Review Summary: Raw, triumphant, unforgettable.
For a band making such exceptional black metal, Seattle’s Ebony Pendant sure seem to enjoy keeping a low internet profile. So low in fact that although I’ve seen them pop up on at least two somewhat recent local live bills, and on a split with Lamp of Murmuur, I simply made a note to check out their music sometime. Well, following a long period of procrastination I’m feeling like a real chump because the band’s self-titled album, released in 2023, is one of the best modern raw USBM records I’ve heard.
Ebony Pendant is an album brimming with malevolent atmosphere, devious melody and refined aggression. It’s a deftly crafted black metal album in which the rawness belies the meticulous construction, packed with mournful leads and acoustic breakdowns. “Immortal Son of Damnation” showcases in a single track all of Ebony Pendant’s songwriting strengths. Kicking off with familiar minor chord riffing and croaking vocals, it spends the rest of its nearly six-minute runtime building and then shifting mountains of driving and frequently melodic passages before melting into a bleedingly raw and folky midsection. The drums know exactly when to switch from gallops to blasts, changing their phrasing to inject new energy. The guitars feel like vicious buzzsaws tearing through the mix and are always firmly at the forefront. Interspersed throughout the album are two acoustic interludes (“A Castle in the Woods,” “Spiritual Siphoning”) and a dungeon synth cut (“The Cave Temple”). In less capable hands these respites could feel like filler, but on this record they’re perfectly embedded, contrasting and enhancing the frigid full-length tracks.
Even at nearly an hour runtime,
Ebony Pendant flies by. Every song has its own unique character and includes at least one moment that demands your attention. It’s halfway through “The Impermanence of All” where the drums pull back, letting the guitars spiral in the void before crashing back down. It's also the long post rock buildup on “Whispers of a Nameless Fear’ that swells to a yearning and emotional halftime climax before morphing into icy tremolos. I’m sure a criticism of this album is that it proffers a sound most black metal fans are familiar with, and you’ll find no argument from me. Ebony Pendant isn’t reinventing the genre here, but rather distilling it into peak form. This album is well worth the time required for a proper listen and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
