This uncanny Sci-Fi Black Metal duo is ready to attack armed with their debut opus, offering music that is light years ahead of what we’re accustomed to hearing.
Consisting of two anonymous members operating under the numerical aliases 040118180514 (vocals, bass, keyboards and drums) and 102119200914 (guitars and backing vocals), both members of the Canadian Technical Death Metal band Fractal Generator, Sudbury, Ontario-based Sci-Fi Black Metal entity Endspace creates music that is light years ahead of what we’re accustomed to hearing. Using synthesizers and vocoders to make music that sounds as if it’s emanating from beings on some distant planet, drawing thematic and sonic comparisons to acts like Darkspace, Aborym, Thorns, Labyrinthus Stellarum, Midnight Odyssey, and Imperialist, the duo is unleashing upon us their debut opus, titled First Contact, merging heavily structured, futuristic Black Metal elements with Experimental, Industrial and Death Metal influences, all embraced by a sinister artwork by Midge “Mantissa” Sinnaeve. Furthermore, the songs in First Contact are all called “transmissions,” and each one has a different identity and purpose, making the album an utterly fascinating and unique listening experience.
Such an uncanny duo kicks off their Sci-Fi feast with First Transmission, with the guitars by 102119200914 transpiring cosmic insanity, followed by Second Transmission, where 040118180514 embellishes the airwaves with his futuristic keys accompanied by the cryptic guitars by 102119200914. Things get serious in Third Transmission, with the venomous roars by 040118180514 sounding like a creature from outer space, or in other words, it’s the epitome of Experimental Black Metal, whereas Fourth Transmission, follows a similar path of otherworldly insanity, again presenting their deep vociferations and ruthless beats and fills.
Fifth Transmission is a weird one, maybe too experimental at times, not really a song but more like an interlude, whereas Sixth Transmission puts the duo back on track with their haunting Sic-Fi Black Metal, offering us all Stygian vocals and guitars. Then we have Seventh Transmission, getting heavier and heavier as the music progresses, sounding disturbing at times, followed by Eighth Transmission, again delivering an overdose of uncanny riffs and keys, as mechanized yet visceral as it can be. Their last breath of Black Metal insanity comes in the form of Ninth Transmission, a multi-layered feast from another world tat puts a stunning ending to the album.
Tenuously Black Metal, with its elements taken apart and pieced together using unconventional components, First Contact offers a unique exploration of the Sci-Fi side of Black Metal, and if you want to join 040118180514 and 102119200914 in such a dark and otherworldly quest you can find the duo on Facebook and on Instagram, stream their idiosyncratic creations on Spotify, and of course grab a copy of the album from their own BandCamp or from the Transcending Obscurity Records’ BandCamp, main store, US store or EU store. In other words, let the Sci-Fi sounds blasted by Endspace in First Contact take your soul to outer space. End of transmission.
Best moments of the album: Third Transmission, Fourth Transmission and Ninth Transmission.
Worst moments of the album: Fifth Transmission.
Released in 2026 Transcending Obscurity Records
Track listing
1. First Transmission 4:21
2. Second Transmission 4:29
3. Third Transmission 3:24
4. Fourth Transmission 3:56
5. Fifth Transmission 3:56
6. Sixth Transmission 4:51
7. Seventh Transmission 4:46
8. Eighth Transmission 4:44
9. Ninth Transmission 4:38
Band members
040118180514 – vocals, bass, keyboards, drums
102119200914 – guitars, backing vocals
