As much as modern black metal lends itself to continuously pushing the boundaries of the genre, I find that some of my favorite releases in recent years — Tales of Othertime, Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity, Death and the Twilight Hours — have their foundations in classic sounds, but through sheer song and riff-writing abilities manage to feel fresh and new, as if I’m 15 years old discovering the dark majesty of black metal again for the very first time. The latest release to exemplify this concept comes from Dutch one-man act Marrow of Man; taking razor-sharp riffs and inflecting them with an incredible sense of melody and pacing, debut full-length Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse brings classic sounds forward to 2024 with precision and ease fit for a veteran act.

“Blazing Trumpets of Cessation” kicks off the album in fairly standard fashion with trem picking, blast beats, and plenty of evil chords that have characterized black metal since its inception — what becomes soon clear however, is the tightness found in both the playing and songwriting on display. Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse is all killer, no filler. I often go for the meditative repetition offered in the more atmospheric side of the genre, but for riff-focused black metal such as this the quicker transitions are very effective at keeping a forward momentum going. A majority of tracks exist in the four-to-five minute range, with riffs neither overstaying their welcome nor being cycled through too quickly; take the one-two punch of “He Who Rides the Pale Horse” and “Divine Right” as examples of what makes this album work so well. Both songs are centered on just a small handful of riffs, but sometimes less really is more. The former is a Bathory-esque 120 bpm stomp that abruptly goes into ascending melodic lines and a devastating pseudo-thrash palm muted finale, while the latter track almost feels like a long lost At the Heart of Winter b-side; yet what takes “Divine Right” from good to great is the secret sauce that makes Ancient Hymns resonate so much with me — the way melody is used throughout the album.

Anyone following 9C since I joined the site knows I make no bones about my love for melodic black metal, a love spurred in recent years by bands like Stormkeep and Moonlight Sorcery. While these bands utilize melody in more of an epic, bombastic sense suiting fantastical settings, what Sahand Mozdbar has done with Marrow of Man is inflect melody into a more distinctively second-wave sound in a way I have yet to hear anyone else do in such a manner. Where others may hem and haw about not sounding “trv kvlt” enough, on Ancient Hymns he just goes ahead and charges forward with no hesitation. No song epitomizes this notion better than “Beyond the Frozen Meadows,” not just my favorite track on the album but one that has dethroned Ulcerate’s “To See Death Just Once” as my song of the year. A certified banger that sets a new standard for what it means for black metal to truly sound triumphant, every subsequent second of this song had me going “oh man, he’s really doing it” on first listen… ~50 plays later it still hits just as hard, all thanks to the confidence in the melodic components showcased throughout. If there’s any downside to Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse it’s that the rest of the album doesn’t quite recover from the high of “Frozen Meadows” — thankfully the subsequent track “At the End of Everything” begins with a slow, melancholic intro to ease us back into the black metal fury.

Black metal is of course not known for “good” production, but Mozdbar knocks it out of the park in that respect as well; guitars just raw enough to scratch that classic black metal itch without losing sense of what’s being played, thunderous bass holding down the low end (and with audible flourishes throughout the album to boot!), mystical keys that enhance the more melodic sections of the album, an appropriately venomous vocal performance, and some of the best programmed drums I’ve ever heard… bedroom black metal musicians take note! Such a perfect sonic palette being entirely self-produced is a whole other feat on its own, on top of the quality of the songwriting itself.

As far as debut albums from up-and-coming artists go, Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse is just about the best that you can ask for. Taking long-established black metal sounds and inflecting both an impeccable sense of melody and an ear for what simply sounds good, Marrow of Man makes the music established on Under the Sign, De Mysteriis, and more feel fresh and young again. Blazing, staccato riffs, blistering leads and solos, crushing downtempo riffs, and a hell of a lot more come together to make a fantastic debut. I love many of the directions modern black metal is going, but sometimes we need a reminder of what made the genre so great in the first place. Ancient Hymns does that and more, and I hope many others take note of what this new force on the scene has to offer.

— Colin

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Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse will be available digitally September 7, with a physical release TBA through Fiadh Productions. For more information on Marrow of Man, check out their Instagram page.