Panzerfaust “The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion”
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion will be released on all physical & digital formats on November 22nd via Eisenwald
In the world of success anecdotes, it is often quoted that it takes ten years to become an “overnight success”. This meticulous rollercoaster of blood, sweat, and tears often goes unseen and until the serendipitous movement the work is unleashed into the world do the praises begin to roll in. Most bands are lucky to have one breakout album that affects the genre in a positive way and sticks in the minds of fans for years to come. Afterwards, however, the quality of their albums may be inconsistent and the buzz around them fades away. On the other hand, there are bands who are outliers and take the road less traveled at great risk for the potential of great reward. The tetralogy that is The Suns of Perdition is itself an outlier work. Created by outlier musicians and today its intense conclusion will capture the hearts of long time fans. Defining a new standard for dissonant black metal records moving forward.
Panzerfaust are a four piece hailing from Mississauga, ON (Canada) that formed in 2005 with founding members Brock Van Dijk (Vocals/Guitar) & Goliath (Vocals). Once the concept of The Suns of Perdition began to materialize in Brock’s mind, a critical line up change occurred which saw Thomas Gervais (Bass) and Alexander Kartashov (Drums) enter the fold. Together, these four musicians have manifested their magnum opus that took over a decade to realize in full. In the spirit of this accomplishment, it is only fair that we take a look back at chapters I, II, & III before diving into the fourth and final chapter.
The lore surrounding Panzerfaust’s The Suns of Perdition revolves around exploring themes of war through the perspective of historical recounting of events, the philosophy about war, the horrors of death, and the inevitability of the destructive human condition. The work’s title seems to strongly connect to the Biblical verses referring to the “sons of perdition”, or said another way “men doomed to destruction”. Furthermore, the word perdition means “eternal damnation” or “utter destruction” and has been used as a synonym for “hell”. The complexity and layers that encompasses the work’s title is concentrated in four distinct albums (or chapters) that each have a distinct musical expression.
Chapter I: War, Horrid War (2019) has an aggressive dissonant black metal sound with lyrics that highlight specific war events like The Day After Trinity, mass graves in Stalingrad during WW2, and the poems from Canadian WW1 author Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.
Chapter II: Render unto Eden (2020) took a turn towards a more atmospheric sound that induces a trance-like state of mind. This chapter lyrically focused more on the philosophy of war such as entering into a Faustian bargain to prevail in war, John Milton’s philosophical case for the right to freedom of speech & expression, and Blaise Pascal’s famous wager on believing in God as a rational human.
Chapter III: The Astral Drain (2022) increased the atmospheric elements in the music by adding more tribal style beats and four instrumental tracks dedicated to negative emotions. Both the music and lyrical content seem to point to a sense of dread; the crushing doom felt moments before your death. And now we have Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion (2024) which is the most angry sounding album of the tetralogy with a great sense of finality. Lyrically, the final chapter focuses on our apocalypse & how the cycling of civilizations through time is inevitable.
Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion, like in previous chapters, has deep meaning and symbolism in the song titles and lyrics. Dissecting the album title, Zion refers to “utopia” and the shadow is in reference to Carl Jung’s psychological concept of “The Shadow”; the part of our psyche that we repress because it is socially unacceptable, harmful to others, or detrimental to our own health. Song titles such as “The Hesychasm Unchained” and “The Damascene Conversions” have a Christian theology origin that is used to mirror the grandeur of the apocalypse and spiritual ramifications of warmongering itself. Within the lyrics, we continue to hear references to spiritual texts, but by no means is this a religious album. I believe the choice here is to highlight how when humans approach their end, even if it is by their own hand, this primordial desire to find solace in something cosmic is innate. The brutality of these topics are delivered by powerful dual vocals from Brock & Goliath and often sound like desperate pleas, angry cries of desperation, and guttural sorrow. The range of these emotive vocal stylings are best presented on the songs “The Damascene Conversions” & “To Shadow Zion (No Sanctuary).”
Musically, the final chapter is an amalgamation of all previous musical styles explored in the tetralogy, yet the tone is by far the most angry and aggressive. The two main singles for the record “When Even The Ground is Hostile” & “Occam's Fucking Razor” are exemplary of the ferocity I keep referring to. Both songs have movements with incredibly fast pacing in the riffing and drumming that harken back to Marduk level intensity; a style of black metal not fully displayed on previous chapters. Panzerfaust’s signature dissonance is still present however, these riffs are used as a way to create a dizzying chaos rather than atmosphere. Simply put, these songs sound like you're stuck fighting for your life at ground zero of the battlefield. “The Damascene Conversions” breaks out the album with its mid-tempo pacing and incorporates atmospheric elements most similar to Chapter III: The Astral Drain. The guest baglama performance by Ahmet lhvani blends perfectly into the percussive complexity of the track and adds a very welcomed mystical element to the work. Another interesting dimension added to this song (and a first for the tetralogy) is the doomy/sludgy outro movement that Panzerfaust executes exceptionally well. As incredible as the first four songs of Chapter IV are, the final track not only gives the album a great sense of finality but is a very effective conclusion to the work itself. “To Shadow Zion (No Sanctuary)” opens with an ominous sample of sirens followed by a nuclear bomb explosion, which then opens up into a spoken word passage from the post-apocalyptic novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A combination of engaging jungle drum beats and evolving dissonant riffs are the backbone of this song and build steadily every three minutes of the song until the crescendo at about minute six. Here, Panzerfaust approximates a beautiful flow state reminiscent of the iconic conclusion of “O Father, O Satan, O Sun” by Behemoth.
Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion brilliantly ties the threads laid out in the previous three chapters while, once again, maintaining its own identity. Every musician’s contribution to this epic finale gloriously shines; all parts equally important to executing the master vision. By its own merit, this album is a fantastic listen for any fans of dissonant atmospheric black metal; and may even secure a spot on your 2024 Album of The Year lists. However, in context to the tetralogy, it falls just shy of first place with Chapter II: Render unto Eden securing the number one spot. The meticulous crafting of The Suns of Perdition tetralogy and its subsequent success globally, cement Panzerfaust as an outlier in the black metal world. Not only did they execute their magnum opus as a cohesive unit over the last six years, but they have also reached a level of prestige in the rich history of Canadian black metal.
SCORE: 4.5 / 5
FFO: Kriegsmaschine, Ulcerate, Kafirun
You can pre-order your physical or digital copy on Panzerfaust’s Bandcamp today.
