Irreparable | The Fate Of All Life | These Hands Melt Records

Release Date: 17 October 2025

Format: CD/LP/Digital

Genre: Industrial Black Metal/Goth/Darkwave

Country: Australia

Formed in Melbourne, Irreparable has slowly carved their presence into the Australian underground with a sound rooted in emotional devastation and mechanical precision. Their music thrives in the space between the human and the machine, channeling despair, decay and the haunting calm that follows collapse. The trio, D.B. on guitars and electronics, N.M. on vocals, and M.B. on bass, now return with “The Fate Of All Life,” an album that moves through industrial coldness and gothic melancholy with a black metal edge that stays raw and human beneath the layers of digital ruin.

“The Fate Of All Life” is an album of grey skies and rusted steel. Its industrial pulse beats like machinery decaying in slow motion, while distorted guitars and distant electronics build an atmosphere that feels suffocating yet strangely fragile. N.M.’s vocals, torn between anguish and resignation, rise through the static with genuine despair, painting images of internal ruin and spiritual corrosion. The inclusion of Carline Van Roos’ haunting voice on “Exposed” and “Death In A Time Capsule” adds a spectral contrast, amplifying the sorrow that runs through the album’s veins.

The production is harsh and immediate, yet there’s a sense of careful balance in how each element occupies space. The rhythm section remains grounded and deliberate, refusing to rush, allowing the emotional impact to sink in. “Forever Remain,” with its violin passage by Hayley Anderson, drags the listener through a strange beauty that feels almost funereal, while “Failure To Thrive” stands as one of the band’s most emotionally charged moments, its tension constantly twisting between despair and numb acceptance.

Conceptually, “The Fate Of All Life” turns human existence into a loop of decay and rebirth, a personal apocalypse that never ends. The band’s statement, “We rise to the sky from the sea, only to come pouring down,” echoes through every track, giving the album a sense of inevitability and quiet tragedy. There’s no comfort or redemption here, only reflection in the ruins. Irreparable has created something emotionally heavy and direct, shaped by their own desolation and vision. It’s not an easy listen, but it is a sincere one, cold, sorrowful, and strangely unhuman beneath its industrial machinery. The score is a matter of taste.

Score: 5.5

Irreparable online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irreparable2019
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irreparable_band
Bandcamp: https://irreparable2019.bandcamp.com/music
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2hl2UiW6hsIKnoN8mVahJF?si=g8VGXGUHS-iEUt3QoYxVGQ

These Hands Melt online:
Website / shop: https://thesehandsmelt.shop/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/these.hands.melt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/these.hands.melt
Bandcamp: https://thesehandsmelt.bandcamp.com/music
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheseHandsMeltOfficial