Review Summary: Flesh remembers but time forgets.
The early years of Canadian combatants Panzerfaust completely passed me by. I was somehow oblivious to their activities until the smack on the mouth that was “The Suns of Perdition I: War, Horrid War” in 2019, which forcibly put the band on my and many others’ radar with its oppressive and formidable character. They managed to follow it up with an even more powerful record just a year later, the second chapter of the intended tetralogy “Render Unto Eden”, a monstrous work expressed with relentless black metal mastery that peaked for me at that time and hasn’t lost even a bit of its grotesque grandeur since. Despite the potential and the momentum, the band hit the wall on the third chapter “The Astral Drain”, which wasn’t nearly as effective as the first two, featuring slightly too prolonged interlude exploitation and not that much meat on its riffs. For that, and when the concluding part of the “Suns of Perdition” series was announced under the title “To Shadow Zion”, I had to approach it with caution.
Thankfully, Panzerfaust has triumphantly reclaimed their creative faculties with this release, a resounding embodiment of their personal sound and maybe the finest iteration of their artistic identity. “To Shadow Zion” showcases the band at their best self, pushing forth an unyielding barrage of dense riffs, haunting melodies and an overwhelming atmosphere in what seems to me the most balanced and acutely structured album they have put out so far. Being under the same conceptual roof, the album shares the overarching thematics of “The Suns of Perdition” about how we’re all slowly but steadily circling the drain, often framed with visceral allegories that amplify the weight of an already musically heavy record. In the end, there’s no resolution offered, only the catharsis of acknowledging humanity’s darker impulses and ultimate decline.
“To Shadow Zion” flows seamlessly and brims with highlights. The album’s first two tracks unravel in fiery intensity and immediately strike a chord to see Panzerfaust back in form, with production and compositional ideas being fully on point. Intricate musical arrangements that feature dynamic tempo and tone shifts already take hold in the amazing opener “The Hesychasm Unchained”, which ends in an epic manner that reminds of Mgła even more than usual in a Panzerfaust record. “When Even the Ground Is Hostile” is the shortest piece and clearly the most savage, dripping in calculated malice and breathtaking riffing, as well as rocking an emphatic “*** hope” chant at the end (remember the closing lines of “With Heart Toward None IV”).
The faster, more ferocious moments throughout the album are my favorite, but there are multiple wonderful embedded slower sections in between the tracks and this time, Panzerfaust have hit the nail on the head with their songwriting. For example, “The Damascene Conversions” explores a slower, almost liturgical dirge, with the stand out use of the traditional instrument baglama, where I was caught completely off guard by how much it aligns with the rest of the instrumentation, making Taake’s banjo sound like a joke. “Occam’s ***ing Razor” also takes its time to develop but features a totally unhinged, frenetic part in the middle / end, and the only rather minor objection I would raise if under pressure, is the fact that the last track “To Shadow Zion (No Solace)” drags on for too long, bringing back sins from the past. Still, it manages to build up a potent, epic finale for the record during its last few minutes, which maintains the overall positive impression of the record.
One of the few points I appreciated in “The Astral Drain” was the drumming, and it’s exactly as remarkable this time. Then, the instrumentation is always complemented by the stellar vocal delivery from Kaizer / Goliath, with growling and screaming that echoes rage as well as resignation. As a whole, “To Shadow Zion” brings us what we deserve: a profound, immersive black metal record with both a brooding as well as destructive side, intertwined with a challenging lyrical approach and a daring, intimidating band presence to go along with it. "The Suns of Perdition" wraps up with the finest flourish of them all, and Panzerfaust’s most focused, determined form is truly a spectacle.
