Artwork by: Jacob van Swanenburgh, Layout by: Francesco Gemelli

Style: Funeral Doom Metal, Symphonic Metal (Mixed Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Bell Witch, old Pallbearer, Illimitable Dolor
Country: Australia
Release date: 14 November 2025

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Greek myths are largely synonymous with tragedy. Often heartache. Definitely trials and tribulations. While there were often feats of great heroism—Herakles’ twelve labors, Jason’s slaying of the hydra, or, my personal favorite, Odysseus’ treacherous ten-year journey home to reach his beloved wife and son—hardship, consequence, even death defined their journeys. Whether epic or small, these tales never divested from the mortal quality which makes them tick. With a propensity for graven outcomes and weighty decisions, what better genre to chronicle such narratives than funeral doom? And who better to weave the tale than the maestro of funereal compositions himself, Dis Pater (Midnight Odyssey, A Crevice Below)?

Perhaps recognizing the chilling, alien air of atmoblack was no proper medium through which to conduct such Mediterranean topics, Pater has set side project Tempestuous Fall to the task. Heaving with atmosphere heavier than the Earth upon Atlas’ shoulders, with a penchant for dolorous instrumentation undoubtedly approved by Hades himself, The Descent of Mortals Past marks the project’s first release in twelve years, though Pater has hardly been idle (Midnight Odyssey indeed burns all the midnight oil). Still, such prolific output can come at a cost—has Pater the spark remaining to carve such worthy effigies from these musical stones? Or has he, like Icarus and Tantalus before him, let hubris design for him a tragedy of his own making?

If I hadn’t known Tempestuous Fall was linked in some way to Midnight Odyssey, man, I would’ve thought “this sounds real similar to Midnight Odyssey.” Pater’s signature is writ large across The Descent of Mortals Past, from the opening strings of “Theseus – Encased in the Stones of Hades;” the lugubrious riffs, stretching like withered hands searching for salvation in an uncaring cosmos; to the layered, haunting cleans like plaintive calls for a kinder tomorrow. He’s always brought a weathered sort of majesty to his sound, and The Descent of Mortals Past is positively lacquered in it. Mournful piano chips away at the liminal spaces between each drawn out riff. Cymbals crash like fragile heartbeats against the inexorable march of time and the inevitable struggles that await the album’s motley crew of beleaguered protagonists (Theseus, Psyche, Heracles, Ulysses¹, Orpheus, and Aeneas).

Funeral doom by its very nature can often come across as stale, laborious, and repetitive when handled improperly. And, while Pater attempts to inject a sense of personage into each track, there is an unfortunately creeping sense of sameness that begins to permeate the listening experience after a while. That’s not to say the individual songs are lacking in quality, only that by the time we reach “Aeneas – Guide Me Home,” we’ve heard what feels like a repeat of the record’s same yawning riffs, grandiose strings, and cavernous, slo-mo harshes. Of the six tracks, only “Orpheus – In Dark Deathly Grey” and “Psyche – Temptation of the Divine” offer some shakeups; the former in how Pater strips back the instrumentation to strings, synths, strummed acoustics, and his commanding cleans, lending the track a lonesome campfire quality, while the inclusion of female vocals on “Psyche” (courtesy of guest Alice Corvinus (Swords of Dis)) adds interest to the otherwise similarly buzzy composition.

While the moods between tracks are largely interchangeable, there’s no denying that the gloomy, remorseful vibes of The Descent of Mortals Past are effective. While the music may drift into homogenous waters, Pater finds ways to keep the ship afloat, often via the mesmerizing quality of his clean vocals—whether backboning a track with katabalic chants (“Ulysses – Requiem of the Sea”) or wending together a surprisingly earworm chorus (“Heracles – Dark is the Home of the Underworld”). Pater parishioners will no doubt find much to worship at the altar of Tempestuous Fall’s latest, but I can’t help but wish that The Descent of Mortals Past had something more of a divine spark at work to empower this flawed, if well-executed, chronicle into an entry worthy of Olympus.

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Recommended tracks: Psyche – Temptation of the Divine, Heracles – Dark is the Home of the Underworld, Orpheus – In Dark Deathly Grey
You may also like: Midnight Odyssey, While Heaven Wept, Atlantean Kodex
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: I, Voidhanger Records

Tempestuous Fall is:
– Dis Pater (everything)
With guests:
– Alice “Corvinus” Collins (vocals, “Psyche – Temptation of the Divine”)

1. Better known as Odysseus to most audiences. ↩︎