Remete "Into Endless Night" CD first press Cold Ways

Remete’s debut full length "Into Endless Night" that was previously released on CD through D.’s own label Cold Ways Music in an edition of 500 copies in jewel case.
On this album Remete’s music developed from the old school Melancholic Black Metal á la Burzum, Forgotten Woods or Strid of the earlier releases into a more Atmospheric Black Metal terrain that could be described as a mix of Woods of Desolation and Saor.

This is the debut full-length from Remete, the new Atmospheric Black Metal solo-project of D. (Woods of Desolation).
D. (Woods of Desolation) returns with the debut REMETE full-length, "Into Endless Night", containing approx. 40 minutes of Atmospheric, Melancholic Black Metal.

Cover art by Lucas Ruggieri. Additional paintings by Hungarian artist László Mednyánszky

After putting out a tape and an EP, Wollongong-based atmospheric BM act Remete released its first album "Into Endless Night" this year (2019). Remete is a recent solo project of D., who runs other solo BM projects and heads the Cold Ways label on which "Into Endless Night" was released and which also serves as a distribution label for other BM labels' releases. D sounds like a very busy fellow indeed! Yet from listening to this debut full-length offering alone, I wouldn't have known that D. has a full plate: this is a polished and assured recording with a good quality sound that has a raw edge, a mournful atmosphere and intense emotion ranging from hostility and aggression to resignation and desolation.
Opening track "Coiled Within" has one of the darkest, bleakest instrumental introductions of almost weeping guitar a record could possibly have - a true descent into inner blackness - before it erupts into a sheer wall of raw blasting BM tremolo guitar and a deep ghostly guttural voice straight from the bowels of the earth itself. The song is pure rage against a dying world - there may be hope deep in its repeating melodies that however black and endless the night becomes, spiritual transformation and enlightenment may come out of it. "Ephemerality" is a more solid and robust track, very dense and layered with raw grinding guitar noise slabs, shrill tinny percussion and more of those phantom growling swamp-monster vocals. In atmosphere the song has a strong post-BM slant: despite the darkness around it, the song radiates bright hope, a feeling of optimism. The solid style of music continues into the third track "Stillness" which is anything but still (as in quiet). The title track is the most varied of the four in its music, moods, atmosphere and vocal delivery, with D's guttural voice sounding thick and even strained, fighting to be heard above the constant steaming noise grind and the trilling guitar drone in the background. There is at once bleakness and encroaching cold, and also hope that the finality of darkness can be held at bay just a bit longer. As the track progresses, it achieves a majesty through sheer intense repetition, the dense quality of the music and an atmosphere that renders the high-pitched guitar melodies shrill and reverberating throughout the cosmos.
For an album that's actually not very long, this feels very full and even exhausting at times. Every moment on the album is just about bursting with meaning and emotion. While the melodies may not be all that pop-friendly, they are filled with longing and melancholy. The production could be slightly clearer so the full dynamics of the music can be heard clearly - there are definitely some beautiful resonant sounds and melodies in all the songs. Remete may not have added much new to raw atmospheric depressive BM here but the music has potential to move into its own niche of depressive fusion BM / post-BM / blackgaze.

Sample: