Review Summary: This is the way: Tolkien-inspired black-heavy metal.
Morgul Blade is an American heavy metal band that not just has one of the coolest band names (the iconic weapon of the Ringwraiths in The Lord of the Rings) but also has a musically interesting concept. Specifically, Morgul Blade boldly experiments with the fusion of
heavy metal (or early power metal)
and black metal. There have been other bands operating in a similar style (like Mortuary Drape or Malokarpatan), but Morgul Blade significantly differs from other black-heavy bands in that the black metal component in their mix takes a considerably smaller part.
The black metal elements are mostly present in the vocals (provided by
Rich Klaus since the beginning), but alongside the typical harsh vocals, the band's style also includes epic clean singing. Their 2021 debut album (
Fell Sorcery Abounds) featured quite a few tracks with clean singing, or in this record in the song "Widow's Lament." In my opinion, changing the balance of vocal styles on this year's album was fortunate, as
Heavy Metal Wraiths is built around black metal's savage vocals, which I think helps the band to find uniqueness. Instrumentally, Morgul Blade has always played a somewhat harder-than-average heavy metal, characterized by strong mid-tempo gallops and fine solos (somewhat like Eternal Champion). On this album, they've added some tremolo riffs to the mix (like in "Frostwyrm Cavalry"), and I find this measured style fusion both elegant and exciting. Another strength of this album is the respectful nod to old-school dungeon synth, mainly in the form of short interludes. Despite their brevity, these elements felt like significantly positive additions to the album for me. For instance, the synthesizers at the end of "Beneath the Black Sails" successfully evoked the enchanting mystical charm of the dungeon synth genre, which fits excellently to Morgul Blade's concept.
In my opinion, bands that experiment in this way have great potential, especially considering that genres as "ancient" as heavy metal are particularly difficult to be steered towards innovation. Carefully crafted albums like this can successfully introduce new flavors to the genre. Highly recommended for everyone.
