Fellow black metal fanatics, welcome back to Black Metal Archives! I’m Sean, and today, we’re diving into Vanishing Spires, the latest offering from Belfast’s own Sacred Noose.
Formed in 2022, Sacred Noose operates in the bleak territory between dissonant black metal, death metal, and doom. With Vanishing Spires, released on February 2, 2025, they carve out a harrowing and oppressive soundscape that refuses to let up.
Right from the opening moments of Terminal Prologue, you’re met with a dense wall of guitar work that feels like collapsing structures in slow motion. The riffs are angular, jagged, and drenched in a dissonance that keeps the listener constantly uneasy. Guitarist/vocalist Adam Miles crafts a suffocating atmosphere, balancing eerie, tremolo-driven leads with towering slabs of crushing rhythm work.
Bassist/vocalist Mike Largey provides a grim, cavernous low end that sits heavily beneath the chaotic instrumentation. The bass isn’t just a supporting act—it rumbles with an ominous presence, making its mark especially on slower, doom-laden sections, like in Moribund, where it takes on an almost funeral march quality.
Vocally, Sacred Noose alternates between throat-ripping shrieks and guttural growls, a combination that enhances the feeling of complete despair. The delivery is raw and unfiltered, reminiscent of acts like Ulcerate or Portal but with a distinct European blackened doom influence.
The album’s production deserves mention—it’s not clean, nor is it entirely lo-fi. Instead, it’s the kind of harsh, unpolished sound that perfectly matches the themes of societal decay and existential ruin. Every instrument is clear enough to make an impact but drenched in just enough reverb and distortion to feel cavernous and untamed.
Standout Tracks
- Entranced by Concrete Lathe – This track encapsulates the band’s ability to create crushingly oppressive atmospheres. The mid-tempo sections drag like a slow descent into madness, only to be shattered by blasts of frenetic, high-speed riffing.
- Sacred Noose – The eight-minute monolith of the record, drenched in eerie melodies and suffocating walls of sound. It shifts between hypnotic, droning black metal sections and doom-infused dirges, making it one of the most dynamic offerings on the album.
- True Emancipation – The album closer is a relentless, high-speed assault that leaves no room for reprieve. The tremolo-picked melodies cut through like rusted knives, and the final moments collapse into a haze of feedback and noise—a fitting end to an album about utter societal ruin.
Sacred Noose is not here to offer any respite. Vanishing Spires is an all-encompassing, bleak, and suffocating experience that lingers long after the final note fades. If you’re into bands that explore the more dissonant and harrowing aspects of black and death metal, this is an album worth your time, which you can check out now on their Bandcamp page!
Let me know what you think of Vanishing Spires in the comments, and as always, stay deep in the underground!
