This was one of the first depressive black metal/post black metal/shoegaze etc bands that I got into. I fell in love with this album as soon as I heard "Floating," the short piano excerpt. At first, I labeled this as one of my favorite albums of the year, and maybe ever created. After a few months I didn't put it on quite the pedestal, but I still see this as an absolutely amazing album.
The guitar tone is extremely thick, and adds lots of texture to the wall that is the rhythm. The guitar chords and progressions chosen are definitely pretty, but often become generic or cheesy. Mesarthim chooses very common progressions that may have been used in every early 2000's radio pop song, especially in the song "Abyss." This doesn't take away from the music, however, because these happier progressions aren't common in black metal, and it makes the album unique. I love the opening riff in "Isolate." It is a great example of how thick and creamy the guitars are. There is another part halfway through "Interstellar," where the guitars are making a nice, full rhythm. I love the few leads throughout the album, such as in "Ostopenia," and especially the solo in "Abyss." They help the listener transcend into an epic journey.
The vocals fit very well. They are typical of atmospheric black metal, but are a step up from the average band. The voice sounds distorted, but it seems like there are many overtones and harmonics in the vocals. I wish that the lyrics came with the CD, but that's okay because it helps me create my own theme or journey behind each song. I love the periodic spoken words in the album, such as at the end of "Abyss."
The keys and synth are the controversial contribution to the album. Many people dislike how poppy they sound, and negatively call this band "synth pop" influenced. I disagree, I think they use the keys melodies in a very inspiring way. In "Declaration," I can see how the melody may be ridiculous for black metal because it is so poppy. But I think it works great, and spices up the sound a bit.
The synth percussion is done well. The percussion is very simple, but Mesarthim uses some really cool beats here and there. And the simplicity never takes away from the album or makes the listener feel like something is missing. It always adds to the "epicness" of the album. When a part gets dynamically bigger, there are double kick sounds. I love the tom fills periodically during the build sections, such as at the beginning of "Isolate." They tend to get cheesy when they do the kick (1+3) snare (2+4) at the quicker tempo areas. It makes the song feel very hokey. One of my favorite percussion efforts is towards the end of Interstellar. During the groove, the drums sometimes switch to a halftime feel. 
This is a great listen front to end, and never gets boring. Sometimes you are very interested in what is going on, and other times 10 minutes go by and you don't realize at all. But I never "want the album to be over soon." It's got great flow, great dynamic changes, and is a nice length. There are only 6 songs, which allows Mesarthim to really work the songs out and add nice qualities. Whenever I listen to this again, I think "Oh yeah, I forgot about this awesome melody!" It hasn't gotten old still, after several months. 
Lastly, the CD is extremely nice. Awesome digipak, and astounding pictures on every side. The album cover looks so cool on the cover of the digipak. My shirt looks amazing. Can't wait to finally show it to the world! The vinyl was slightly warped, but not enough to affect the sound. I got vinyl #81/100. And the extra CD of "Suffocate" it came with because it was the first 100 was a nice addition. Mesarthim have a lot of potential, and hopefully they continue to develop their own personal sound and voice.

Anyone who followed extreme metal in the early 90s would remember that at one stage utilizing keyboards was considered improper and even shameful in some circles. Certain black metal acts proudly proclaimed they have and never would use keyboards, whilst in the death metal scene all but the bravest added synthesizers to their albums. This slowly started to change as the 90’s progressed till it became the norm to add sounds and textures that went beyond the usual guitar/drum/bass combo. For me at least, the synthesizer has never really been utilized in black metal to its fullest in all but the rarest occasions. At best it became a vessel to emulate classical orchestral sounds, or at worst a half-hearted expedition into the preset banks of whatever workstation was handy during recording. But things are finally changing...
Which brings me to Australia's Mesarthim and their debut album ‘Isolate’. What struck me most when listening to this album was just how good a job the band did melding modern atmospheric black metal with layers of beautiful synths, all manipulated and shaped in a way that only someone who knows synthesizer programming can. The use of a drum machine is obvious, but not to the point of detracting from the music. In fact, I would say they chose the perfect kit to complement the rest of the music. The patterns themselves are simple, but this isn't the sort of music that benefits from overly technical drumming anyway. Vocals are typical black metal fare, but don’t overpower the instruments and are used sparingly in passages where the music is powerful enough to be able to do all the talking.
The band describe themselves as ‘cosmic atmospheric black metal’ and the cosmic theme follows on from the album art and song titles right through to the music. Certain passages are downright uplifting with soaring electronic choirs complementing the tight tremolo riffs. One of the only issues I have with ‘Isolate’ is that certain passages are so uplifting that they verge on being cheesy. That cheesiness is akin to some of Summoning's work, so although it's not too overt, it did have me raising my eyebrows a few times. The production isn't perfect, but adds to the authenticity of the music and if it was any cleaner it would take away from the ethereal cosmic atmospheres that permeate this album. So far one of the highlights of 2016 for me, and I look forward from hearing more from there guys.

