Published: June 10, 2016

It has been a long, long time since multi-instrumentalist Terry Vainoras’s tenure in short-lived doom metal duo InSomnius Dei. Once a random MySpace find (remember when MySpace was a valid catalyst for discovering new music?) a decade ago, this all-but-defunct Australian band seamlessly blended classic Peaceville death/doom metal with the panchromatic psychedelia of Pink Floyd’s classic works. Hindsight has rendered Illusions of Silence one of those now admittedly clumsy albums which are more effective as a nostalgia listen, but certain moments of “The Memories Of My Past” and their sole album’s titular track still hit me square in that special, cordoned off zone of buried, late teenage angst. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that band came and went so long ago, but, as luck would have it, the stars aligned and multi-instrumentalist Terry Vainoras (the other half of InSomnius Dei was Mark Kelson, for those who are curious) continued honing his craft with new band Subterranean Disposition.

Now on their second album, Contagiuum and the Landscapes of Failure displays both a maturation in Vainoras’s songwriting and a stronger sense of adventure elsewhere. Subterranean Disposition’s warm sense of nostalgic sadness has been consistent across its two albums, but four years of composition and concentration have in turn concentrated the (now) band’s emotion and made them more, for lack of a better word, real. Concentrating less on the more traditional The Silent Enigma-era death/doom metal trappings of its predecessor, Contagiuum suddenly has much more room to breathe. Though still rooted in the thick, melodic death/doom metal and psychedelia of Vainoras’s previous works, this new work organically incorporates elements of heavier, more traditional death and black metal (no doubt influenced by new drummer Dan Nahum), as well as the cinematic sounds of world music and a greater sense of ambiance. With this new, wider scope of naturally flowing influence, Contagiuum and the Landscapes of Failure exists on a grander scale and pushes Subterranean Disposition from a more underground scope to something greater and more formidable. This second album could very well launch Subterranean Disposition into the pantheon of great, melancholic Australian doom metal bands, putting Vainoras and Nahum alongside Mournful Congregation, Murkrat, The Slow Death, and Virgin Black. Funny how much can change in ten years.

Contagiuum and the Landscapes of Failure will be released next Monday, June 13, on Hypnotic Dirge Records and Solitude Productions. Scroll down for an exclusive first listen of this monolithic album in its entirety. All our roads lead to perdition.