There are few better ways to round out your list of 2023 albums than hearing Challenger Deep’s first new full-length in many years. For the unfamiliar, this is what you need to know about the band: they’re a band from Belarus that plays icy, metallic post-metal in the vein of Amia Venera Landscape and Cult Of Luna. If that prospect doesn’t excite you, it’ll be difficult to find something else to do the same.
The great thing about this album is its brevity – at least compared to other bands in the genre. While finding albums by other post-metal and post-black metal bands clocking in over an hour is a fairly common occurrence, III. The Path clocks in at just 37 minutes long. Certainly, it makes for a more palatable experience than one might expect from the genre(s) they play in.
Where Challenge Deep succeed most is in creating expansive soundscapes that also find a nice balance between calm and loud. Fitting for their home country of Belarus, with its cold winter backdrop providing a wonderful setting for their music. Make no mistake – this is meticulously crafted music that demands to be paid attention to.
