Band:	Awakeness
Album:	Low Spirits
Style:	Black metal, Deathcore
Release date:	February 28, 2025
A review by:	musclassia

01. Low Spirits
02. Counterfeit
03. Haunting Visions
04. Cathedral Of Sorrow
05. Everything's Gone...
06. ...As I Die
07. The Path
08. From The Depths Of Hell
09. Deceived In Faith

Two popular derivations of deathcore in recent years have been the infusion of black metal and djent. Poland’s Awakeness and their debut album Low Spirits are remarkable not because they pursue one of these fusions, but because they dabble with both of them.

The band put out their first EP Spherical Prison not long after forming in 2019, and followed it up three years later with another EP, Meadows. A further three years on, and the quartet are ready to take the next step to full album status, albeit with a record that’s not much longer than an EP at 33 minutes. My attention was first drawn towards Low Spirits when I heard “...As I Die”, a track that explored blackened deathcore as a concept in a manner that felt fairly distinct to most bands burdened with that label, but delving into the album as whole revealed further surprises and treasures.

The record prioritizes different sounds and fusions as it progresses, and the early songs on Low Spirits exhibit a thall-influenced form of deathcore; the creepy clean tones of the introductory title track craft an ominous atmosphere that is carried over into the beginning of “Counterfeit”, but it’s not long before punchy downtuned grooves and pinch squeals are unleashed. The vocal style initially employed in the song is a fairly classic metalcore raspy screamed approach, but both the deathcore and blackened aspects of the band are subsequently betrayed by more sickeningly gargled utterances. “Counterfeit” is arguably not even deathcore, with a firm emphasis on those syncopated low-end grooves, but “Haunting Visions” pivots in a more extreme and breakdown-heavy direction, and features a switch from barks to fiercer growls and shrieks.

“Cathedral Of Sorrow” initially maintains the vibe established across these two songs with a dirgelike opening and subsequent djent groove, but just as you think Awakeness have set out their stall, the song unleashes blackened melancholia in its anguished chorus, with sorrowful arpeggiated textures and flurries of blast beats. This song, and arguably more so the following acoustic interlude “Everything’s Gone...” mark the turning point at which Awakeness start to shift more towards black metal. It’s neither a sudden nor a complete change, as “Cathedral Of Sorrow” is still overarchingly djent-based, while “From The Depths Of Hell” later on reprises those thall tendencies.

Still, the solemn tone of the opening guitar strums of “...As I Die” does feel like the beginning of a second act, and while I enjoy the first few songs on Low Spirits, it is with this track that I find myself becoming further engaged with it. The strings (from guest violinist Marta Ślimak), acoustic guitars, gloomy clean vocals and other newly emerging sounds add a welcome new dimension alongside the deathcore and djent, and this is a really multifaceted song that almost takes my mind a bit towards the similarly versatile Kardashev. The album’s journey is not finished yet, though; while “...As I Die” is blackened in a somewhat subtle way, the concluding pair of tracks “From The Depths Of Hell” and “Deceived In Faith” unleash bursts of black metal tremolos and blasts, trading off with deathcore riffs and djenty breakdowns.

The latter of these songs, album closer “Deceived In Faith”, is the longest song on the record, and also arguably the piece de resistance; at times, it definitely evokes shades of Lorna Shore and their ilk, but it is very much its own approach to deathcore, ranging from filthy stomps to positively soaring melancholic post-rock tremolo melodies. At their best, the way Awakeness brings these different sounds together into seamless and captivating songs is really impressive; there’s still room for further growth and refinement, but this is likely to be one of the deathcore highlights of 2025, and for a debut album that’s a commendable achievement.