A duality of villainous entities struck apart by the volatile polarization of one-another’s singularity acts as the impetus for this narrative-driven mLP from Sydney, Australia-based death metal quartet GOLGOTHAN REMAINS who’ve reigned in some their vitalized brutality for the sake of a fluid streak, a rush of bloodied narrative contained in the throes of a four part ~21 minute suite. Mythic in its depiction of a barren, uninhabitable realm occupied by two elementally opposed actors ‘Bearer of Light, Matriarch of Death‘ explores a broken connection amidst desolate setting wherein their lean back toward thrilling density of ideas and a headier atmospheric reach lands as tumultuous blackened-death cinema. Tortured and dramatic in its expression yet appreciably heavy in its rhythmic proposition their work gains its gravitas by way of extremophilic rush just as much as it does the harried, volatile crossing of mythologic lovers depicted.

Golgothan Remains formed circa 2015 between folks who’d been involved in a variety of thrash and death metal upstarts from the Sydney area prior including folks involved with Decrepid, Offalectomy and the current drummer of Horrisonous. The original collaboration was Immolation-esque in its collapsing dissonant pulse but also bestial, frantically whipped on their self-titled demo (‘Golgothan Remains‘, 2016) where some manner of avant-garde death metal and blackened death-informed their chaotic force. This sound had reached its primacy by the time their debut LP (‘Perverse Offerings to the Void‘, 2018) released to an unwitting underground and it’d hit my skull like a nuke upon review, appreciably stepping into an Ulcerate-esque realm of guitar arrangement/technique and a drum sound/urgency that’d reminded me of Adversarial at the time. While it was technically a blackened dissonant death record when picked down to the bone the overall read of that first album stuck with me as one of the best death metal releases of that year. That first record is still the main reason I am hyped up by their name today, though I wouldn’t snub their second LP for the sake of the bigger picture.

By the time the band’s sophomore full-length ‘Adorned in Ruin‘ released in 2022 Golgothan Remains had on-boarded a new vocalist in Matthieu Van den Brande and a few years later new bassist Adam Marti (Sarcophagum, Tenebrific) resulting in a fine album but, not an expected direct continuation of their debut LP. Due to a noticeably different vocal expression (rasped roars, spoken word in French?) and a tweak to their overall sound design the album was less of a dense death metal sinkhole and more of a blackened death press. Again, it was a fine record that’d reviewed well with me but it was also almost too far removed from that point of impetus, the dark-dissonant and harrowing sound they’d began with; For this EP Van den Brande‘s diction is just as direct, and still includes spoken word interjections, but this time it arrives set suitably deep at its default volatility, experimenting with different types of Ulcerate-feeling riffcraft along the way. This isn’t the whole of the general change signaled by ‘Bearer of Light, Matriarch of Death‘ but a note on some regained focus where fluid rhythms and dissonant death metal throttle are concerned. In some ways this material connects us closer to their original idea without losing any of the lessons learned and explored on their second album.

Despite being cut into four pieces what separates ‘Bearer of Light, Matriarch of Death‘ is generally three pauses, most of which are tied together by the howl of the wind or a deteriorating noise which links all parts enough that they flow together seamlessly if left uninterrupted. This is compounded by the 12″ mLP being one-sided (second side etched) as this allows the whole of the EP to wash through in one great chunk and cycle back without interruption. Picking out one song, such as “Tribulation” for its general guitar driven intensity or “Andromeda” for its dramatic climax doesn’t necessarily treat the experience as intended off the bat as this is clearly a recording meant to be spun through in one collective go; Adding to this notion of linear but abstract death metal muse I’d say that if you were a fan of ‘Stare Into Death and be Still‘ this sense of flow and guitar technique driven narrative should be familiar enough in Golgothan Remains hands as this seems to be the most clear comparison in terms of tremolo-picked swells use in-phrase, volatile rhythmic shifts, and vocals which pattern into steadied diction rather than melodic/phrasal emphasis.

As a contained chunk of storytelling expressed in just over twenty minutes ‘Bearer of Light, Matriarch of Death‘ does a fine job of creating its own diabolic intrigue using the key components of Golgothan Remains‘ dark and imposing death metal sound, making for a solid introduction to the band’s sound at its highest level of atmospheric expression. Though I am still partial to their more abrupt, volatile early days style the way that the finesse of these four songs match up with their suggested themes and the album’s cover illustration all make great sense as a heightened addition to their discography. If these four songs indicate part of, or, the complete direction of the band going forward than all bodes well for these folks and their work. A high recommendation.

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