In meditative procession a slow descent into darkness is depicted via ancient extremism, one which calls for both depressive solemnity and throat-shredding roar as Alessandria, Italy-based funeral death/doom metal project TETRAMORPHE IMPURE present their debut full-length album, intending damningly immersive introspection on their morbid traipse through pumice-lined caverns. A morbid ebb felt as horrifying sundowning into existential collapse ‘The Sunset of Being‘ pressures the listener’s psyche with enormous, fittingly thunderous extreme doom metal hailing down as their underworld rises to greet a dying realm. Calling on the old gods of 90’s death/doom metal and thier earliest connections with funereal craft this album is admittedly slow-growing in its cling to the mind but lacking for nothing per its finely tuned sound design and broadly varied expression.

Tetramorphe Impure manifested circa 2006 within the mind of musician Damien who previously played bass in Mortuary Drape, sang for old school death metal band Eroded at one point, and now also features in black metal act Comando Praetorio. Their earliest efforts amounted to a two-song demo (‘The Last Chains‘, 2008) that’d later been paired with Black Oath‘s debut EP in the form of a limited split release. That first release took prime inspiration from funeral death/doom metal (Evoken, Esoteric) as well as the early 90’s rise of U.K. gothic death/doom (My Dying Bride, et al.) wherein the keyboards and “clean” guitar chiming dread of the former found a natural fit in the maudlin spirit of the latter. Though it was a substantive demo with a truly dreadful, sombre feeling it seems to have gone largely unnoticed. That’d been the last heard from the project for about twelve years (as far as I’ve gathered) ’til the ‘Dead Hopes‘ EP digitally released in 2020, later featuring on a broader distributed compilation (‘Dead Hopes/The Last Chains‘, 2021) soon after.

Despite the long years between ‘Dead Hopes‘ resounded with a similar enough intent as Tetramorphe Impure‘s 2008 demo, less of that late 2000’s funereal weight but still exploring death/doom metal with some adjacency to “gothic” (or, melodic) death/doom metal. Then and now I’d say Dusk and Mournful Congregation are reasonable comparisons as the skill of the artist bears the same matured ideal, particularly in terms of the guitar work, though the suggested elements of ‘old school’ death metal (Gorement, Decomposed) and devotional atmospheric work (Swans, Dead Can Dance) weren’t/aren’t as readily noticeable. So, the major precedence for what we find on ‘The Sunset of Being‘ can be found in each of the artist’s past releases as Damien once again aims for the spirit of early 90’s extreme doom metal, specifically that point where death-doom metal bands and interest in darkwave/gothic metal collectively found its most dire and sometimes avant-garde offshoot (re: funeral doom).

Opener “Forsaken Light” is the most effective communicator of the miserably otherworldly space intended, a roar of a hundred guitar layers ringing low within the tension created by their mid-paced walking speed. As the pace of the song kicks harder into a death metal push around ~2:30 minutes in the nods to classics-minded death/doom make sense but also come to include keyboards on high as well as spoken passages as key shapers of this first piece. The effect of this grand and somewhat violent entrance is yet morose, deadpan and sullen as deeper growls and spoken passages linger in the fuming atmosphere of the piece. If not for the hymnal vocal gloom and hum of the keys spiraling above the heft and hammer of this song would still deliver a sort of exaggerated Evoken-esque feeling within its opening waltz, probably my favorite song on my first several passes through.

“Night Chants” walks further beyond the marbled temple’s entrance down into a maze of burning hedges, rushing and collapsing on the walk through Tetramorphe Impure‘s thunderous and sometimes chaotic treatment of death metal movement. For my own taste the shapes of their doom metal inspired riffcraft aren’t clearly defined enough yet the greater effect is easily some of the heaviest riffcraft this project has managed to date. I don’t know that I was entirely convinced the early 90’s were the right place to look in reference to this sound on the first pass through but in the context of U.K. death/doom of a certain era given an enormous and volatile sound this makes more sense. We find this sombre, psychedelic, and empyreal moodiness woven into the imposing layered tapestry of “Spirit of Gravity” beyond that point, breathing deeply of the atmosphere wafting beyond “Night Chants” before finding its own narrative voice. The dark, slow-crushed grooves which develop throughout this song served another serious highlight within the full listen for my own taste, easily one of the most repeatable pieces amongst these four sewn-together ~10 minute songs.

“Spirit of Gravity” would naturally serve as the anchor which’d plunge the mind to its deepest death-burnt level of doom, or, the song that delivers the essence of the record most completely via its doomed riffcraft and decidedly transfixed, highly detailed atmospheric generation. In my experience it was a lasting spectacle, one that builds on the album’s greater sprawling motion and rides the unsettling wave that follows. I’d said about as much when premiering the song pre-release but hadn’t yet gained an appreciation for how it’d been faceted within the flow of its surroundings. Naturally, some time spent with the full listen revealed the broader gestures and overall shape of ‘The Sunset of Being‘, leaving the final profundity of the experience to the title track/closer (“The Sunset of Being”) and its most dramatic surges as the full listen finds its summation in splendour which matches that of the opening piece. The flow of this experience eventually became as impressive as its bombast, grand production values (achieved via Alex Sedin) which’d retained some mountainous and organic grittiness despite (I believe) the emulated drums driving the lot.

Despite appearing somewhat typified at face value, and not carrying any sort of obviate avant-edge in most senses, ‘The Sunset of Being‘ succeeds in emitting a suffocating and morbid form of funeral death/doom metal worthy of the ancient inspiration suggested, a balancing act of traditional forms and enormous sound design which yet yields a desired effect. Beyond a heavily layered sound with plenty of unique guitar tones carrying through the whole of the experience there is emotional weight applied here which is believably struck between furor and sickened solemnity, nearly as downcast as some of the earlier greats. Though I wouldn’t mind more of the artist’s dark ambiance and funeral doom aimed atmospheric sense applied there is something to be said for nailing the rare space where death metal and funeral doom compliment, enhance one another into a tunnel of echoic fire rather than clash awkwardly in halfway-there combination. A high recommendation.

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