In one sense, OLDE OUTLIER are a continuation of Australia's late, great Innsmouth: a certifiably cult band whose debut album, 2014's Consumed by Elder Sign, is considered a classic by the underground-dwelling souls who heard it. Further grounding that band's cult status was the presence of brothers Beau and Neil Dyer, who helmed the sadly short-lived Grenade during the first half of the 2000s. However, Beau has now assembled a new lineup in OLDE OUTLIER, which includes guitarist Askew, who was Grenade's lead guitarist, and vocalist Appleton and bassist Greenbank, both of whom were in Innsmouth's live lineup following the release of the album and before that band folded. All membership aside, OLDE OUTLIER are aptly monikered, for the eldritch death metal of Innsmouth is taken deeper into the caverns of old(e) but ones totally their own.

From Shallow Lives to Shallow Graves is the recorded debut of OLDE OUTLIER, a four-song / 35-minute spelunk into those caverns. While Innsmouth's primary influences of domestic legends Armoured Angel and early Samael can be heard here in refracted form, the band instead simmer their cauldron with ones both culter and less detectable - from the earthy likes of Amon Goeth, Martyrium, Head of the Demon, and Florida's Equinox to the more ethereal undercurrents of Ophthalamia and even echoes of early Katatonia and Tiamat, everything mangled and smeared with soot to the point that they're no longer influences at all - and suitably extend the sulfurous splendor across epic track lengths.

Mind you, just like Innsmouth, there's no fucking about or technical wankery to OLDE OUTLIER; there's a certain roughness of design, a raw 'n' ragged glory to their execution that's a few steps above "elevated primitivism." Thus, their songwriting pushes, pulses, and only occasionally wanders during those said four epics; details unfold patiently, and passages often bear extensive repeating to summarily ensure hypnosis. Appleton's vocals are ghoulish in their low-toned gutturals, expressive and a bit blackened not unlike early Septic Flesh or Thou Art Lord. But, unlike Innsmouth, the band's riffing here is less dense and much more open if not more lead-led, imparting a particularly archaic heavy metal air.

At times - actually, quite often - that symbiosis of ruggedness and etherealness elevates this well beyond Innsmouth, not inconsiderable as that band were. Altogether, and with keenly timed bits of clean & chorused guitar, From Shallow Lives to Shallow Graves becomes an utterly immersive experience that defies time itself: OLDE OUTLIER are simply eternal, existing in a forgotten realm that's worth the journey a hundredfold.