Helsinki’s Desolate Shrine have been sculpting their infernal vision of death metal for over a decade now. Like a lot of the best Finnish DM bands, they dip their quills into the darkened wells of doom and black metal freely, borrowing elements as needed to make the hellishness they conjure even more vivid. Fires of the Dying World, the band’s upcoming fifth album (and fourth for Dark Descent), is a masterwork of pitch-black atmosphere. So far, we’ve heard the searing “The Dying World,” and today, Decibel is thrilled to be sharing “Cast to Walk the Star of Sorrow.”
It doesn’t take long for “Cast to Walk the Star of Sorrow” to break out of its eerie, synth-accompanied intro and into a full-speed-ahead blitzkrieg. This is the sound of Desolate Shrine at their most direct—and most vicious. Yet even on a relatively straightforward ripper like this one, the band drapes their sonic assault in shadowy atmospherics. Read a statement from the band on “Cast to Walk the Star of Sorrow,” and listen to it below.
“‘Cast to Walk the Star of Sorrow’ encapsulates the more chaotic and fiery side of the band. A relentless attack that has still a surprise element to it. A perfect song to kick off Side B in vinyl terms.
The lyrics are inspired by a portrayal of life by late Finnish writer and mystic P. Ervast in one of his works. Life – a continuously deteriorating experience where in the end, immortality reaches through it and bleeds beyond death as well.”
Pre-order Fires of the Dying World, out March 25, via Dark Descent here.
