, an album that embraces traditional black metal spirit with a hypnotic and inward-looking approach.

 “Consume Us” introduces Illusive Key as a band devoted to a sound that feels personal, distant, and hallucinatory all at once. The four tracks form a single spiral of tension and release, where repetition becomes a trance and distortion grows into something almost spiritual. The guitars have that brittle, ancient tone, the kind that instantly pulls you into a black void, but underneath the surface, layers of synths and subtle details reveal a deeper, hidden world. Déhà’s production at Opus Magnum Studios shapes everything into a balance between harshness and dreamlike weightlessness, making the experience both raw and strangely beautiful.

Vocals come from somewhere between a ritualistic screams, echoing through the mix rather than sitting in front of it. They sound detached from human emotion, more like the voice of something that speaks from the other side. The drumming from CSQN is disciplined and patient, always serving the atmosphere rather than forcing it. MK’s writing with Déhà is meditative, allowing the riffs to expand slowly and consume the listener as the title suggests.

Each track pulls you into a slightly different shade of despair or transcendence. “Disseverence” stretches like a storm that refuses to end, while “Ghosts” turns inward, floating between clarity and chaos. “Yearning” grows darker and heavier, and the final “Consume Us” closes the album in a haunting dissolve. The album behaves like a ritual where every minute serves a purpose, inviting surrender. Illusive Key’s debut doesn’t need to surprise or shock. It simply opens a portal and lets the listener decide how far to go inside. The album rewards immersion and patience, leaving an echo that lingers long after it ends.

Score: 7.0

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