You can’t help but gaze into the vast night sky and feel a little lonely. There is so much beyond our world, possibly planets similar to ours struggling with the same issues, forces and beings we cannot possibly imagine. It’s easy to feel small and insignificant knowing you’re but a speck of dust in an entire universe, a place almost all of us never will get to explore.
Those feelings comes on pretty strong when taking on “These Nameless Worlds,” the new EP from Swedish black metal duo Lightlorn, as they offer a small sojourn into the unknown. Over four immersive tracks, the band—multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Renwar, drummer/programmer Riaan—flood these songs with cosmic atmosphere that fills your mind with tingling sensations and makes it easy to imagine leaving this place and finding out what lies beyond the Earth. The music might be epic in nature and fills your eyes with stars, but the thorns are sharp, and you won’t have a ride sans turbulence. It’s spirited and adventurous, sending jolts down your spine and opening your imagination to its fullest.
“Unmapped Constellations” opens with synth hovering as notes drip to the earth before the energy engages. Wild shrieks pierce the sky as spacious melodies race to the stars, the guitars eventually easing and bringing somber tones. That’s a buffer for another huge explosion, riffs charging and encircling, shrieks gusting, and the emotion charging away. “Through the Cold Black Yonder” guts right away as Renwar’s shrieks crush your ribcage, and then the riffs encircle and make the room spin out of control. Some poppier moments bring levity as keys drip and echo, riffs cascade, and the power increases before slipping into spacious numbness. Melodies gush again, keys plink, and every element slips behind the sun. “Dilation Sleep” dawns amid chiming guitars and a rush of fire, crushing and letting emotions gather in a flood. Foggy guitars mars your vision as the synth rises, clean calling icing your wounds and sending chills through your nervous system. The playing all of a sudden pounds away, riffs splatter, and vile howls drive home the daggers. Closer “Stargazing in the Abyss” eases in, the synth blazing and the riffs exploding with devastating power. The vocals wrench as the playing takes on a cool New Wave feel even if briefly, the playing lapping in cold water. Heartfelt chaos is mounted as the guitars gasp lava, the energy catapults, and everything burns off, leaving trails in the sky.
“These Nameless Worlds” contains so many different competing feelings, you might need a few trips through this Lightlorn EP to get a true hold of what these songs mean to you and what is their ultimate impact. It’s easy to slap the cosmic black metal label on something just because it’s immersed in more atmospheric and strange energy, but that descriptor truly fits here. This feels like whipping through the universe, the majesty and vastness making themselves apparent, the heartfelt force of what you’re witnessing making everything inside you shake and shift.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/lightlorn
To buy the album, go here: https://lightlorn.bandcamp.com/
Meat Mead Metal 