Some scars never really heal. They just learn how to scream louder.
Tasmania’s The Absolution Sequence have unleashed “The Nightlight Sigil,” the third single from their forthcoming album Dread Cycle, and it might be the band’s most devastating release yet. While the riffs are every bit as crushing as you’d expect, it’s the emotional weight behind this track that lands the knockout blow.
This isn’t horror for horror’s sake. It’s horror rooted in reality.
Frontman Shawn Wells describes The Nightlight Sigil as the most personal song on Dread Cycle, confronting family trauma, toxic home environments and the lasting damage left behind when the people meant to protect you become the source of the pain.
“The Nightlight Sigil is a tale of family trauma, toxic home environments and the way in which one is treated in the aftermath. Often those who have suffered the most where they are meant to feel protected are shamed and forgotten. The aim of this is to keep the conversation alive and begin to heal these deep wounds.”
There’s no sugar-coating the message. The Absolution Sequence stare directly into the darkness and refuse to blink.
Musically, the track continues the band’s relentless march toward Dread Cycle, following the savage one-two punch of “Ghost Mantra” and “Idols of Confraternity.” Mixed by Chris Themelco at Monolith Sound in Melbourne and mastered by legendary producer Jens Bogren—whose résumé includes Dimmu Borgir, Sepultura and Arch Enemy—the production is as immense as the subject matter deserves.
Dread Cycle arrives August 14 through Bleeding Art Collective, and if the three singles released so far are anything to go by, this record isn’t coming to ask politely for your attention. It’s coming to rip the hinges off the front door.
The band will also hit the road throughout August with fellow Bleeding Art Collective heavyweights Complexant on the Apex of Dread Australian Tour, bringing two of Australia’s most uncompromising death metal acts to stages across the country.
Sometimes death metal isn’t about escaping reality.
Sometimes it’s about surviving it.
