Summer is supposed to be the time when major blockbuster movies choke theaters to death, and the big blood-racing adventures rake in hundreds of millions of dollars. Stormkeep and their medieval dungeon black metal likely won’t draw millions of people to their shows, but they have enough energy packed into their music to explode worlds.
Their second full-length is “The Nocturnes of Iswylm,” another spectacular, violent, ice-packed crusher that visits the adventure world they’ve conjured on these seven tracks and 45 rousing minutes. The band members—vocalist/guitarist/drummer/keyboard player Otheyn Vermithrax, guitarist Apokteino, bassist Nebula Husk, keyboard player Lord Dahthar—hail from other noteworthy forces such as Wayfarer and Blood Incantation, but this is something entirely different. This is like these four musicians transformed into different characters, drawing upon something only they can summon.
“The Taste of Immortal Blood” dawns in synth beams before the pace tears open, shrieks marring as fantastical zaps make your blood race. The chorus is melodic and rousing, ravaging with pure electricity, creaky speaking jabbing, keys dancing over the bloody ground. The leads explode as the tempo turns more violent, the final moments gushing away. “The Black Dragons of Iswylm” crushes, mangling howls driving, keys blasting as the atmosphere grows balmy. Speed explodes and rips, the howls choking, the playing dashing to a finish. “Saccharine Subjugation” is delirious, the vocals smearing as the playing punishes, a force taking hold and aggravating the weather. Screams blister as clean calls bellow, moody guitars extend their reach, and the murk darkens, coming to a cloudy end.
“Imperious Sanguine Eroticism” basks in chilling synth, clean singing sweeping through, the gothy elements swelling, scratchy vocals bruising as sounds blur. Singing bellows as organs pump, guitars flutter, and an elegance glimmers in the sky, classical acoustics taking you home. “Echoes in the Vasts of Sequestration” is clean and surging at the start, the frostiness increasing as howls crackle and guitars hit the gas pedal. The terror and savagery multiply as the speed tangles, group chants rouse, and the vocals quake before zapping out. “Carnal Tapestries of Nailtorn Flesh” is thunderous, synth scorching, guitars racing as the punishment continues. Growls punish as the playing both fires up and freezes over, a cinematic burst glows, and the keys flush before fading. Closer “Ballad of a Fallen Star” runs 9:28, entering into the fog, the guitars igniting, a melodic storm frothing and spilling over. The excitement jolts and clean singing warps, the guitars layering with warmth, a calm arriving on the back of acoustics. Power soars again as the leads go off, the singing belts and flexes, and the synth elevates the drama, your senses flood a final time.
“The Nocturnes of Iswylm” provides plenty of adventures and a total blizzard of black metal, Stormkeep totally upping the ante from their full-length debut that was a force to behold. Whether or not you’re into the happenings of their fantasy world, you can’t avoid getting swept up by their thunderous energy that easily can capture you. This is a frigid crusher at the start of the hotter months, a strange time to land but perhaps a fitting one when the need for distraction increases every day.
For more on the band, go here: https://stormkeep-odl.bandcamp.com/music
To buy the album, go here: https://linktr.ee/vesperian#548877761
For more on the label, go here: https://www.metalblade.com/us/
And here: https://www.vesperian.world/
Meat Mead Metal 