Metal Cinema: The Cosmic Heartbreak of Asunder

The now-defunct Asunder were a funeral doom metal band active in the Bay Area from 1998 to 2006. They released two full-length albums, A Clarion Call in 2004 and Works Will Come Undone from 2006.

Funeral doom is meant to be slow, dense, and pitch black. In rare cases it will temporarily warp space-time, creating a small black hole that will drain the light and happiness from anything within reach. Asunder were appropriately low and slow, with death growls that crumble mountains, but their brand of doom holds an undeniable warmth and humanity. As a a spiritual predecessor to the heartbreaking and highly melodic works of Samothrace, Asunder's riffs, while still capable of burying you in hopelessness, drip somber melodies that stir the heart before crushing it into cosmic dust.

This footage, taken in 2006, captures the majesty and ritualistic thrum of their sound perfectly. With almost no shots of the crowd, they are the only light in an endless dark.