Post Luctum - Timor Lucis

Post Luctum is a one-man melodic death/doom band from California, United States who hit the scene in 2019 with its debut EP “After Mourning.”  The project’s latest album, “Timor Lucis,” is the band’s third full-length; two additional EPs have also been released.

I’ve been a fan of this band for a while now and have never been anything less than blown away.  “Timor Lucis,” is yet another sterling chapter in Post Luctum’s story and finds mastermind Ian surpassing his already impressive standards.

The album’s themes of isolation, loneliness and being rejected are represented frighteningly well across the album’s 7 song, 50-minute runtime.  The album’s title is, I think, Latin for “fear of the light,” or something similar at least.  That is in of itself a powerful message, one that is fully represented across the album’s harrowing journey. 

Is this fear some sort of twisted addiction?  Human beings can get used to anything—our resilience to unimaginable feelings, and perhaps horrors, can be seen as strength but it’s also a burden and one of our many fallacies.  Once we get trapped within ourselves, once we remove ourselves from the world in both a physical and mental way, it is hard to crawl back from that.  

This makes “Timor Lucis,” a very human album—and a raw one. There isn’t anyone alive who can’t relate, in some way, to the emotions this album explores.  For me, this album represents just how powerful doom, and metal in general, can be.  So often it is dismissed as “that screamo” stuff but it is as legit a genre as any other—and can make one feel things in a way that only metal can. 

The album has incredible structure, which makes the album have a good flow that is paramount for music that is as heavy as this.  The five songs in the middle are bookended by two epics, “Approaching Light,” and “In Water.”

"Approaching Light,” opens the album with gentle, but no less arresting, clean instruments and low cleans.  It is a cold and sparse landscape but one that is expansive too.  The bass adds a big foundation, letting the clean parts feel full and grounded.  The drums push the song towards a much heavier ending, which falls like a crumbling mountain around the 4:30 mark.  From this point to the end, the emotive weight is nearly unbearable.  The power of this song is just…immense.

“In Water,” also begins with clean instrumentation and vocals but it is presented differently; it feels much warmer, at least to me.  The vocals are more upfront in the mix, and the instruments have a deeper tone.  I love the lead guitar, laying on top of everything like little drops of rain on a dismal day.  But while the album began with a stripped-down approach, this song ends it with an intensity that is hard to write about.  The distortion is like an anchor pulling you down crushing depths and the vocals are the clawing desperation borne out of desperate, final grasps of what could be considered life on a most cynical level.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that, even if the remaining five songs were not good (which is very obviously not the case), this album would be worth the price of admission alone based on just these two songs,

But let’s dive into the other five songs for a minute.  “Shrouded By the Sea,” has become one of my favorites from Post Luctum.  From the very first second, this song fully absorbed me, pulling me into its grey painted world. The melodies are so tragic they come full circle and are oddly beautiful.  The vocals are everything, extremity with purpose and emotional pain.  I have to mention the solo in the later half….wow.  I’m not crying, you’re crying.  

“Disavowed,” is more immediate, especially the rolling bass that pushes a sinister groove.  This one is almost menacing and maybe even a bit angry.   Just as the walls are about to break, an atmospheric/melodic mid-section arrives, complete with drums that let the ears follow around with the guitars; it leads to the grueling final half.  Absolutely massive song! 

“A Curse Now a Plague,” is maybe the heaviest song the band has ever done. Jam this one with a good pair of headphones, please.  The is a slow, dirge like song that could be mistaken for a force of nature instead of music. This one ticks off all the boxes of what I look for in doom and is another song from the album that is among the best of this project. The vocals are so painful that listening to this makes MY throat hurt. 

“I Welcome in the Cold,” does indeed have a cold, distant atmosphere to it.  Despite its slow tempo, the guitars do have some movement to them, like a very subtle groove.  A new level of intensity is reached when the double bass falls like an avalanche around the 3:30 mark. The song cools a little afterwards while still retaining a morbid sense of curious darkness before dark clouds settle in once more.

“Sunken Fate,” is a song that nearly made me scream out from my mind, such is its potency in representing both the themes of the album and the genre itself.  I love the riffs that hang in the air, like a sense of dread.  The lead guitar makes everything even more dour and potent.

“Timor Lucis,” is an insanely potent and powerful album that I will not soon forget.  This is a hard listen but in the best way possible.  This is an absolute must listen for any fan of doom but be prepared that this could bring up memories and feelings that you may or may not be ready to face.  Because of this, perhaps this isn’t an album for everyone, but for those who can face the darkness then it is a must have journey.

Rating: Excellent