The shadows of darkwave drench the mechanised tendrils of alt-metal in the standout industrial single, Mercy, from Fourth Heaven’s Eclipse EP. Through antagonised with pure adrenaline drums, guitars that have been pushed through enough distortion that you can practically hear rusted sparks glowing like embers as they rise into the atmosphere of the production, Mercy is a barrage of kinetic intensity.
As alchemists of genre fluidity, Fourth Heaven flirt with the expansive elemental violence of metalcore while keeping the aesthetics reverently anchored in the gothic glamour of darkwave industrial through the ethereally feral and unflinching vocal stretches.
Mercy moves like ritual and rupture in the same breath, with the percussion driving forward like a threat and a summons while the guitars tear open the air with corroded intensity. There are shades of Lacuna Coil in the vocals, early Evanescence in the cinematic drama, and the harsher edge of industrial pioneers, allowing Fourth Heaven to chart a brand-new intersection through alt-metal, one that is built around transmutation, turning exposure into force and fracture into something near-mythic.
That tension runs through the wider world of the Milan-based project, where the thematically emblematic figure of the Priestess acts as both shield and revelation, ritualising vulnerability and turning personal pain into collective catharsis. Eclipse captures that threshold where identity slips into shadow and deeper consciousness begins to awaken.
Mercy is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast