Between the pestilent gates do plaguebearer hands form an oath of black ambient synth metal misery, these by name of Silent Thunder and Shadow Dungeon, both of whom have created waves of torrential sorrow these past ages. Formed in 2021, Silent Thunder is the American masterwork of M., more infamous for his work under the Lamp of Murmuur moniker, here working on the foundations laid by Silent Thunder’s earlier demos, and using Gates of Pestilence to further his take on an aggressive symphonic raw blackness, one that is squirming with; diseased tremolo dissonance, sonorous synth melodics, battering blast beat percussion, bleak frost production and the same penchant for infectious spell craftsmanship that all of his works are pulsating with. Formed in 2016, Shadow Dungeon hails from Bosnia and is the mouldering revelation of The Leper King, more infamous for his work with Deathcircle and Obskuritatem. With Shadow Dungeon, The Leper King bleeds a foul sorcery of black ambient symphonic madness, his latest offering Vision of Ancient Horror pursuing a similar vein to his long library of previous grimoires, here instead elevating those earlier sounds and bringing a whole host of; hypnotic synth passages, entropic tremolo guitars, cacophonous clash percussion, eerie air ambience and a depthless void of production. Needless to speak, the conspiracy between these two entities in one omen is a masterstroke, one that would only result in further inner decay of spiritual ennui should it be missed.