Spectral Wound bring the fun back into Black Metal. No, not the Black‘n‘Roll kinda fun that we enjoyed with Kvelertak but the kind of classic Black Metal sound that is defined by angry, fast, raucous attacks and some real Punk attitude where the only alternative to fast is faster!
Yes, this is classic Black Metal in its best sense! The Quebec-based quintet shows that some of the best stuff in this genre is the one where the change of speed does not necessarily mean a long, winded slower part – here a tempi shift indicates a punchy rollercoaster blastbeat that aims at going even 20 bpm than the already indescribably fast speed that opened a track. This notion becomes already obvious in the Motörhead meets Bathory opener ”Fevers and Suffering” - where we get some true Punk meets Black Metal vibes and which set the tone for the whole record to follow.
However, please do not think, that the five guys from the dark North of the Northern American continent are trying to make fun of the genre, that is not the case and would also not fit to any band from the realms of Metal Noir Quebecois. No, their version of Black Metal surely plays homage to the early classics especially those who try to mix some melodic passages into their songs, just listen to the amazing middle part of the second song, ”At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls”, where the whole band takes a tiny notch down and vocalist Jonah can show his skills a bit clearer, but never turning into some kind of clean vocalist.
”Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal” is a hit. Simple as that. Expect it to be played over and over again in the Black Metal location of your choice. Here the rhythm section can shine with some really well executed stops that are rather minute but so adequate that it feels as if they are trying to give your vertebrae the chance to kick into place before you damage them again! Everything is simply perfect on this track and it will remain an earworm for days on end, once it has entered your ears. ”Join us!” / “Join us in decline!” might be the closest a Black Metal song has come to a classic Hardcore call-and-response moment in years. Even that short middle passage is not really stepping down but just a short, short breath before the last seconds round off the amazing track.
The way that they incorporate punk passages that give the songs some differentiated structure is obvious everywhere, but the way that they do it is really phenomenal. The difference between these guys and bands like Kvelertak or Ondt Blod (who are amazing, don’t get me wrong!) is the background – with Spectral Wound it is clear from the very first second that they are steeped and knee-deep in the classic Black Metal sound from the Scandinavian scene of the 80s and 90s whereas many other bands (including the two above) are also connected to a Hardcore or Punk background.
Even though many of your fellow Quebec Black Metal comrades like Givre perform a high-quality kind of Atmospheric Black Metal, Spectral Wound display a certain knack for melody in a different way. They’re not historians searching for a social clarity, no their songs find their ideas somewhere different, even though they are also somewhat of a criticism, looking to show people how they are being led astray by the upper echelons of society and politics. Spectral Wound clad their ragingly pulsating songs sometimes with Latin descriptions like ”Lacryma Caedis, dulce et decorum est” (“The tears of slaughter, it is sweet and honorful” from the “The Horn Marauding”), the latter part being a quote by Roman philosopher Horace when he was talking about how adequate it would be to die fighting for his country. The guys here take it as the basis for their following description ”Wastes beyond wastes within / Blood cuts the bed of the river / Swallowed unfelt by the sea”. Spectral Wound like to call to the gods for their mercy and enlightenment but also for the chance to wade through blood and places of massacre (of the fiends charging towards them).
Thus we can see, that their rage, as unbelievably fast as it may be, is not a blind one, not a stupid of silly one. It is one of a clear and powerful mind. One strong and steadfast enough to pursue its mission even amid the most thunderous of melodies, and that might be the “funniest” thing about Spectral Wound, and about Songs of Blood and Mire - their ability to bottle thunder and lightning and then seal it with a pretty skillful set of verses in order to make it only more so enjoyable to open this treasure trove.
