Asheville’s All Hell reemerge from the darkness with their fifth full-length album, Sunsetter, and it’s another heady and brutal meld of first wave Black Metal, deathrock, punk, and film score atmospheres moulded into a sound that is aggressive, stripped-back and raw but at the same time dark, engaging and hugely atmospheric.
All Hell – Sunsetter
Release Date: 10 October 2025
Words: Jools Green
Lyrically, All Hell continue with their horror-driven storytelling themes delving into myth, violence, and the supernatural. This time, with the conceptua Sunsetter, they explore the apocalyptic tale of exile, rebirth, and cosmic vengeance. This begins in ancient times with the curse of Cain, the first murderer, cast into the land of Nod, where he joins with Lilith, the exiled first wife of Adam and from their union comes a cursed bloodline.
The trio, Jacob Curwen on guitar and vocals, Erik Ballantyne on bass, and Elanti on drums, began work on Sunsetter after the release of 2019’s The Witch’s Grail.
But its progress did not pan out in the same way as the four predecessors. All Hell were hampered by constant disruption, the pandemic, personal tragedies and devastating floods hitting their home region. On top of this, the band found themselves burned out and disillusioned with Metal entirely.
But given that they had put out an album every year between 2014 and 2019, it is no wonder, and sometimes you just have to take a step back, breathe and reflect awhile, which they did, rediscovering their creative hunger. They emerged with a record that is an utterly superb listen that engages and fires the imagination.
The eleven-track, thirty-three-minute Sunsetter opens with Exiled Into Nod. No intro, no slow smouldering build, it gets straight down to the business, immediately plunging you into a chaotic swirling drive that is overlaid with caustic vocals and contrasted by the melodically addictive and hugely catchy chorus.
Next is Dominus Sanguis, Domina Nox, a dark hymn to the Lord of Blood and the Lady of Night. The opening punchy riffs immediately grab your attention before the piece breaks into a drive of blackened riffs. It is a piece that really mixes it up, the direction repeatedly switching with slick precision, delivering bursts of pummelling drum work, thrashy waves and more punchy riffs. All the while, the acidic vocals course above, and it ends with a dramatic stop.
This is followed by the frenzy that is The Violent Brood, which portrays being hunted by Cain’s spawn. It is an up-tempo and intense offering with an unnerving slant to the caustic vocals. The intensity of the second half leadwork delivery completes that mental imagery perfectly.
The Bleeding flips the perspective and this time explores the mind of a predator. Another intense driving beast of a track, this also features a superb guest solo from Nate Garnette of Skeletonwitch, who also previously performed guest vocals and guitars on the opening track of their 2023 EP All Hail The Night. Here, he adds a further layer of menace to the sound.
The album title track, Sunsetter, from the offset, has a groovy, strutting confidence to its delivery. With a sharply punctuated vocal delivery, the midpoint leadwork soars sublimely. Lyrically, it looks at the defiance and pride of the children of Cain as they reject the sun and claim dominion over the night.
The Flood And The Death is a very anthemic instrumental interlude that heralds a move forward in time with the storyline, where centuries later, the bloodline of Cain has survived the flood and reemerges in the present.
Next, Behold the Night, is a superbly catchy, up-tempo driver with wonderfully ominous and dark second half lead work, musically bringing the rebirth to life. This is followed by Path Of Cain, which continues in a very dark atmosphere. Punctuated with strong drum fills that have a superb flow, this is another superb piece that offers a darkly anthemic reflection on lineage, sin, and survival.
The fast-paced thrashy driver Sacrifice To Shadow portrays a cult’s plea for the return of their ancient masters. I love the dark, haunting melodic swathe between the first two lyrical passage. It builds on the dark atmosphere, and an element of it echoes beneath the drive in the second half.
Delivering on the prophecy of the previous piece is The Ancients Rise. With its sharp blackened riffs that harbour an audacious dark groove, midway it ebbs back in pace to sinister spoken word, then elevates to dark haunting leadwork which builds further on that ominous atmosphere.
The closing track, The Outer Night, opens with militaristic drum rhythms. Building quickly with blackened thrashy riffing, flamboyant drum flourishes and acidic vocals, midway it switches tack and takes a spacy cosmic, almost psychedelic tone briefly before panning out into a darker reflective melody. This then fades into the cold silence of a world overrun as Cain and Lilith return, and the sun sets for the last time.
Sunsetter was recorded, mixed, and engineered by Chris Adams at Hidden Audio, with mastering by guitarist/vocalist Jacob Curwen. The visual aesthetic, including the album art, was also created by Curwen, preserving the band’s DIY ethos.
Sunsetter is released on 10 October 2025 via Terminus Hate City. End to end, it is a superbly engaging listen worthy of your time. For more details, visit the band on BandCamp.
