Review Summary: The most badass EP of 2026?
Full video review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKPD2_ud8Qs
Blackbraid has been on a ridiculous run. Their third album,
Blackbraid III, dropped last year and was easily one of my favourite metal albums of 2025 — an absolutely massive, melodic, atmospheric black metal record that everything you love about classic black metal with Indigenous People's heritage, mythos, and spiritual themes.
Nocturnal Womb features two tracks from the
Blackbraid III sessions that deemed were too dark and brutal to fit the album, and if you heard
III, you know what a statement that is. This EP also includes an acoustic re-imagining of a fan-favourite from the second album, tying the release off with something more atmospheric and reflective.
Right away, the title track is the heaviest track Blackbraid has released to date. Full scale devastation with blistering riffs, thunderous blast beats, and vocals that sound like Jon Krieger morphed into a grizzly bear. You now get deep, blood-curdling gutturals right alongside those higher pitched traditional black metal shrieks. It’s absolutely feral. The production for both the new tracks is very “classic black metal” with high-distortion guitars and drums mixed deliciously loud. For my money, the riffs hold up with the best of Immortal and other second-wave legends
'Celestial Bloodlust' is another high tempo, high energy banger. It's a pure adrenaline shot that feels like being chased through the woods by a giant stag. The riffs rip, the drums gallop, and the vocals again absolutely rip ass. Krieger might genuinely have the best vocals in black metal today — everything he does is throat-shredding and full of power.
'Barefoot Ghost Dancing on Blood Soaked Soil (Acoustic)' is an acoustic version of a track from Blackbraid’s second album, and while it definitely feels like a “bonus track,” its still pretty cool. It leans into the woods-y outdoors-y vibe Blackbraid has established. It sounds like music to sit around the campfire to, or music to accompany a training montage for a young indigenous warrior. It adds some balance to the EP’s brutality, reminding you that Blackbraid’s core identity isn’t just heaviness — it’s heritage, nature, and mythology.
Nocturnal Womb is an absolutely killer EP, delivering two of the most vicious tracks Blackbraid has ever put out, plus a haunting acoustic piece to round things off. If this is the direction of travel for the project, color me ***ing stoked for where it goes next.