(Taken from the blog Those That Wander - (http://thosethatwandermusic.blogspot.com.au/)

Mesarthim are a two-piece band based in Australia and "Isolate" is their first album: that's about the sum total that I know about this act. Whether the title "Isolate" means either the verb or the noun probably doesn't really matter as the album's concept refers to isolation on different levels: the isolation of humanity on a lone planet in a vast, possibly indifferent and even hostile universe, and the isolation of the individual from the rest of humanity in the various senses of the term (emotional, physical, existential). Musically the band straddles depressive BM, progressive space rock, post-metal, soundtrack music and melodic synth-pop though I suspect that combination isn't really the duo's intention.
"Osteopenia", the longest track at nearly 12 minutes, sets the template and the pace for the rest of the album to follow: doomy black metal filled with pain and hostility dominates, with some of the most hate-filled vocals you're likely to hear, accompanied by synth-generated space effects and melody. The drumming is unremarkable, nothing out of the ordinary for synthetic percussion, and as for the guitar riffs ... well, they're there but they didn't exactly stand out as original or memorable in any way. 
As one track passes into the next, the duo rely more and more on dinky keyboard melodies and a greater use of lead guitar to fill out the music. While the black metal elements are certainly very gritty and raw, and definitely provide the bulk of the meat and flavour here, the keyboard music increasingly resembles kitschy 1980s space pop or even 1970s Eurodisco in parts. For an album that I assume is made up of six separate songs, each track on it isn't all that distinct from the others. Everything sounds so generic and there's nothing here I can pin my finger on and say "now that's Mesarthim and Mesarthim only".
Although "Isolate" isn't a long work, I found it tiring, even boring at times, as the music lacks originality and distinctive riffs and melodies. Each track fusses about with a limited range of tunes and sounds that sometimes come perilously close to kitsch space pop. There's very little atmosphere and the music lacks a true sense of expansiveness and wonder. The only thing that saves the music from going down as space kitsch camp is the early raw BM on "Osteopenia" - now if Mesarthim had gone with just the essential guitars-n-drums set-up and left off the keyboards, they'd have been a fairly decent BM band. 
Sorry Mesarthim, I can't recommend "Isolate" as a depressive BM / deep space soundtrack fusion album at all.

Mesarthim are a mysterious duo coming from Australia that have reinterpret the genre. They display a cosmic-themed black metal with a lot of different influences. Not only can you find elements of depressive and atmospheric black metal in their work, but also elements of blackgaze and electronic-trance. Is that kind of mix between two completely opposed styles what really makes them so special and fresh.
On “Pillars”; their second studio album after “Isolate”; they reach another level in their music, where the electronic devices take much more importance than in the previous mentioned recording. At first, this can appear to be a little bit overwhelming, but the reality is far from being that, as the music is very well balanced, with high doses of guitar riffs and solos, harsh and emotional vocals and notorious bass and drumming, all of them perfectly surrounded by a clever use of synths and keyboards that recreate a gloomy space journey.
35 minutes of pure cosmic glorification, with four songs that differ a lot in terms of style and musicality but; despite of that; the duo still achieve to connect them in a way that the album turns out to be a whole. The element that stands out the most in here is the ambience; such four songs are dominated by the instruments, leaving the vocals to a second role. They also introduce some tempo changes that avoid the recording from falling into monotony. 
From the epic yet melancholic “11” and the homonymous “Pillars”, to the utterly emotive trance-like “Orbiting”, this album succeeds in taking the listener to another dimension, piercing the barriers of transcendence.  I can understand people not liking Mesarthim, but what nobody can deny is that they’ve got an actual transgressive style, so I can’t do nothing but flatter them for being a blow of fresh air in a very conservative subgenre.

