Album Review: Harfia - As The Pale Sun Fades

 Album Review 

Artist: Harifa

As The Pale Sun Fades

Matriarch Records 

Release Date: November, 28, 2025

Score 8/10 

Review by Rick Eaglestone

One of the most promising acts to emerge from the UK underground this year, Devon-based atmospheric black metal project Harifa returns with their highly anticipated full-length debut "As The Pale Sun Fades". After a prolific year that saw Faye Davis release the stellar "Withering Woods" EP, the emotionally devastating "When The Leaves Fall, I'll Be Near" album, and the brutal "Swinging From The Family Tree" EP, expectations were understandably sky-high. I'm pleased to report that this latest offering via Matriarch Records not only meets those expectations but exceeds them in ways I didn't think possible.

From the opening moments, it's abundantly clear that Harifa has refined their craft to an almost supernatural degree. The production work by strikes that perfect balance between raw, necro-tinged aggression and atmospheric clarity that so many bands struggle to achieve. Where "Withering Woods" hinted at Davis's potential for creating immersive sonic landscapes, "As The Pale Sun Fades" fully realises that vision with a maturity that belies the project's youth.

The title track serves as both statement of intent and centrepiece, encapsulating everything that makes Harifa such a compelling force in contemporary atmospheric black metal. Davis's vocals are absolutely devastating—those tortured shrieks and howls don't just convey anguish, they embody it completely. There's a rawness to the delivery that feels genuinely cathartic, as if each scream is tearing something loose from deep within.

The autumnal imagery that has become synonymous with the project is present in abundance, but it never feels forced or clichéd. Instead, Davis uses the season as a metaphor for decay, transition, and the inevitable march toward darkness that we all face. There's a literary quality to the song writing that elevates the material beyond mere atmospheric window dressing.

The tremolo-picked riffs cascade like dead leaves in a November gale, while the blast beats create a relentless forward momentum that never becomes monotonous. But it's in the quieter moments where Harifa truly shines. When the storms subside and Davis allows space for melancholic clean passages and haunting ambient sections, the emotional weight becomes almost unbearable. These dynamic shifts demonstrate a compositional sophistication that many veteran acts would struggle to match.

Lyrically, the album delves deep into themes of depression and sorcery with an honesty that's both brave and unsettling. Davis doesn't romanticise mental anguish or present it as some badge of honour—instead, she confronts it head-on with unflinching clarity. The occult elements add another layer of darkness without descending into parody or cliché, which is no small feat in a subgenre often plagued by such pitfalls.

There's a sense of genuine artistic vision at work. This isn't a band going through the motions or ticking boxes on a genre checklist—this is deeply personal music created by someone who clearly lives and breathes these sounds. The melancholic intensity that has become Harifa's calling card permeates every moment, creating an atmosphere so thick you could cut it with a knife.

What's perhaps most impressive is how much ground Harifa has covered in such a short time. Formed only in March of this year, Davis has already established a distinctive sonic identity that sets the project apart from the crowded atmospheric black metal field. 

The album's pacing is masterful, with each track flowing naturally into the next while maintaining its own distinct character. There are moments of savage intensity that recall the genre's second-wave roots, passages of post-black metal influenced beauty, and sections of DSBM-tinged despair—all woven together into a cohesive whole that never feels disjointed or directionless.

As the final notes fade into silence, you're left with the overwhelming sense that you've experienced something genuinely special. "As The Pale Sun Fades" is the sound of an artist fully realising their potential and announcing themselves as a major force to be reckoned with.

Davis has created something truly remarkable with "As The Pale Sun Fades"—an album that stands tall alongside the genre's modern classics and marks Harifa as one of the most exciting acts in extreme metal today.

If this is what Harifa can accomplish in their first year of existence, the future looks blindingly bright—or perhaps more appropriately, gloriously dark. Forever autumn indeed.