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“Victus”, the final track from Hell's upcoming self titled album, makes use of two different dynamic axes. On its X-axis, “Victus” moves from loud and heavy to soft and reflective, like nearly every modern doom song. Simultaneously, the song shifts along a separate arc, one that is harder to determine simply from following its waveform. “Victus”’s Y-axis is devoted to an emotional shift. The song starts much in a similar vein to its album-mates, bludgeoning the listener with the deliberation of a construction worker hammering a nail. Once the audience has been properly tenderized “Victus” changes tact, pulling away the drums and leaving a buzzsaw symphony of guitars that gradually shifts from aggressive to mournful, aiding by the sudden introduction of a string section.

At no point of this dual shift in emotional tenor or volume does sole band member M.S.W. betray the arc of his music. Each movement contains pieces of the one prior. At the song’s heaviest, it still finds room to sneak in an acoustic counter melody, and the volcanic guitar tone that makes up the song’s impenetrable exterior continues into it’s vulnerable core.

Bearing the closest resemblance to trilogy-closer III's two mammoth tracks, "Victus"'s emotive tragedy puts Hell's new, post-trilogy era in a new light. For an album so pummeling, there is a hint of sincerity hidden beneath its dense brawn. The trilogy mourned a loss, and "Victus" reveals a lasting scar.

Hell will be released August 11th on Sentient Ruin Laboratories and Lower Your Head. Listen to "Victus" below.

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