Starting off we are treated to a short but sweet piano piece. This will set the tone for the album which is eerie and full of gloom and despair. They are quite befitting of the genre. The guitars are played well and have that truly haunting and desolate vibe. They are very bleak and I like them a lot. They are fairly reminiscent of Xasthur, especially in the track The Emptiness in my Soul Controls my Mind. Very nice. The drums are done well, they sound full and well mixed. The double bass is very deep which sounds great. Blast beats are used, but never overly relied on. No bass, none at all. It isn’t needed, but I just feel I must always cover it. The vocals are not used much, only in two of the five tracks, but are done fairly well. We have Black Metal screeching and some cleans too, which remind me of Alcest. The mixing is pretty good from track to track, but between tracks is where it falls apart. The last track is half the volume of the rest. Other than that, it is fine.
Starless Night‘s Emotionally Scarred and Dead is a great listen and is very dark and glum. Everything flows well and is very nice. The riffs are chilling and tend to stick with you. The guitar settings used are awesome, much like Xasthur. If you are a fan of Depressive Black Metal (especially Xasthur) I urge you to check this album out as well as the rest of their work, it only gets better from here. All in all, in a sea of Depressive Black Metal, this band stands out as actually being, you know, DEPRESSING. Some of the riffs are really beautiful and it is very much worth checking out. It has a few problems, but the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. My score would be a bit higher, but the volume issue is a glaring flaw and too much for me to ignore. Other than that gripe, it is very well done.
Score:86%
Source - http://absolutehell.net/starless-night-emotionally-scarred-and-dead-review/
Reviewer - N/A