REVIEW

The debut album from Tokyo-based post-black metal / blackgaze band Pale.

This release marks their first full-length in nearly seven years, following the EP they issued in 2018. While guitarist Hirofusa Watanabe remains from the earlier lineup, the band has otherwise reformed for this album, which was recorded by a four-piece configuration: NiiK (vocals, noise), Hirofusa Watanabe (guitar), Takahiro Watanabe (bass), and Kou Nakagawa (drums).

Pale distinguish themselves by pursuing a far darker trajectory than the ethereal romanticism often associated with Alcest or the radiant uplift of Deafheaven. Their sound amplifies black metal’s inherent madness through hardcore-like propulsion, detonating desolate melodies with relentless force. The result evokes the image of a steam locomotive tearing across a snow-covered wasteland in the dead of night—unyielding, mechanical, and merciless.

The album’s most defining element, however, is the noise manipulation wielded by vocalist NiiK. Its impact is felt immediately on #1 “Euphoria,” where the sound design hits with the intensity of electrodes driven straight into the brain, leaving the listener scorched by raw current. The experience recalls the disorienting psychological pressure of Pi, as if momentarily inhabiting the film’s protagonist. Against this barrage, NiiK alternates between deranged screams and filth-laden death vocals, projecting a presence that suggests a human embodiment of noise itself. With abrasive guitars and blisteringly fast blast beats layered on top, the effect is overwhelming—in the most rewarding sense for devotees of extreme music.

Just as the album threatens to become unrelentingly punishing, #4 “Almost Transparent Blue” introduces a sudden shift. Clear, shimmering guitar lines emerge, accompanied by clean vocals that momentarily soften the atmosphere. Subtle shades of new wave and gothic mood surface here, giving the track an almost Amesoeurs-like resonance. The reprieve is brief, however; the band soon accelerates again, surging forward with a catharsis akin to breaking through storm clouds and racing skyward. The track stands as a notable stylistic expansion for Pale and functions as a crucial pivot point in the album’s pacing.

That momentum is quickly overturned on #5 “Dakhme,” which plunges back into berserker mode, flattening everything in its path like a bulldozer hurtling forward at impossible speed. #6 “Lament” gradually fades out amid sorrow-laden tremolo picking, setting the stage for the closer. On #7 “Shringavera,” the image of a man screaming into a frozen plain slowly dissolves into a whiteout blizzard, bringing the album to an ending rich in lingering resonance.

The carefully contoured dynamics and narrative-like flow across the tracklist underscore Pale’s compositional control. At a time when post-black metal continues to edge toward accessibility, this album feels almost like a counterstatement—an evolution that pushes further into underground extremity rather than smoothing its edges. It serves as a reminder that both post-black metal and blackgaze remain rooted in black metal itself, and that madness and darkness lie at their core.

With a Southeast Asia tour scheduled from April 25 onward, Pale appear poised to confront overseas audiences with the full force of their aesthetic—one that is uncompromising, abrasive, and resolutely visceral.