Tristitia Nigrum’s latest release Collapse adds another depressive entry to a stunning catalog of DSBM. A.B. or Aegrimonia Blakk sets the tone early by listing himself as the party responsible for “verbal miscommunications, technical failures, catastrophic recordings, and complete and total collapse.” I’m already hooked.

In an ever-darkening age ‘Collapse’, the title track, shines truer than ever to our current social state. The vocals here are harsh and muddied almost as a reflection of the bleakness mirrored in the lyrics. Against the crispness of the riff work here, it paints a catastrophic picture of nothing other than unending bleakness and corruption.

Words Long Overdue turns this dismal worldview inwards as is more typical of DSBM prose. Instead of focusing on a particular sense of depression that oneself, its lyrics are on the impact one’s suffering can have on the ones that surround them. The music that accompanies here is more indicative of the turmoil of guilt with brief pauses in the otherwise driving guitars, reminding one of those little moments we sit alone with ourselves if only to contemplate our own failures. Both songs have a sound of profound sadness that sticks with the listener long after the first go-around.

Collapse clocks in at just under 20 minutes and manages to make full use of that time. It is well worth a listen from anyone who considers themselves a fan of DSBM on the whole.

Please go support their latest release on Bandcamp here and my recommendation is to give a listen to their album Clouds and Sins as well. I will be waiting from my depressive haze eagerly for their next work and until then, hails or something.