You don’t believe words have power? I was there in the trenches when the mysterious Denver, CO unit (don’t call them supergroup, even if they’re a group that’s super) Stormkeep uttered in print the words that caused undue headaches and overarching expectations when it came to their previous release, 2021’s Tales of Othertime:

“Limited Edition.”

Tales are still told: carnal stories of misprinted tracking orders, severed limbs attempting to grab a pristine copy of the map included with the album. In the end, I gave it #22 on my end of year list, really based on that incredible riff that comes halfway through opener “The Seer.” The rest? Three really good epic black metal songs and two stretched-to-the-point-of-breaking instrumental interludes that padded out the album to full-length. Didn’t really listen all that much after.

All of which is to say, five years later I’m a crusty old turd who doesn’t give much of a shit about mythology, magic, and the mystique of black metal. I care that you don’t cover grandiose epic metal under the gauze of shitty black metal production that honestly did those tunes no favors. Did I still order a copy of The Nocturnes of Iswylm after only a single listen? You bet your ass I did (regular vinyl, though). This fixes all my issues, which means it’s probably infuriating everyone else. I’m fine with that.

So what’s different now? Not much; most tweaks are minor, so if you’re still looking for deep, fantasy world-building and myth-making, TNOI has you covered. The saga of The Seer takes a turn, descending into the consequences of the previous album’s actions by awakening the Dragon Queen. Oh, and becoming a vampire. It’s not my thing, but I admire how founder and guitarist/vocalist/writer Grandmaster Otheyn Vermithrax Poisontongue, aka Isaac Faulk of a few other bands of note, completely owns his influences and inspirations: there’s a great interview over at Invisible Oranges that goes into a ton of detail if that’s your thing.

My “thing” is the music end of it, and whether the band could overcome the scene hype, production misfires, and shaggy song structures while maintaining the blistering riffing and intensity I loved on debut Galdrum. And we get it! This is a much tighter, focused album, lean on any meandering interludes, everything feeling much more cohesive and in service to the songs. Seven unrelenting tracks, nothing over 10 minutes, and able to fit on a single record or one side of a standard mixtape? Perfection.

But there are a few more significant changes, ones that might have original fans getting the black metal equivalent of the vapors. Clean vocals feature prominently across The Nocturnes of Iswylm, adding an extra facet to the group’s sound, imbuing tracks like “Imperious Sanguine Eroticism” with added layers of drama, particularly mixed in with the next two things that are potentially more handkerchief raising: the dungeon-synth is gone, replaced with a grandiose, symphonic lilt reminiscent of Dimmu Borgir and – yes – my beloved Cradle of Filth. But rather than strive for over-the-top melodrama and theatrics, the album treats its strings and keyboards as integral partners to the dance, working alongside Vermithrax, guitarist Apokteino, bassist Nebula Husk, and Lord Dahthar on keyboards (all in the same or other fantastic bands and readily searchable) to feel like more than a tacked-on orchestration after the fact.

None of that would matter if the final piece of the puzzle wasn’t there to give life to the heavy Emperor-riffing of single “Carnal Tapestries of Nailtorn Flesh” or the blistering attack of “The Black Dragons of Iswylm.” Call me crazy, but I think they finally realized the only kind of production worthy of this music is the bombast of a proper power metal production. Working alongside producer Michael Zech and a stellar mastering job by man-of-many-talents Arthur Rizk, everything sounds huge and epic. Gone is the thin, compressed and icy sound, replaced with something bigger, bolder, but no less menacing in the way it captures and carries the instruments into the place I imagined when I look at the cover art (give it up for Simon Beasley).

That’s all I ever want from this music. Folks may not love the direction Stormkeep is traveling on The Nocturnes of Iswylm, but for me it’s the album that finally stands up to the band’s considerable reputation. Sometimes records can be a key, and I can’t wait to use it and return to this place where bands aren’t afraid to go big or go home.

– Chris

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The Nocturnes of Iswylm will be available June 12 from Vesperian Records. For more information on Stormkeep, check out their Bandcamp and Instagram pages.