ULTHA - A Light So Dim

Ultha, from Cologne, have long been regarded as among the finest interpreters of that strain of black metal philosophy tied to the most nihilistic thought (a motto like you exist for nothing hardly needs further explanation). This existentialist approach has been translated into music with excellent results, especially on the recent "The Inextricable Wandering" (2018) and "All That Has Never Been True" (2022), the latter now to be considered one of the high points within the extreme metal movement, at least over the course of this decade.

The new "A Light So Dim" offers a glimmer of hope. The question posed at the outset is this: where do you go when you've lost everything? Do you accept defeat and die, or do you get back up and start fighting? There is, then, a sliver of light in the darkest moments, a sort of call to arms for the inner self, so that the individual can find a reason to survive in a world that's completely adrift.

The journey remains dark, painful and claustrophobic as ever, especially when the band takes the most tortuous paths: such is the case with "Her Still Singing Limbs", nearly eleven minutes of bitterness translated into music, amid bleak arrangements bordering on post-punk and a truly desperate screaming ("Time swallows children whole and tomorrow is not our friend, does the darkness have a tongue and face to kiss the bitter end?"). The use of keyboards also manages to lend a spectral touch to the whole, as the track drags itself through a tunnel that grows ever narrower and murkier. The following "What's Yours Is Yours To Carry" instead reveals a genuinely striking gothic-tribal side, thanks to the female vocals of Pardis Latifi of fellow Cologne act Daevar: once again, the German quintet successfully broadens its sonic horizons, in this case flirting with both post-metal and the more experimental fringes of doom.

The work's excessive length (seventy-four minutes) shouldn't be a deterrent, not least because each track here differs considerably from the others in the running order: worth noting in this respect is the superb "Sister Faith & Sister Chance" (a passage that could win over both a Tiamat fan and a The Ruins Of Beverast fan), as well as the closing "The Quiet Current" (practically a modern gothic-metal composition) and "To Part The Abelia Springs" (the track features the Chor Der Damen Ohne Namen, a Cologne choir made up of forty women), all examples that testify to the great creativity of a band that seems unwilling to settle.

Listening to "A Light So Dim" isn't just highly recommended, it's almost essential for fully understanding and appreciating the endless potential of extreme metal, of which Ultha represent one of its many extensions. A tentacle that looks beyond.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

03/05/2026