It's bad when a black metal album starts with fluffy keys and it stays that way. It's bad that the electronic parts drown the guitars and even the vocals. It's bad when, even if you pay close attention to the riffs, you know you heard them countless times before, and they’re bland, generic, and distorted noises, with not a single highlighting moment. Hell, this is barely a fucking metal album! Yeap! You could throw away the guitars and vocals away and you could easily have a trance/ambient album, as generic, superficial and fluffy the genre can be. And don't forget the cheese factor! It has no real depth, no real substance, not a single moment where you can think of space, of your futile, and insignificant existence in this cold, unforgiving, and grand universe; nothing of sorts... The pattern is like this: ambient stuff, than trance stuff, then ambient again. Maybe throw in some subtle choir effects, some high pitched cheap effects, or some lame ass piano part, from like every commercial pop song written for almost teen girls and there you have it - the perfect product for money making! But things are done so terrible on the metal side, so if you like both metal and trance/ambient/whatever... than you might enjoy the distorted chords playing whatever shit they pretend to play. Because it doesn't matter - it's all one song for almost 40 minutes, with poor transitions and unfitted mood changes. Is this supposed to be played specifically for clubs? I thought black metal should be more than that. I mean IS more than that! It should have some coherence in the least, or a balanced incorporation of different influences, for a transparent, yet very personal purpose, be it misanthropy, anti-religion, philosophy, emotions, or in this case, themes of space and stars. There is no consistent or even continuous connection between the "instrumental" parts and the intended theme. Then, there are the vocals... That guy has talent and he needs to go out there and audition for a band who knows how to use them. A metal band! And leave the bedroom trancey/poppy stuff for those who want that. He is good, has a bit of uniqueness in his register, but it's terrible how the combination of loud, dance-type, and superficial electronics and angry, personal shrieks came to be. It makes everything so atrocious. Mesarthim, do you know what you want from your music? This is just kitsch! In the end, this is a disappointment. Incorporating electronic music in metal it's not new at all, but these guys apparently tried the other way around. I cannot believe it could be otherwise, because the metal parts seem so alien and poorly integrated into everything else; it's so bad to hear the wasted talent of the vocalist or the fact that this could have been much better without metal in it! And by much better, I mean natural, as natural as the trance genre can really be. As for myself, I prefer Osho instead of this garbage for trance effects. Ha!

The new EP from Australian atmospheric black metallers Mesarthim features the band exploring and utilizing their brand of celestial-influenced black metal at it’s brightest, if not the best. As to be expected, the music here is straightforward and simplistic black metal with the expected swirling tremolo patterns and hard-hitting blasting drum-work that makes for a truly enjoyable base setup for the inclusion of cosmic, celestial-inspired influences to come through in the guitar rhythms and intense keyboard work. That also drops off nicely into a sort of disco-inspired trance arrangements that further cements the strong astral connection alongside the riffing patterns that make for a more complete experience. That trance element, though, seems to be the one lone flaw here as it really holds up the effort here since it introduces such a choppy and stilted rhythm into the rest of the arrangements and creates a startlingly lower black metal aesthetic surrounding the music and lowers this one significantly due to that. Since the tracks are so long anyway it creates a series of extended rough patches which don’t tell that much black metal significance to the music, and it’s something to get over with this one. As a whole the music here isn’t bad and has some solid moments. The opening title track slowly works from a simplistic swirling tremolo riff with plenty of celestial atmospheric keys as the sluggish rhythms and lethargic patterns continue on through the deep droning arrangements with the occasional burst of extended celestial melodies in the riff-work and keyboards that wind on through the finale for a solid and highly enjoyable opener.‘Orbiting’ features stylish mid-tempo trance-styled keyboard rhythms with static start/stop stuttering riff-work against the churning patterns and straightforward, simplistic pace continuing throughout as the trance elements spark the mid-tempo charge into the final half for a mostly bland and uneventful effort without a whole lot of real black metal elements throughout. ‘11’ uses a series of churning trance-styled keyboard melodies over plodding celestial rhythms and pounding drumming that continues alongside the squealing keyboards in simple, plodding patterns and a rather pronounced drop-off of celestial riffing in favor of trance-like keyboard bursts continue on throughout the finale for a somewhat decent if not entirely engaging effort. Lastly, the instrumental ‘Constellation’ uses a stylish synthesized celestial pattern throughout the light spacey tremolo riff-work and simplistic pacing that captures the feeling of cosmic tranquility for an effective and enjoyable lasting impression. Though it does concern itself somewhat too heavily with outside black metal influences, the effect and execution of the material here is fun and wholly dynamic enough to overcome those issues and really make for a truly captivating listen for faof the style in particular for the other influences won’t win over die-hards of other styles.

