Mar de Grises are unquestionably a curiousity of the metal world. With their brand of Doom/Death and general dreary atmosphere it would be easy to assume that they instead inhabit somewhere in the middle of Sweden or Finland as opposed to the mountainous Chile. But geography aside, Mar de Grises's new album is probably one of the best things I've heard in a long, long time.

Perhaps one of the more intriguing things about Streams Inwards is the fact that each song is very different to another, even though they all share common traits. The atmosphere on every song is phenomenal and nothing encaptures that sentiment more than the closing track Aphelion Aura, which is like something straight out of a Silent Hill soundtrack. Utterly engaging, unnerving and creepy as hell. Compare that to Shining Human Skin which has all the best parts from a Swallow the Sun album not just in atmosphere and in sheer majesty with massive choruses that rise into a major key cadence that it like the sun cracking through clouds. It's stunning stuff. Something a little faster is found in The Bell and the Solar Gust, which comes across like Moonspell in a way with a certain Spanish (though I'm well aware I'm referencing Moonspell, who're Portuguese) feel encompassing the song. I can go on and on about it, every single song is so well constructed and paced that it forces you to pay attention and listen.

There's a lot going on it each song that you may miss first time round, but even after a first listen it just drags you in for another, and another, which is partically why this review took me so long to type up. Probably the most important aspect of this is the fact that there's so much there that it doesn't become boring or repetitive. The production values are fantastic, as are the performances and all the little elements in the background that it adds up to this huge sounding album. I struggle to say anything but praise for Mar de Grises's work here. Absolutely essential listening.