Wow, real Black metal in the US is really starting to impress me and this his SoCal 5 piece look to be an up and coming band with some real potential as this 4 song, 21 minute EP does virtually everything right.

With a perfectly balanced raw buzzing guitar tone and some actual presence of bass, the four decent length tracks each have their own character and presence that culls from basically every important black metal movement both old and new-From frosty tremolo pick melodies, fierce blast beats, creepy ambience, some light synths and feral screams. The six minute opener “Nameless I Arise” opens with a spooky into before delving into a varied and multi faceted set of riffs and melodies and even a slight death metal canter and acoustic segue towards the end of the track. The title track is the EPs shortest but most vehement and direct with some pretty epic blasts and melodies. “The Darkest Path” has just a killer opening riff and main melody line and yet another well done acoustic/synth break before a introspective closing. Another 6 minute track, the closing “Lake of Blood” is a frosty tremolo picked assault with some undulating somber melodies but exposed the bands slight lack of experience at times as the layering is a bit off. Still, its gritty, epic stuff that borders on war metal at times with a great closing couple of minutes.

All being said the band need to tighten up as musicians, but their overall delivery and approach hints at something far deeper and truer than so called US black metal like Abigail Williams and more along the lines of a more melodic and organic, less chaotic, corpse painted and spiky Averse Sefira mixed with Wolves in the Throne Room.

Very promising stuff. Heed the primal calling indeed.

[Visit the band's website]

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