Consuming the Tangible

You don’t believe words have power? I was there in the trenches when the mysterious Denver, CO unit (don’t call them supergroup, even if they’re a group that’s super) Stormkeep uttered in print the words that caused undue headaches and overarching expectations when it came to their previous release, 2021’s Tales of Othertime:

“Limited Edition.”

Tales are still told: carnal stories of misprinted tracking orders, severed limbs attempting to grab a pristine copy of the map included with the album. In the end, I gave it #22 on my end-of-year list, really based on the incredible riff that comes halfway through opener “The Seer.” The rest? Three really good epic black metal songs and two stretched-to-the-point-of-breaking instrumental interludes that padded out the album to full-length. Didn’t really listen all that much after.

All of which is to say, five years later I’m a crusty old turd who doesn’t give much of a shit about mythology, magic, and the mystique of black metal. I care that you don’t cover grandiose epic metal under the gauze of shitty black metal production that honestly did those tunes no favors. Did I still order a copy of The Nocturnes of Iswylm after only a single listen? You bet your ass I did (regular vinyl, though). This fixes all my issues, which means it’s probably infuriating everyone else. I’m fine with that.

Read the rest over at Nine Circles.

Going through the review again, it’s clear I had a bug up my ass about the whole experience with Tales of Othertime. Coupled with the thin production, it was never going to live up to my expectations. Nocturnes… on the other hand? Each listen gets better. I think the shift to something more grandiose and symphonic (a touch misleading; this is heavy on keys and ambience, not huge orchestral sweeps) in the vein of bands like Emperor and Dimmu Borgir — a band, incidentally, I’ve never been able to warm to — serves Stormkeep well, rather than lessening their overall aggression and attack.

As far as the songs go, I’ve become quite taken with opener “The Taste of Immortal Blood” — it’s such a clear shot across the bow signaling the group’s intent. The clean vocals work well, and the production is really robust, allowing the guitars to soar, the reverb and synths properly balanced, and the compression has been eased up just enough to allow the drums and layers of intertwined guitar lines to not feel like a jumble of live wires screaming in your face. Single “Carnal Tapestries of Nailtorn Flesh” continues to be a strong second-half track, but really I’m impressed with every single track here. No dumb fillers or segues (don’t worry; they’re baked into the songs), just track after track of killer melodic black metal unafraid to reach forward and backward at the same time.