The Odessa band White Ward formed in 2012, bent on exploring the outer rims of black metal—from atmospheric, sepulchral gloom to post-metal excursions into blackgaze and jazz. The band's early recordings—rooted in raw, depressive black metal and inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Ian M. Banks—were released as the compilation Origins, released in 2016. The group's follow-up efforts explore themes of existence on the brink of death, abnormal afterlife worlds and mental illness, sonically reaching into the vastness of instrumental jazz and the depths of dark existential despair. After recording their first full-length album, Futility Report, in 2017, the band signed to Debemur Morti Productions and embarked on a further journey down divergent sonic paths; they currently have three albums to their credit, the latest being 2022's False Light.