It’s not too often nowadays that a band can put forth a true atmosphere and / or emotion through their sound. There are bands that convey an evil aura or those that fully bash your head with aggressive and or frenetic energy, but to give you that sense of utter solitude or despair, well that takes a special mindset. Much like what their name implies, LIGHTLESS is bleak and dismal as they come and their sound just conveys that to you with such massive intensity. It gives you, the listener, no light and no hope. I would almost warn you if you are in a dark place or certain state of mind, do not listen to this album. This is over an hour of dark and depressive atmospherics. I’m not a huge listener of this genre, but I do have a few touchpoints that give nods to the sound LIGHTLESS have. They are not as overly romantic / lost love in sound of MY DYING BRIDE, SWALLOW THE SUN or PARADISE LOST (mainly the early period of these bands), but there are some moments in their instrumentation. They are not has hateful / suicidal as say FUNERALIUM and there are snippets of UK’s ESOTERIC. My anchor in similarity and or mood is NY’s WINTER. WINTER is a huge fave of mine and when I first heard them with their sound, atmospherics and the sheer heaviness in their simplicity it blew me away. LIGHTLESS give me just that. With just three instruments and vocals (there are some minor instrumentation accents), but damn can they utilize that starkness in such a powerful and emotive manner. Another plus for me is that granted most of the songs are over 15+ minutes long of a bleak and doom laden drone. There are smatterings of a DEATH like gallop here and there and also touches of a frozen Black Metal whirlwind in the guitars, but they fade quickly back to that slow and pummeling abyssic sound. I feel it gives the songs a more well rounded approach and helps the listener off the floor for a bit and not let their suffocating sound become stagnant or one-dimensional. Not much more I can say, but like I always state in my reviews, give them a once over and get your own opinion going. Just have a smile on your face when you do so though. You’ve been warned. www.facebook.com/lightlesssludgedoompostmetal, www.facebook.com/fadinglightstudio, https://nespitherecords.bandcamp.com