In Dante’s Inferno, the second circle begins the proper punishment of Hell, a place where “no thing gleams.” It is reserved for those overcome with Lust, where carnal appetites hold sway over reason. In Nine Circles, it’s where we do shorter reviews of new albums that share a common theme.
Too much music, too little time to actually sit down and listen to everything I want (let alone get my thoughts together for reviews)… so I’m back with another Second Circle this week! In this edition I’ll be taking a look at two albums coming out this Friday through Northern Silence Productions that I expected to be Summoning/Caladan Brood clones at first glance… thankfully my assumptions turned out to be very wrong! Let’s descend and see what Bloody Valkyria and Eldamar have in store.
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Cover art depicting the Fall of Gondolin, genre descriptor of epic black metal… it’s not hard to understand my misjudgement on what Kingdom in Fire is all about, but the fact that this is the work of a Finnish musician should’ve tipped me off. Rather than yet another Tolkien-themed epic black metal band in a sea of Tolkien-themed epic black metal bands Bloody Valkyria eschew genre conventions with faster tempos, a focus on high-energy riffs, and melodic leads resulting in a sound very close to power metal; none of the grandiosity that epic black metal is known for is lost in the process, however. Even if Kingdom in Fire isn’t a slower, drum machine-driven trek through Middle-Earth à la Summoning it may still demand a good deal of patience from the listener, as it’s centered around three 12-14 minute songs (each followed by a shorter dungeon synth track).
As someone who doesn’t care for power metal all that much, I find it intriguing how black metal bands with a sound existing in a space ostensibly adjacent to power metal (like Bloody Valkyria and countrymen Moonlight Sorcery) are able to pique my interest to such a degree. There has to be more to it than just replacing the operatic cleans with blackened rasps, right? Maybe not, as I’m not sure I’d enjoy Kingdom in Fire as much if the vocals were high-pitched and oversung as a lot of power metal is to my ears. Nevertheless, this damn fine debut is just the shot in the arm that the epic black metal subgenre desperately needs at this moment in time. If a sound as grandiose as Echoes of Battle with the sharp intensity of Piercing through the Frozen Eternity (albeit with less shredding) seems up your alley, journey no further.
Kingdom in Fire will be available September 6 through Northern Silence Productions. For more information on Bloody Valkyria, check out their Facebook page.
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I’ll admit that I never gave Norway’s Eldamar a proper listen before this album, dismissing them as another one of many B-tier Summoning copycats. With a professed shift away from themes of nature and magic and that gorgeous album cover from the late master of the surreal Mariusz Lewandowski, I decided this act deserved a second chance — with Astral Journeys Pt. I : Creation, Eldamar have 100% earned the right to use his artwork for this gorgeous atmospheric black metal opera(?). I say opera because there’s really no other way to describe how Astral Journeys unfolds; just listen to the bombastic first minutes of the opening track “Akt I; First sight of a new realm…” with its mellotron-driven refrain, shimmering keyboard melodies, and soaring guitar solo to see what I mean.
This two-act, six-part mix of ambient soundscapes, heavy chords, and pensive clean guitar (even venturing near indie rock territory on “Akt II; …together…”) is almost entirely instrumental — vocals do appear at several points on the album, but are themselves non-lyrical rasps merely serving as another character in the cast. Normally something without much going on in terms of song structure would bore me, but there’s great care in telling a story entirely through music here; the choice to omit any decipherable lyrics proves to be a very effective one as it allows the music to conjure up any number of images and emotions based on the listener’s own interpretations. This is only the first of two parts, and with how beautiful Creation is I’m eagerly anticipating the conclusion of Astral Journeys.
Astral Journeys Pt. I : Creation will also be available September 6 through Northern Silence Productions. For more information on Eldamar, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.
— Colin
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