Review by Norbert on January 7, 2026.

Oh, it was hard to get me to those altars, very hard. It's not that I resisted. I'd made several attempts before, each time I was just around the corner, but at the last minute, I chickened out. I bounced back. I only gave up recently. After some attempts. I gave up completely.

The 2022 album Ascetic Reflection by the Australian band Altars is only the band's second full-length release. Their debut album, Paramnesia, came out a long time ago, in 2013. Two more split albums featuring the band's material were released in the meantime, but the main reason for Altars' lack of release activity was the long and exhausting illness of vocalist and bassist Cale Schmidt, which ultimately forced the band to reshuffle its lineup. Brendan Sloan from Convulsing took over the bass and vocals, and it was then that the band (which also included drummer Alan Cadman (also known from StarGazer) and guitarist Lewise Fischer (also active in Ignivomous) was able to record Ascetic Reflection.

So-called dissonant death metal is a rather hermetic genre, not particularly popular. Gorguts, Portal, Ulcerate, Abyssal, Replicant, Artificial Brain, Howls Of Ebb—you could probably name a few more. Probably some respect in the neighborhood, but moderate, because who is this music for? Neither relaxation nor rhythmic bending, because there are always those dissonances. You can break your neck. Despite this, there are those who try.

On Paramnesia, Altars tried to convince the world to accept their dissonances by attacking directly, forcefully. atomic bomb. On the album Ascetic Reflection, released nine years later, they use slightly different means – the Australian trio still manages to pack a wallop, but also offers a journey into a meditative realm. The compositional structure has become denser – on the one hand, and stretched in time and space – on the other. Between more typical death metal riffs, the band sometimes delivers sustained guitar notes – seemingly beyond the pale. Relying on ritualistic drums and infuriating repetitions, and doling out successive layers of noise, hiss, and dissonance, Altars, however, don't overdo it – they avoid the traps that bands like Altarage or Grave Upheaval sometimes fall into. They don't overdo the length of the compositions, occasionally adding a touch of old-school death metal. The result is an aesthetic that, while suggesting many obvious influences and similarities to other bands, has no true equivalent.

Let yourself be led to these altars. It's worth it.

Rating: 8 out of 10