Stargazing Aussie metallers return to the darkspace BM fray with "Pillars" which continues the journey they began with "Isolate". As on their debut, Mesarthim combine raw and solid lo-fi atmospheric BM with dinky synthesiser tones and melodies into a soundtrack of bleak deep-space contemplation on human existence and its place in an infinite universe. The band strives to create a vast soundscape work that matches the expanse of its lofty ambitions and hopes. The black metal aspect of Mesarthim's music lives up to what's demanded of it: the guitars and percussion can be really massive and the vocals are gravelly and scourging. Sometimes the riffing and melodies can be very heartfelt and emotional, and bring out the passion and hopes the Mesarthim men pour into their creation. There seems to be a mix of machine and live percussion which suits the purpose of the music as it goes: sometimes when it's coasting along, all you need is machine drumming to push it onwards and at other times the drumming can be thunderous tension relief when the situation calls for it. 
On the other hand, much of the keyboard work still sounds like very cheap, tinny and trashy 1980s-era pocket calculator stuff compared to the power and thunder of Mesarthim's BM. It should be possible in this day and age for Mesarthim to replace the synthesised space disco with laptop or tape-generated clicks, noise and melody even if the results might end up a bit hit-n-miss. Indeed if the music had been more hit-n-miss improvisational, it would be a lot more interesting as so much of what's on "Pillars" doesn't break new ground for the deep-space BM genre generally. As it is, "Pillars" treads a very fine line between space kitsch and more credible melodic power BM that in my opinion really is not necessary. There's a lot of emphasis on beat-driven music rather than on creating and layering atmospheres and moods.
The entire recording is a continuous and single-minded journey through space with not very many pauses for all-ambient floaty soundscape immersion in which a traveller can just enjoy the views from starboard side in awed silence. The pace is relentless as though there's just so much to see and do on this particular trip that you and your fellow astronaut passengers end up feeling you're all on an interstellar coach trip complete with obligatory side-stops in souvenir shops to buy fluffy toy aliens for the kids back home. The music does not vary a great deal from one track to the next and track 3, "11", is a lengthy number that comes perilously close to space cartoon trailer music the longer it continues. The black metal spaceship engines work fine on "Pillars" but the rest of the edifice just doesn't match their power. There's potential here for Mesarthim to present a very massive and epic deep-space BM sound-art recording but as long as they still rely too much on trite synth melodies and machine beats, that potential will end up stifled.

Since astronomers began looking at the cosmos through telescopes of increasing power, the breathtaking phenomena they beheld have captured mankind’s imagination. Supernovas, nebulas and black holes represent cataclysmic events of unimaginable destructive power, yet watching them from a distance reveals their sublime beauty. The resulting dichotomy between majesty and obliteration observed in outer space has become a fixation of Australia’s Mesarthim.
Named after the solar system at the bottom of the constellation Aries, Mesarthim’s brand of “cosmic atmospheric black metal” has earned them a place in the ranks of independent record label Avantgarde Music, along with a unique standing within the context of underground music as a whole. Considering this project only existed for a year, the attention it garnered speaks volumes about their stylistic and aesthetic choices. Having established their talent so quickly, the question surrounding Mesarthim’s second full-length album became whether it could top their debut. While .- -... ... . -. -.-. . — Morse code for Absence — does not necessarily break new ground, its latent physical release further proves the vitality of the style introduced in “Isolate.”
Like its title, the songs on Absence translate to numbers one through six in Morse code, leaving the music to speak for itself. Mesarthim does not emphasize their own persona. Nor has the band provided lyrics, letting rapturous compositions tell epic celestial fables.
Evoking the the ionosphere in all of its terrifying glory, the two nameless members weave space odysseys with futuristic synthesizers and drearily spiteful black metal to a surprisingly natural tapestry of frigid nothingness and vivid color. Guitars often take a backseat as synthesizers take over modulative and melodic control of each song, while solid drums and wretched vocals hold everything together within a more familiar template. Synthesizers have made regular appearances in hard rock and metal music since their inception, but Mesarthim’s fearless use of the most nerdy elements of the instrument ends up sending their songs into an endless vacuum.
A paradoxical feeling persists throughout Absence. The most forbidding attributes of the final frontier certainly find prevalence in it; a sense of adventure and exploration almost always coincides with it. Moments of noticeable sway in one way or the other do make more obvious appearances, as observed in the full-on synth ambient interlude of “....-” and the low-end buzzsaw groove in the following track, but Mesarthim’s strength comes from how they integrate the elements of their sound into a passionate, sprawling journey of grand proportions. No matter how extreme the metal gets, well-constructed synth melodies with impeccable production keep the album rooted in victorious exploration in the face of the most harrowing shrieks and soul cleaving distortion.
Like a beam of light cascading through walls of dark matter, Mesarthim voyages into the greatest of unknowns. They acknowledge its terrifying vastness with throat shredding rasps and frigid tremolo picking lines while affirming its glorious wonder through shimmering synth pads and driving rhythm. Absence encapsulates the fear and awe humanity feels towards the outer reaches of the universe, securing the Australian duo’s place within underground music and the ongoing exploration of space.

