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All the elation, spiritual ascent, and power in heavy sonic art radiates with overwhelming energy from the second album by this self-described "ecstatic black metal" collective hailing from Los Angeles.

This new album combines crushing weight with creative intricacies. Key track the song Bodhidharma propels along a guitar motif suited to a biker gang, then a burst of static and screaming heralds a melancholic atmospheric rock middle eight. The often-criticized technique of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by guitarist the lead guitarist, whose lead work here and on highlight the song Flea will have you floating in ecstasy – but then the calm ballad Hallelujah features descending guitar melodies played with youthful innocence.

Tracks like Micah and Serenity are fast-paced hardcore punk, while Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has slow-moving Sunn O)))-style distortion rumbling along underneath its ethereal beauty. Black metal melodies can often be either nonexistent or overly fussy, yet the band's guitar lines and choruses are bright and original, and closer the song The Reply even evokes a much heavier the band Radiohead.

Fans of experimental metal acts similar artists will probably love all this dynamic shifting and unabashedly gorgeous noise, particularly since the group also have two divergent singing approaches, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer adds sporadic soulful, clean singing, yet the standout is Leah Levinson, her voice trembling on one track but fiercely howling on other songs.

As is common in the genre, it’s hard to make out her lyrics, yet they are worth the effort: the narratives she conveys about suicidal friends and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are heart-wrenching, just like her quest for meaning in a world that inexorably bends towards conflict.