heavy-metal-darkness: Evoken | Shades Of Night Descending/Embrace The Emptiness

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Evoken | Shades Of Night Descending/Embrace The Emptiness | Hammerheart Records (Reissue)

Release Date: 16 January 2026
Format: CD/LP
Genre: Funeral/Doom/Death Metal
Country: United States

Evoken formed in New Jersey in the early nineties, long before funeral doom had a clear shape. Their approach was heavy, sorrow-ridden and unflinchingly slow, taking the bleak edges of death metal and stretching them until every sound felt like a long stare into the void. Across the decades they built a strong name among fans who prefer their doom harsh, stoic and unrelenting. These reissues bring back two early milestones, “Shades Of Night Descending” from 1994 and the full length “Embrace The Emptiness” from 1998.

Hammerheart Records revisits a crucial era for Evoken. “Shades Of Night Descending” still has the raw presence of a band carving its identity, with a stark production that gives the music a cold, abandoned atmosphere. The sound is rough around the edges, which works in its favor. Every slow passage feels stripped down, like the group is forcing listeners to stare directly at the ugliness and sorrow that shaped early funeral doom. Even the more melodic lines come across like small flickers inside a collapsing environment.

“Embrace The Emptiness” follows with a cleaner approach. The band uses the clearer production to open the door to deeper emotional weight. The album sinks the listener into a heavy darkness that never loosens its grip. Evoken handles the long arrangements with a steady sense of gloom. The music surrounds you with thick shadows, turning the album into a slow descent where all warmth has been drained out. There is no comfort on offer here, only the chill of isolation.

This reissue works well because these albums belong together. One shows Evoken learning how to sculpt their style, the other shows them taking that early identity and pushing it into something that shaped much of the genre. The remaster brings out details without softening anything, giving longtime listeners a solid reason to revisit and new listeners a strong introduction to the band’s formative years.

Score: 7.5