Right from their debut album “Isolate”, Mesarthim turned out to be one of the most innovative yet surprising bands in the subgenre. With a very breaking and personal style, they display a great variety of styles and elements, while the main theme is the Space and the Cosmos.

Right from the beginning, you can figure that these guys are total freaks (in a good way) just from seeing the album title “.- -... ... . -. -.-. .”. Yes, it is Morse code which stands for “Absence”. Not only is the title in this code, but also the tracks, corresponding to their own number from 1 to 6. 

Nomenclature and translations aside, this album supposes a dynamic change regarding their previous works. In here, the elements that really made them stand out from the other bands (keyboards, synths and trance-like effects) are nearly gone or; better said; they are put on the back burner. To sum up, what we have here is a more traditional atmospheric cosmic black metal with a lot of depressive influences.

They focus a lot in the melodies, and this is easily the strongest point of this album. Every instrument takes an important part within the music; the guitars are the main guest, being very emotional and powerful with a great variety of riffs and solos and a lot of tempo changes, they are the perfect channelers of Mesarthim’s essence and the most important instrument in this album unlike in “Isolate” and “Pillars”; where the electronic elements acquired the leading role. The vocals are desperate and skillful; with wide registers from the harsh screams to growls. The drumming and bass are quite solid and are the perfect companions of the guitars. Last but not least, there is the use of the keyboards and synths; as said before, they have decided to focus more in being traditional, but they still use them (is a moderate way) in order to contribute to the listener’s mood, immersing him into a nostalgic yet beautiful journey. The production is not the cleanest, but fits perfectly with this type of music.

There are six tracks, as I said, also in Morse code. Each track is a display of emotions that really hits your subconscious in a way that you can no longer forget about this album for a long time. Every piece travels fluently towards each other, making “Absence” a whole and overwhelming the listener (also in a good way) with epic melodies and atmospheric vastness. If I had to highlight some of them, I would say, “..---“; which I think is the most depressive yet sentimental of them all, with broken screams and a very powerful breakdown in the middle and “...--“; being the most happy and optimistic; with a clever outro with use of keyboard emulating an organ.

“.- -... ... . -. -.-. .” supposes a twist in Mesarthim’s trajectory, with a more “conservative” style, but also with a lot of energy and bright ideas. As the title of my review says (also in Morse for putting it more into context), this is an awesome album.

Adding to their impressive catalog, Australian atmospheric black metallers Mesarthim have gained immeasurably during the year as there’s plenty of advanced work to be found on their releases as they continue to explore the celestial bounds of the cosmos. Being the duo’s third overall release of work in the calendar year, their second full-length overall was originally self-released August 28, 2016 before a reissue October 25, 2016 on Avantgarde Music. The main element that’s featured here is the fact that, this one manages to continue on the bands’ tradition of incorporating plenty of strong cosmic stylings into their attack. Once again built around the swirling tremolo riffing that’s synonymous with this particular style, replete with simplistic patterns and overly bombastic drumming that pounds away plenty of power for the style which really strongly keeps this one rooted in the atmospheric black metal realm. When this one introduces the celestial vibes here in the stark, sprawling rhythms and sonically-induced keyboards, there’s plenty of fine work to be had here with this one really generating the kind of atmospheric arrangements that perfectly accompany deep space such as this one attempts which is quite nicely integrated throughout the whole album and never really lets up. That does come back to bite this one slightly, though, in that the album does come off as so one-dimensional with it’s simplistic riff-work and celestial rhythms that it’s almost too predictable and doesn’t really offer the kind of surprises in the overall patterns to readily surprise much throughout this. Still, this is of such insignificance that there’s much more to like overall here with this attack that it does overcome many of the problems usually associated with this style. While it’s not all that impressive in terms of variances or a dynamic attack, there’s much more to like here in terms of the bands’ well-worn celestial influences and their power at generating it that it manages to overcome this factor well enough to be readily appropriate for fans of their previous work or celestial black metal in general.

