heavy-metal-darkness: Liminal Spirit | Unwell

Friday, November 21, 2025

Liminal Spirit | Unwell | Self-Release

Release Date: 31.10.2025

Format: Digital

Genre: Cinematic Doom Metal

Country: United States

Liminal Spirit is the solo creation of Jerry Hauppa, known from Northless, Ara and the cosmic themed project Deorbit. With this project he moves toward a heavier, story driven approach, shaped by doom metal, eerie atmospheres and narrative ambition.

"Unwell" arrives as the first full-length from Liminal Spirit and presents a narrative driven work that takes place in five acts. The story revolves around characters wrestling with memory loss, guilt and a history that refuses to vanish. Hauppa approaches this through a cinematic framework that pulls from doom metal, industrial colors and microtonal guitar work. The result is a dramatic and uneasy journey that focuses on tension, disorientation and emotional pressure.

The album leans into its concept from the first minutes and moves forward with a steady sense of grief and dread. Hauppa uses repetition of melodic ideas tied to the Jim Reeves song mentioned in his notes, reworking the melody in warped and unsettling ways. The approach supports the idea of a collapsing memory pattern and adds a haunting personality to the album. The progression across the five tracks is slow and patient. Instead of big climaxes, the story unfolds through gradual turns, shifts in atmosphere and the narration provided by multiple characters.

Hauppa’s performance across guitars, bass, electronic elements and strings gives the music a crafted and controlled form. The tonal choices often lean toward dissonance or unfamiliar intervals. These choices suit the theme and add a strange, alien color to the project. The electronic textures and the solemn pacing widen the sensation of drifting through failing memories and unresolved sins. Vocals appear sparingly and when they do, they enhance the storytelling without pulling attention away from the instrument work.

"Unwell" functions more like a long cinematic arc than a metal album made for instant replay. Its strength lies in its patience and the emotional discomfort it creates. It is demanding by nature and not something that tries to offer relief. Listeners who appreciate Jesu, Skepticism or Swans will recognize the same heavy emotional pull and slow burning despair, shaped here through Hauppa's personal experiences and reflections on decline, guilt and the loss of self.

While the album maintains its atmosphere successfully, it can also be draining. The uniform pacing and long stretches of brooding texture do not always give the listener clear landmarks. This suits the concept, though at times it reduces the impact of certain ideas that might have landed harder with sharper contrasts. Even so, the storytelling approach and the dedication to the concept make the album intriguing and memorable in its own bleak way.

Score: 5.5