Thromdaar
“NorthStorm Arrives” (Solistitium Records, 2000)

24 years ago, a band from Riihimäki, Kanta-Häme, Finland, released their full-length, “NorthStar Arrives”, on Solistitium Records (a label that is making a comeback). In its time, it was not seen as a massive release, but more of a standard record. And that is not bad at all. I like standard albums!

So why did I jump into it? Well, I was checking some of the label’s releases from the Past, and Finland hit. If you are looking for Black Metal played the old way, you got it. This is a melodic release, and not an ultra-fast one! It has bits of Black Metal, of Heavy Metal, and even of Death Metal, in a fusion of genres and sounds. It is a pleasant release, and that is great. One of those records you put on and the sound is great, the guitars are really cool, the vocals are au-point, the drums are straightforward… all in all, the record is a solid one.

And at times, this is exactly what I look for: solid and simplistic Black Metal.

Pagan Warlord
“Forests of Old” (Independent/Hermetic Blood Order Records, 2024)

Hermetic Blood Order Records is the label that re-released, on Tape, “When the Wolves Return to the Forest”, from Spanish Pagan Black Metal titans, Nazgul, and that is immediately a positive mark. Jokes aside, HBO does have a keen eye for quality and scrolling through their social media you get an idea of the excellence. Pagan Warlord if the act for today, and although it came out a while back, I have not had the time to sit down and savour it, but today was the day.

Probably assembled in 2023, the Swedish duo has released 2 Demos prior to this one, and if the level of craftmanship is the same, we are in for an amazing listening experience. Well, Pagan Warlord’s Black Metal could be considered quite simple: straightforward Old School guitar riffs, stomping drums and cold vocals, which is all I love in Black Metal. I dare say we have bits of Pagan Black Metal sound, although I feel they never take “centre stage”; some elements are present, but never in a massive weight, and never with a dominating influence over the overall sound. Well-balanced, I say.

“Forests of Old” is a very well-structured Demo, a perfect piece of what Black Metal should sound – and look – like, and this makes me happy! It is a cloudy, greyish Friday, and this is the perfect soundtrack. Amazing.

Balnasar
“Ein Kalter Nachtgedanke” (Schwaerze Productions, 2006)

I became acquainted with Balnasar very recently, and have no idea how I got to them. Later, while searching a bit more about the band, I found out that both elements that compose Balnasar, are also the same lads from Shores of Ladon. I really like Shores of Ladon and their warm and majestic sound, so I had to give Balnasar a go.

The band’s sound lives in between genres, I dare say. If we look at the music from the vocal’s standpoint, I will say Depressive; however, the instrumental side leads me towards an Ambient Black Metal experience. I feel they live with one foot in each, trying to fuse both. Nonetheless, I like the combination they crafted. Does it sound, at times, misplaced? Yes, it does; the fact that the vocals are sol buried beneath the overall production makes it hard to truly enjoy it, and that is a shame. Instrumental side of the album is quite good, great melodies and atmospheres, very majestic and pompous, in a good way; “Regen” is a great example of how the music grows and grows, and where the Ambient side hits harder.

Tracks are lengthy, yes, but the listener is taken on such a journey that at a certain point he will drift away and simply exist. A great piece of Black Metal.