Mysterious and somewhat anti-Internet Bay Area metal band Ordo Obsidium are back following their 2011 debut Orbis Tertius. While that album was a successful marriage between funeral doom and black metal, their upcoming release A Crooked Path to Desolation fills in the cracks between the two a bit more with a spattering of death metal. And as bleak and evil as the band might sound, they also manage to make room for moments of undeniable beauty. For example, on the album’s title track the tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, and soaring backing synths come together for a moment of sheer bliss shining through the oppressive darkness.

A Crooked Path to Desolation will be released on 12″ vinyl sometime in the near future via German label Eisenwald—stream the whole thing now via Bandcamp.