ALBUM RELEASE: Dysthymia - The Morning Darkness
August 22, 2026Dysthymia's sophomore record "The Morning Darkness" is officially released this evening!
In collaboration with Anti-fascist Black Metal Network, we are premiering the full album right now.
Stream it on Youtube, Bandcamp, and Ampwall.
Jointly released by Hypnotic Dirge and Red Nebula, "The Morning Darkness" is presented in both CD and LP formats.
The CD - presented in a 6 panel digipack in an edition of 300 - releases today alongside the full album stream, while the LP is scheduled to ship in November! Limited to 200 copies, divided into two colour variants, 100 in "Fallen Leaves", and 100 in "Woodland Soil", you can pre-order the LP and secure your copy before they sell out!
Order CD
Pre-order DLP
Order CD
Pre-order DLP
• Album Notes •
Conceived in 2019 by members Grushenka Ødegård and Ray King, New England depressive black metal band Dysthymia crafts music steeped in despondency, isolation, and hopelessness. Following their raw self-titled full-length in 2021 and a split with Saeva in 2024, the band returns with their sophomore album "The Morning Darkness".
The album pulls you straight into a cold, heavy atmosphere that feels genuinely lived-in rather than theatrical. Layered and dynamic yet grounded in its atmosphere, Dysthymia excels at crafting tracks that breathe and build. Quiet, desolate moments give way to rising tension, driving the music forward with momentum that peaks in huge emotional crescendos. Dysthymia's greatest strength is its excellent sense of flow and dynamic songwriting, weaving mournful leads, sparse and distant piano, acoustic guitar, tortured screams, and ethreal clean vocals over a foundation of distant tremelo riffs and prominent basslines.
"This album was written and recorded slowly, over the course of several years, during late nights and early mornings. Through sadness and joy, suffering and relief, life and death, we have returned to share these songs with you. It is our hope that you enjoy them and find them useful in making your way through the days, where even the dawn does not bring light."
• Tracklist •
1 - I Live With What You Created
2 - We Can Never Go Back
3 - To Choose Life is to Choose Grief
4 - Until I Was Nothing
5 - The Morning Darkness
• Album Reviews •
"Depressive black metal that doesn't pretend to be dark—a slowly developed, honest album that maintains the Hypnotic Dirge quality standard. If you like NONE, you'll find something to enjoy here."
-Metal Division Magazine
"A lot of maturing and focus has been done to create an album so driven, so sonically absorbing as this"
-Lord of the Shadows
"The Morning Darkness resonates in a way that is possibly due to where my head is at. I don’t honestly know, but none of this feels forced or inauthentic in any way. I hope that this pulls you in to give this a listen. If you do, please give it the respect it deserves by providing your full attention. It deserves it." 10/10
-Musipedia of Metal
• Bandcamp Player •
• Bandcamp Player •
Posted by Hypnotic Dirge Records. Posted In : Dysthymia
