I had high hopes for the latest Spectral Wound album “Songs of Blood and Mire”, but even I wasn’t expecting it to be THIS great. It’s somehow ferocious, catchy, raw, melodic, diverse, dark, fun and full of swagger all at the same time. It combines pretty much everything I love about black metal. Of course there’s the big black metal trademarks: blast beats, tremolo riffs, high-pitched shrieks. But there’s also that little touch of rock n’roll that was only hinted at in the past and that is now more apparent - and it works greatly. They find many ways to incorporate bits of melody into riffs ranging from downright dirty to epic (but never cheesy), sometimes adding hints of shredding for some extra ecstasy. All of it is pushed forward by the excellent drumming. It isn’t extremely technical, but there’s a constant drive and there’s variety in the beats often culminating in a groove that’s rarely found in this genre. And while the vocals mainly stay very traditional (speak: shrieky), there’s somehow a certain catchiness to them. Dare I say I can detect some hooks? This is all packaged together by superb songwriting. Each song could work on its own and yet all of them together form a cohesive whole. This music is still way too extreme to become truly mainstream, but there have been bands like Behemoth or Watain that have found a way to have a certain commercial success within this genre, appealing to die-hards and some that may only be extreme metal-curious at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spectral Wound was the next black metal band that can get to that level. They certainly have the chops for it. - Manu
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