Spectral Wound – Songs of Blood and Mire

Band: Spectral Wound
Album: Songs of Blood and Mire
Label: Profound Lore Records
Release date: August 23, 2024
Country: Canada
Format reviewed: High Quality Digital Recording

To start off, I would like to mention something: If you aren’t listening to Spectral Wound, then what are you doing with your life? A black metal entity that reared its head for the first time back in 2015, Spectral Wound quickly became known in underground black metal circles for their crisp and well-written music. Their 2021 effort, “A Diabolic Thirst”, in particular, became somewhat of a modern classic, due to its ominous atmosphere and high quality compositions. Given all of this, there is no surprise that the announcement of “Songs of Blood and Mire” would establish it from the start as one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2024. Now that it is finally out, I, and pretty much everyone else that listened to it would agree that it was worth the wait. Before I deep dive into it, however, I would like to mention that Spectral Wound are an incredible live act. I had the chance to see them back in 2023 at Rockstadt Extreme Fest, and I was blown away. All musicians in the band have great mastery over their instruments, and the energy of the concert was incredible. I would definitely love to see them once again.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let’s get to it!

The album opens of with “Fevers and Suffering”, and right of the bat you can tell that this is going to be insanely good. The track starts out with a foreboding riff, that is soon joined by the rest of the instruments, exploding into a high energy, yet eerie passage, that sets the perfect backdrop for the chaos about to ensue. The piercing screeches of the vocalist cut through the music, while the frozen sounding music shrouds the listener into the trademark darkness of high quality black metal. Both the drum work and guitar work are undoubtedly complex, and the bass adds another layer of depth, overall making the song itself sound more abyssal.

“At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls” continues with the same intensity of its predecessor, but with a much more epic atmosphere and several medieval sounding melodies incorporated within the riffs. It exudes power in its most unadulterated form, in every aspect of the composition. Along with the epic riffs, the tireless drumming oozes energy, and the high shrills that make up the vocal performance give “At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls” a very noticeable sharpness, that goes hand in hand with the production of the album. Do not forget however, that the song retains the eerie, dark qualities of its predecessor.

Moving on, “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal” is surprisingly, one hell of a headbanger. When I first saw the title, I could have sworn that it would be a DSBM inspired track, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out that it is one of the grooviest songs on the album. The riffs, although not as triumphant, still carry that epic feeling prevalent on the previous track. There are even some faint black ‘n’ roll traces in the guitar work, but which add another layer of complexity to the song. The vocal performance retains its style, although the phrasing of the lyrics is definitely somewhat more melodic than before. Overall, this is definitely one of my personal favorites.

Another headbanger is “The Horn Marauding”, which takes the groovy elements of “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal” and blends them together with the power and epicness of “At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls”. It is, in my opinion, one of, if not the best song on the album, both due to its unique blend of elements, bone chilling atmosphere and incredible performance. Every little detail is where it is supposed to be, and listening to this track, I can’t help but feel a bizarre sense of satisfaction. The way the faster and slower moments are placed is perfect, and overall, “The Horn Marauding” is an undoubtedly satisfying listen. If you want to get into Spectral Wound, this may just be your ticket.

“Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit” (what a great song title though), is a high-paced epic that still somehow manages to put out an atmosphere of misanthropy. The overall mood and sound of the song is much darker than on other similar songs from the album, and I find that to be a particularly good shift, because of the contrast it creates with the rest of the songs. Another quirk of this track is the fact that the vocal performance becomes slightly more diverse, including low, airy howls in the more dramatic moments of the song, The instrumental maintains the high standard of previous tracks, with perhaps even more experimentation included in the songwriting.

Approaching the end of the record, “A Coin Upon the Tongue” is an ominous, stormy song that combines multiple musical motifs from all over the album into one huge manifestation of darkness. The riffs shift from being melodic to almost dissonant sounding at times, which makes the guitar work seem very chaotic at times. It is probably the darkest sounding song on the album, and I think its placement towards the end of the album emphasizes this feeling even more. It also has an interesting air of drama, which stems both from the guitar work and vocal performance.

The album closes up with “Twelve Moons in Hell”. It follows a similar musical trajectory to its predecessor, but it also adds a hint of melancholy into the mix. Compared to the rest of the album, the instrumentation is slightly more stripped down, trait that only emphasizes that feeling of loneliness even more, in some way. Overall, I would say this is a very fitting end for the album, particularly due to its meditative, almost transcendental quality, that feels almost like cold wind blowing in your face.

All of these being said, “Songs of Blood and Mire” is a fantastic record. It is both intricate and easy to listen, it has memorable songs and excellent performances by all band members. This is black metal done skillfully. I highly recommend everyone to go listen to it. 10/10 vy Ioanna

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10/10 Immortal Classic
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