Published: June 27, 2023

None are a black metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

If you’re unfamiliar with None, where have you been? Releasing three stellar records in a row, (2017’s None, 2018’s Life Has Gone on Long Enough, and 2019’s Damp Chill of Life), None have now finally returned with their longest album yet, the 56-minute Inevitable.

Inevitable offers a feast of melancholic black metal that falls somewhere between the atmospheric and depressive styles, albeit one that’s skewed towards the latter. Add to this an element of doom-drenched misery, and you have the latest None album in all of its bleak glory.

It’s great to hear some new None songs. On Inevitable the music is darker than ever, but also more chillingly beautiful. Ranging from soft, delicate fragility to towering walls of shimmering blackened distortion, None craft immersive soundscapes of hopelessness and loss that somehow sound empowering in their despair. When listening to Inevitable the tangible feelings of anguish and pain are cathartic, allowing the listener to wade through the richly depressive atmospheres unscathed, emerging the other side better for having experienced the intensity of their emotive depths.

The music is pure negative emotion given sonic form. It’s shaded and nuanced, with hidden substance, as only the darkest feelings can be. Inevitable takes the listener on an experiential journey from the subtlest forms of mourning, through to the most visceral expressions of raw sorrow.

Any album that has elements of depressive black metal style will have somewhat of a hill to climb with me due to the very nature of the style’s proclivities, but None have always excelled in their art, and Inevitable is no exception to this rule.

The much-anticipated return of None has been worth the wait. Inevitable is a sterling addition to the band’s Grade A discography, and a triumph of darkness and woe over the light.

Essential listening.