Australian one-man post-black metal project Callous Faulter unveils a hellish approach to the genre on their debut self-titled EP.
Release date: June 1, 2026 | Gutter Prince Cabal | Bandcamp
Heavy music of all genres shares a synergy; the abrasive tones, builds of tension, minor chords, punching drums, and of course volume can be summoned in many ways with many results, but no matter how you label it, there is a shared direction of negative emotions that drives most every metal act. So, as much as it pains me to say it, I have to give some forgiveness to the people who say ‘I don’t care what genre you call it.’ They are right about not caring at a base level, and there is a little ridiculousness to critics’ and nerds’ obsessive categorizations that can, at times, be exhaustive and pedantic. However, I do have a bone to pick with the broad label of ‘post-black metal‘ in that the term is more often than not used to describe blackgaze or any atmospheric sounding black metal. I think the eagerness of critics and genre gatekeepers to pigeonhole certain acts to certain sub-sub-genres leads to overlooking practicality.
If a genre has been well-defined for over a decade, maybe less, and an artist experimenting with the core sounds and aesthetics of that genre comes along introducing new approaches to that genre, then they rightfully earn the ‘post‘ addendum to their genre tag. Joy Division added dance beats and gloomy atmosphere to punk. Fugazi added unique time signatures and shifting dynamics to hardcore. Neither of those band still define what their respective sub-genres have become. While adding more reverb and delay pedals to black metal certainly is a modification to the core sounds of the genre, there are many ways to approach these changes. Longer atmospheric passages, shifting dynamics, twists and turns into punk and grindcore, touches of sludge, and even rock moments can still functionally be called upon to classify something as post-black metal. It is there that we find Melbourne, Australia’s newest addition to the canon, Callous Faulter.
There isn’t much online about these guys, er, this guy, but their debut, self-titled EP scratches an itch that I didn’t know needed scratching. Heavy Blog Is Heavy covered their debut single “The Isolationist”, describing the act as a ‘solo project from J. Angus (ex-Greytomb, Paroxsymal Cavitation)‘. Angus covers the songwriting, guitar, bass, and vocals, but also enlists R. Stone to play and record the drums on this EP, as well as Tim Stocker for saxophone contribution on “The Isolationist”. Angus unveils a tormented world of black metal’s aggression with sludge and post-metal’s mid-paced tension-building across the 17-minute plus track. The result feels like Neurosis locking arms with Altar of Plagues. It is a hellish but thrilling journey that never lets any of its labyrinthian excursions linger too long, one of the finest long-form metal tracks I’ve heard this year.
The second and final track, “Ocean Views” follows suit, but dives even deeper into the anguish and angst, largely abandoning anything remotely gentle. This track feels heavier from the start, and while it also fills 16 minutes shifting between furious blast beats and vocal passages and post-metal’s breathing room, the overall vibe of the track feels more locked into a black metal track that could emerge from the likes of Ash Borer or Krallice. The middle section of the track slows things down, but still feels heavy both emotionally and musically as the shifting melodies and chord progressions unfold like a receding tide ultimately revealing the lurking menace in the shallows for a brilliant conclusion.
Callous Faulter help reclaim the label of post-black metal from the shimmering guitars and triumphant crescendos that have seemed to dominate the genre for so long, reveling in the hellish and vile crypts that once made any black metal so threatening to anyone with a shred of optimism. Albeit two tracks, this is 35 minutes of unforgiving pain and frustration distilled into a well-textured and hypnotic nightmare that feels fitting for the growing dystopia and hyperreality of our times. I want more, already.
