heavy-metal-darkness: Dusk |Bunker |Self-release

Monday, February 16, 2026

Dusk |Bunker |Self-release

Release Date February 21^st, 2026
Format LP
Genre Industrial/Black Metal
Country Costa Rica

Dusk started making noise in San Jose, Costa Rica, back in 2016. This project mixes industrial mechanics with black metal darkness, throwing in hard bass and doom elements to create a bleak soundscape. The main brain behind the operation is Dusk on programming and synths, joined by Shaman on vocals, Implacable on guitar, and Pàlak on bass. They managed to land a support slot for Samael during a Latin American tour a few years back, which gives you a pretty good idea of the circles they run in.

"Bunker" arrives as the sixth full-length from this crew, and the promotional material claims this is the result of ten years of production work. They say it heads down an unpredictable road. Listening to it, however, the path seems fairly straight. The album delivers a stream of mid-tempo industrial beats and distorted guitars that fit squarely into the genre standards. It sounds like a collection of tracks designed for a dystopian wasteland, keeping things cold and mechanical from the get-go.

The production puts the electronics right in the front seat. The synths and programmed drums dominate the mix, often burying the organic instruments. The guitars struggle to cut through the digital noise, acting more like texture than a driving force. Shaman’s vocals are heavily processed, blending into the wall of sound rather than commanding it. It creates a specific, robotic noise that works for the style, but it can get exhausting on the ears after a few tracks.

Where the album falters is in the songwriting department. The tracks, titled simply "Bunker I" through "Bunker VI," tend to bleed into one another. It becomes difficult to distinguish one song from the next. The relentless pounding lacks dynamic shifts, resulting in a listening experience that feels flat. The "experimental" touches mentioned in the press release sound more like standard industrial loops found in plenty of other releases. It lacks those killer hooks or memorable riffs that make you want to return to the album.

"Bunker" is a functional industrial metal album that does the job without exceeding expectations. It provides forty minutes of bleak, stomping noise that fans of the genre might tolerate, but it doesn't offer much to get excited about. Including a remix of "Dunkelheit" at the end is a bold move, turning a classic into a techno-industrial track, but it feels disconnected from the rest of the material. It’s an average release that fills a gap but won't be topping any year-end lists.

Score: 6.0