Review Summary: A Time of Magick, Wonder and Evil
Stormkeep burst out of the caves of mountainous Colorado in 2021 with “Tales of Othertime”, and after half a decade conspiring, have concocted their second brew, “The Nocturnes of Iswylm”. Despite my initial (and misplaced) indifference to “Tales of Othertime”, Stormkeep’s symphonic black metal reputation demanded further exploration of the lands of Iswylm, an imagined universe tantamount to Immortal’s Blashyrkh.
Fear and Wonder strings ring in “The Taste of Immortal Blood” as we are “awakened by the carnality of hunger”, truly a Transylvanian Hunger, “a rite of endless opulence, a bacchanal of feeding” in an urgent opening stanza. The four-piece of Otheyn Vermithrax (vocals, guitars, keyboards, recording drums), Nebula Husk (bass), Apokteino (guitars) and Lord Dahthar (keyboards) are clearly bewitched by the charms of 90s symphonic black metal and have an innate sense of both its songwriting flair and balance. To this end, album art track “The Black Dragons of Iswylm”, featuring swirling keys and guitar histrionics, serves as a platform for coming tracks without delving into excess.
With its castle podium set, Stormkeep are able to venture forth with “Saccharine Subjugation” as synths reminiscent of “IX Equilibrium”-era Emperor give the album a hefty dose of nostalgia. Adding to this saccharine brew is an unmistakable embrace of Bal-Sagoth’s traditions in transitions and vocal echoes, “Requiem of agony… agony!”. The fade-out and fade-in of the ensuing “Imperious Sanguine Eroticism” casts a new spell on the record with a gothic serenade sweeping through. Vermithrax here, more than anywhere else in “The Nocturnes of Iswylm”, is able to conjure a melodic aura with his clean vocals that channel The Vision Bleak and Midnight Odyssey.
Having influences is one thing, having an identity is entirely another. With Stormkeep in a deeply creative phase, “The Nocturnes of Iswylm” is a high point in symphonic black metal in 2026, a genre conceived to capture the darkness of celestial contemplation. In this spirit, the band deliver “Echoes In The Vasts Of Sequestration”, pairing its savagery with Latin chanting “In nomine sanguinis
serpens domine”, to conclude that “The blood of serpents in my veins, through me it will become black”.
The spines of “In the Nightside Eclipse” needle “Carnal Tapestries Of Nailtorn Flesh” with Stormkeep layering intricate riffing under lead accents before the record’s most compelling breakdown, heralded by “The curse of the moon, shining all appetites in black!”. The imprints of producer Michael Zech are felt throughout the record, not least The Ruins of Beverast-esque strumming intro to the closer, a sinister touch and tone in its own right. Long-form epitaphs are overdone in this style, yet “Ballad of a Fallen Star” generates new momentum for the album as Stormkeep tell a final tale, “A time of magick, wonder and evil” that gives these Nocturnes of Iswylm a fitting grandeur.
