Void of Hope - Proof of Existence (2025)

The best post-metal album with blackgaze inclinations released in the first quarter of 2025? I'll take the Finnish debutants (under this moniker, not in general)'s Proof of Existance over Deafheaven's Lonely People With Power every time. Not only because I think the American powerhouse's one is mid at best, Void of Hope genuinely created something breathtakingly beautiful.

Released by the Italian label Avantgarde Music, the album was created from scratch in five days "in the studio with -30°, -35° outside and in complete darkness for most of the day". Can you imagine something more Finnish? But the most important thing is that the music that came out of this session is extremely hot. Energetic. Euphoric. The best words to describe a good blackgaze album although I'm not 100% sure the band aimed for this (the genre tags on Bandcamp don't enourage this opinion). Nevertheless, for a blackgaze fanboy like myself, a great blackgaze release, even an accidental one is nothing to sniff at.

Just listen to Gift of Life or the monumental The Hollow Hymn. The atmosphere here is so dense, I could swear I felt like in a sauna when listening to it. This is the way the artists talk about "a journey through mental health and depression" that are a common thing for anyone who experienced existing. I feel better already after listening to Proof of Existence.

Proof of Existence costs 6 EUR.

Check: Gift of Life

Country: Finland

Genre: blackgazey post-metal

Label: Avantgarde Music

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