Mesarthim continue with their journey into deep space BM on their second album whose name is given in Morse code and, depending on which online Morse code translator is used, might mean "Absence". The recording starts off strongly with massive slabs of doomy churning noise-guitar anger and screaming voices that come as much from a place of infinite sadness as from sheer rage. The synthesisers help to bulk up the guitars and percussion to a monumental level and enhance the melancholy mood, though by themselves don't come across as remarkable and even verge on the schmaltzy at times. The album has a thunderous sound and strong confident presence that makes listeners sit up and pay attention to the rousing music and the emotions it evokes.

The whole recording is best heard as one continuous meta-work even though it's broken up into six tracks. Generally the vocals are so harsh and distorted that they can be treated as another layer of instrumental texture. The first half of the album builds up emotional tension through constant repetition until the music almost becomes unbearable about the halfway point. After the third track there is a brief ambient interlude before we're all hurled back into the fray, with more structured, almost pop-oriented synth melodies and chunky arpeggio guitar riffs in the raging storms. 

As it is, the music exudes sheer force and muscle but its production and the use of synthesisers seem to block a lot of that power with an unwanted tinny sheen. If the Mesarthim musicians had relied less on keyboards and more on live instrumentation (which would mean taking on guest musicians), they could have produced music of even more power and intensity. The drumming in particular probably could have been deeper and harder in its sound - on most tracks it sounds softer than it should be. The near-continuous screaming and howling can be irritating and as the album carries on, the repetition and bombastic synth orchestration move the music close to very dangerous territory: that of the flattened one-dimensional kitsch tackiness.

The best moments on the album come right at the very end when the pompous overload has passed and all that is present is cold deep space ambience through which a line of morse code messages is transmitted. If there had been more similar quiet passages on the album, mixed with powerful music, the entire work could have been more complex and intriguing. There would be more contrasts between louder and quieter sections of the music, and the juxtapositions would generate interesting questions and connections in the minds of listeners and involve and absorb them more fully. 

To be honest, I find this album a bit alienating and clumsy, as if it's trying very hard to impress listeners and overdoing the bombast as a result.

Mesarthim had a busy year in 2016, releasing their second full-length album and four EPs, of which the third EP "The Great Filter" is under my beady little eye. The title refers to the Fermi paradox which is the contradiction between the lack of evidence of extraterrestrial civilisations and the high probability that such civilisations should exist the more we know about space. The paradox implies that there is something at fault in our assumptions about how life arose on Earth and should eventually expand to the stars. In this fault must reside the Great Filter, that is preventing us from seeing gaps in the evolution of life from dead matter and where that evolution is presumed to lead.

I find myself wishing that this Great Filter had cast its net over this music and strained out the more bombastic elements and overdone padding in the EP. The recording starts off fine with wispy ambience that whacks listeners straight into a cosmic maelstrom of aggressive BM and screechy demon voices but there's a lot of lumpen synth-generated orchestral wadding attached to the music for that epic cosmic space edge. I have to be frank, all this keyboard faux-majesty sounds stale and leaves me cold and unmoved. The music moves too quickly as well when perhaps there should be moments of stillness where listeners are allowed to savour and digest the atmosphere or the message at leisure, for the full meaning or the weightiness to hit them full between the eyes and into the space behind. 

The music appears to enter another dimension about the 16th minute and sails on towards its destiny, leaving behind yawning empty space ambience and strings of ectoplasm. Even here though the Mesarthim musicians can't resist turning the void into something generic with ocean waves, a quivering organ drone in the background and space effects to suggest regret or loss.

The pity is Mesarthim worked hard and earnestly on what's clearly intended to be an epic work of cosmic BM art but it ends up sounding cheap and nasty from relying too heavily on synthesisers to bulk up the music.

