Anonymity in the Internet age could be seen as cynical bait for music bloggers, but for NIHITI, it's a necessary and inseparable part of their project's marrow. Their live show, too, has minted their mystery, with the band playing in darkness, awash in projections that beg a sigilistic interpretation of the bleak themes the music explores. Even the name of the group's mastermind, Dragan Otasevic, is a fully composed nom de guerre that deepens the shadows of NIHITI's world.

Their new record, For Ostland, does little to remove the band's self-imposed veil. After the sonic departure of last year's acoustic Faced With Splendor, their latest returns to the genre-melting palette NIHITI is known for. Filled with dirges of guitar reminiscent of Sunn O))), Godspeed-esque post-rock crescendos, and dense layers of droning synths, Ostland's charred landscape is ever-changing yet consistently desolate.

During the final track, "Hymn Divisions," NIHITI use layers of synths like a church organist possessed by demonic forces. As metronomic percussion pushes the piece forward, the sounds pile atop each other, gaining weight and leading the listener to the end of the narrative-- questions about what's real or affected fade with the crackling feedback.

For Ostland is out now on Lo-Bit Landscapes