Review Summary: Of beauty wrought in spirits sown.
So far, most bands with thematics about indigenous American traditions shroud themselves in mystery and raw, harsh production. Last year,
Blackbraid from the Adirondack mountains went against this norm and produced a record with as clean sound as possible, addictive to listen to and -being deliberately provocative by using the word- quite pleasingly catchy.
Blackbraid II storms in slightly less than a year later than their debut and evidently, it’s a piece from the same bread in almost every way.
All the fiery elements that made up
Blackbraid I are present in full force here as well. Explosive, pompous guitar lines mixed with middle-paced, melodic sections, wonderful acoustics and excellent use of the traditional flute to create its fantastic atmosphere, the record can catch the eye and hook the ear instantly. The two longest compositions in its middle, “Moss Covered Bones on the Altar of the Moon” and “A Song of Death on Winds of Dawn”, both clock above 10 minutes and are absolutely rewarding as they demonstrate all the weapons in
Blackbraid’s arsenal. Equally impressive is “The Wolf That Guides the Hunters Hand”, or the slower and more melancholic “Sadness and the Passage of Time and Memory”.
Blackbraid’s sense of coherence is impeccable, which is especially clear during the transitions from acoustic guitar interludes to the fuller, heavier tracks. The listener will come across an example of this already at the introduction of the album “Autumnal Hearts Ablaze” and how it gives way to “The Spirit Returns”. With very few currently active bands have I recognised such masterful consistency between tracks,
Kampfar being a name that comes to mind. Interesting is also the middle-paced piece “Twilight Hymn of Ancient Blood” that reminds a lot of modern
Rotting Christ, while the cover of the legendary “A Fine Way to Die” by
Bathory, fits perfectly as a closure for such a record.
Works that reach levels well above average hit the mark at multiple aspects. Along with impassioned and bombastic instrumentation, in
Blackbraid II you’re going to come across outstanding vocal work, and sensational lyricism that is also often possible to follow along. The drum work doesn’t miss out at any point too, and it’s quite difficult to find flaws of some sort in the album, if there are any. I might have preferred more of the fast-paced riffing since it is executed so well, but this personal preference does not mean much or change the fact that
Blackbraid II is indeed exceptional.
For better or for worse,
Blackbraid II sounds really similar to
Blackbraid I. The band’s overarching musical construction is fantastic, and has the potential to reach ears beyond extreme metal. Yet, I feel we’re now standing at a critical crossroads with a hidden lurking danger for
Blackbraid to become too much of the same, again and again. The mastermind behind it, Sgah'gahsowáh, is clearly charismatic, skilled, ambitious, and willing to put in the work that’s needed to make a “successful” black metal brand. With such a great follow-up release, it made me very curious about how the next
Blackbraid album will sound, or more accurately, how far from what we already know it will be. Until then, don’t listen to me, the crazy man of the village seeing demons where they’re not. You’ll enjoy this with your hearts.