Straight after Mesarthim released their third EP "The Great Filter" for 2016, they had another short recording "Type III" all ready to go. Like "The Great Filter", this is a long composition, mostly instrumental and equally epic in scope and bombastic in style. There are differences though, "Type III" being less dominated by synthesisers imitating an orchestra (though they are still there, just not so obtrusive) and laying more emphasis on a rugged melodic prog-rock guitar flavour in the band's black metal style. The music seems more focused and less forced, as if the musicians have finally got the better of their machines and their rhythms and are now playing at a pace that suits the music's flow and the narrative of a journey through the cosmos that goes with it.

Although the bombast becomes a bit one-dimensional and tiresome - it's always ever upwards and going out further onto the edge of a precipice (the precipice itself having to extend forwards to accommodate the music) - at least listeners can connect to the thrill of going for a ride with plenty of thrills, surprises, tensions and no little terror because no-one knows exactly what's at the end of it. Ambient effects bring in a little cold space remoteness, background synth violin are a little on the hysterical side and the pounding drums and chunky guitar riffs are hypnotic in their relentless and repetitive nature. After the 10th minute, dramatic flourishes in the synth playing herald a change in the music's mood as it becomes apparent that the Mesarthim spaceship has already crossed distances spanning hundreds of light-years and still has a long way to go, wherever the destination may be. The climax when it comes is a huge shock leaving behind a ridiculously tiny Morse code message.

The one thing that stops the whole baroque edifice from falling into a black hole in its own backside is the band's black metal shadow of grinding steel guitars and the spitting rasping vocal, distorted far beyond its human origin yet still able to summon up intense anger and demonic tempest. In all the lumbering grandeur the music's best moments are those where BM guitar churn crash through the orchestral guff or cold pure-toned space tones squiggle out of worm holes to catch the listener's dazed attention. 

While I still don't like the band's dependence on synthesiser orchestras and wish Mesarthim could use live instrumentation instead - even if that means relying on a small ensemble of violinists instead of a huge artificial orchestra - at least there's finally some drama and energy in this grandiose creation. The music's dynamics still leave a lot to be desired: the shock between the spaceship passing over the event horizon and the silence that suddenly falls behind needs to be bigger than it is, and that is something the band needs to work on for that shock to hit listeners hard between the ears. There's still a mechanical quality in the way the music proceeds and maybe all that's needed to overcome that is to vary the speed so that parts of the recording go slowly and other parts are faster.

At least Mesarthim ended 2016 on a grand note with "Type III", with that recording another step forward in the band's journey to continually explore new reaches of space.

It is more than clear that Mesarthim are definitely a one of a kind band. They have proven to be developing themselves in every recording they come out with; not falling into monotony with repeating again and again the same elements. 

“The Great Filter / Type III” is a compilation of the two homonymous one-track EPs that were released towards the end of the year. With those mentioned EPs, there were 4 albums which were released by this band in 2016 (quite impressive to be honest, even so considering that they don’t seem to drop the level whatsoever). 

The first song, called “The Great Filter” supposes a change in the style and technique from their previous works. Here we have a 21 minute of pure epicness and complexity. It starts with a mysterious Morse code to then flow into a very powerful and infrequently heavy riff. That riff will be the cornerstone of the song, as is repeated in several sections of it, interacting with the harsh yet dissonant vocals along with the other instruments. Having such a big length, it is quite obvious that this song is far from being just a riff, as it has a lot of depth, with a handful of tempo changes with marked ambient parts in which they display a lot of ominous darkwave synths resembling the sound of bells and melodies, together with those trademark trance elements. 

“Type III” was released ten days after “The Great Filter” and right from the beginning you know that this is also going to be something different. It starts with a 4 minutes long intro with the melancholic melody of a piano to then lead to another powerful and heavy-sounding riff that prevails during a good part of the 18 minutes. This is the only aspect in which both songs approach to each other; as here we find a more structured piece, with less tempo variations and fewer elements. The vocals take much more importance, accompanying all the instruments during a fair period of time. It also has a long ambient part; with a clever use of dark keyboards and synths; but it is used more as an interlude because, after that, the song returns to its general stance, with the main strong riff and the desperate-sounding vocals. Special mention to the outro, in which; again; the mysterious Morse code appears, as if the band was trying to give a message to the listener (I’ll have to try and decipher those codes at some point). 

This compilation is yet another solid work by the cosmic Aussies, a revolutionary band within the subgenre that seems to be evolving each and every release they make.

