The first release of this one-man band is a surprising masterpiece of atmospheric black metal that would be hard to surpass. Such a feat was not achieved on the second incursion of the artist, but has it been reached with this third work?
Starting with the beautiful album cover, designed by artists Adam Burke and Arian Baxter, painted in purple tones within a nocturnal and highly atmospheric landscape.
The 52 minutes of music from Blackbraid III begin with a short instrumental introduction that works as the opening of this indigenous ritual, with a dense atmosphere and a hypnotizing melodic mist. The guitars deliver melodic black metal while the drums unleash blast beats as if nature itself were releasing a storm of rage, rain, and wind—interspersed with calmer passages of more melodic black metal.
The album alternates between more aggressive melodic black metal tracks and highly ambient instrumentals filled with the sounds of nature.
God of Black Blood is the track that stands out the most. It begins almost like a march of unleashed rage, with tremolos that seduce us into guttural vocal evisceration. It feels like an indigenous ritual, binding itself to the soul with many different movements, even including a moment of brilliance with a flute… The guitar solo, near the end, is the climax—the blessing, the conclusion of the ritual.
Verdict:
This third incursion of Blackbraid continues to move away from the debut album, being more melodic than atmospheric. Nevertheless, it remains a sublime work of black metal that will appeal both to more conservative fans and to new explorers of the genre.
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