Xasthur "Other Worlds Of The Mind" 2xLP

"Other Worlds of the Mind" was released in 2018 and is firmly set in the acid folk phase of XASTHUR mastermind Scott Conner's works. It has mostly led a life of a hidden gem in the band's catalogue as it transforms the ominous, melancholic, and dreamlike aspects of black metal into an acoustic sound. Yet, despite the difference of expression, "Other Worlds of the Mind" retains the brooding, sinister, and mysterious atmosphere that have marked the earlier works of XASTHUR. The album also conveys the same raw, unfiltered, and painful emotions as before. XASTHUR were originally conceived by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Scott Conner in California, USA in the year 1995. The project started out in the vein of bleak black metal in the tradition of the Nordic second wave. Over the course of nine albums and a host of split-singles, EPs, and occasional demos, XASTHUR's individual, particularly depressive style became highly regarded within the extreme genre. In 2010, Scott announced the end of XASTHUR and returned with an acoustic dark folk project under the banner of NOCTURNAL POISONING. In 2015, the American artist returned to the name XASTHUR, but insisted that his black metal days were over. With "Inevitably Dark", XASTHUR have partly lifted the self-imposed ban on black metal, simply because Conner felt like it and therefore did it.