With "Presence", Australian BM act Mesarthim are moving farther into a more psychedelic / trance realm with techno and even more dance-oriented ambient elements. True, the harsh atmospheric black metal elements are still strong (especially on tracks 2 and 3) but overall these and the other genre influences are now engaged in a lively duel / duet where sometimes the familiar BM genre has the upper hand and at other times the synthesisers dominate with clappy disco beats and happy female vocals. When the BM and the fusion of other styles play together, the result is very bright and boppy music which is probably a bit too fast to be very atmospheric and to include some darkness. At times the music veers dangerously close to cartoon kitsch synth-disco and only the harsh vocals and guitars pull it back from falling down a wormhole that leads into a flat one-dimensional New Age-sounding disco hell. 

"Eschaton Part I" sounds the least BM of the three tracks on offer and features more ambient psych-trance music and moods along with techno beats which might not go down well with listeners. Too much of the music sounds mechanical and the range of sounds and textures isn't out of the ordinary for these non-BM genres. If both black metal and this psych-trance-techno fusion had been constant throughout, with the sounds and styles of both extended to their utmost in duetting / duelling with each other, that would have been something truly worth hearing. As it is, "Eschaton Part I" comes across as a track in search of proper direction, and is as flat as can be in expression - when all is said and done, even the subterranean bass groans at the end of the track don't quite know where they are and are groping around in the dark. At least "Eschaton Part II" has more definite backbone thanks to a bigger BM input, complete with harsh scourging vocals and a strong percussion that gives structure to the guitars and keyboards churning or swirling overhead. The music is very uplifting in mood but again it has a mechanical quality. 

The title track has trippy New Age ambient elements that contrast well with the harsher BM guitars and vocals. The music can be bombastic and parts where the BM drops out can be very twee and cartoonish. I guess there is something to be said for the constant pace: at least the music doesn't dwell too long on those moments dominated by trite and tiresome cutesy effects. The repetition of the riffs and melodies can't compensate for the silly robot bird calls and the track fades off into a kitsch zone of flat and unremarkable synth noodling and guitar white-noise flood.

While I respect Mesarthim's right to experiment with their music in the way they want - and black metal could certainly benefit a lot from more fusions with other styles of music like techno and other beat-oriented genres - I really do think relying on synthesiser-generated sounds and rhythms isn't the right way for the band to pursue their goals. Too many other bands use synths and pre-recorded elements and music and end up creating work that may have good ideas but which comes undone because it lacks freshness and originality. The music ends up sounding insincere and flat, and lacks emotion and feeling. Mesarthim need to stay away from that crowd and try to generate a cosmic BM fusion style that includes wonder at the vastness of the universe and a sense of adventure and even a bit of fear at taking the first step into the dark yonder.

I am quite fond of Mesarthim and even though his style of using synths is sometimes borderline cringey, his " .- -... ... . -. -.-. ." album is among my favourites in ambient black metal genre. So, I was pretty excited to check his new creation out. 

Album starts with a track titled Ω, which is quite uncharacteristic of the whole record and got me worried a bit. It has very little to do with metal, even the tamest edge of ambient black metal. This one is some kind of new-age space-rock with some parts sounding like a techno dance song. Quite cheezy documentary background music, if you know what I mean. Somewhere in the middle Mesarthim recalls he's supposed to be metal and includes an AAARRHHHHH+hairdryer guitar sound just to remind us what it's all about. 

What follows though is closer to the earlier Mesarthim output - nice ambient BM backgrounds (somewhat Lustre-like), with cheezy electro beats & synths here and there. On the one hand, I respect the consistency... However, I also would hate to see yet another band to stall and output recycled ideas after first couple of good records. Mesarthim is not there yet, but the feeling I get after listening to this one is extremely familiar. The music is still good, but it's something I've heard before and better, and I'd rather just skip it and listen to his earlier stuff. Electro dance components here are also a bit too much for me. I've already mentioned the first track... Similarly, "Recombination" is pretty much a synthpop song with muffled guitar noise on the background and typical ambient BM vocals. It wouldn't sound out of place on a dance floor. 

There is still some good music present on this album. "Transparency" or "Fragmenting" wouldn't feel out of place on one of Mesarthim's earlier records, and do a good job of providing pleasant easy listen without becoming too cheezy (although the latter one has probably overstepped this boundary with some ridiculously unnecessary techno dance beats inclusion in the middle).

Overall, it's still typical Mesarthim, with slightly more dancey electro components. The problem is, his music has always been balancing on the edge between epicness and pretentiousness, and this little shift was enough for me to feel like he did lose this balance.