Montreal-based black metal boys, Spectral Wound, have returned from the frozen North with a follow-up to the highly acclaimed A Diabolic Thirst. On their fourth release, Songs of Blood and Mire, the band have managed to build on their already solid foundations to create an album that surpasses its predecessor in all things dark, devilish and furious. Nearly 45 minutes of melodic, punky and, obviously, raw black metal is on the table and, well, papa’s hungry.
Previously hailed as one of the best recent modern black metal albums, A Diabolic Thirst focused on frantic and aggressive black metal. Spectral Wound have kept that same focus but added some extra tricks to their bag in the last few years. On Songs of Blood and Mire, Spectral Wound swing between all-out hellish blasting and feverish thrashiness to bouncy, melodic passages.
There’s a lot more variation throughout the album in terms of faces that the quintet shows us. “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”, while including all the trad black metal hallmarks, also includes an absolute killer riff that would fit pretty easily into a NWOBHM band’s repertoire. “Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit” and “A Coin Upon the Tongue” include ripping solos that elevate the music far beyond your run of the mill black metal fare. Hell, the fact that we can hear these rumbling bass lines through all the layers of grimness is a testament to Spectral Wound’s ‘otherness’.
While still maintaining a raw and edgy Second Wave of Black Metal sound, Spectral Wound sounds more well produced and recorded than ever before. Everything sounds super crisp for a black metal album, giving a lot of room for melodies and textures from the guitars to come through, making the riff the absolute king. If anything the band has written more proper metal hooks to get me banging my head back and forth like I’m in a shampoo commercial.
In my opinion, Spectral Wound have well and truly put their stamp on black metal. They have enough nods to the old guard to keep the kvlt hat-wearing black metal gatekeepers happy, while belligerently keeping things fun and interesting for people who aren’t opposed to going for walks outside while it’s sunny. This isn’t just black metal for drinking wine in your dungeon; it’s black metal for pounding a beer and windmilling till your 33 year-old neck decides to cramp up.
So where does that leave us? Well, surprisingly, black metal is well and alive in 2024. For the most part I was expecting it to be bleak and miserable with Akhlys’ House of the Black Geminus or beautifully experimental with Agricultures’ Living is Easy. It’s fucking awesome that we can get, and I can barely believe I’m saying this, a traditional black metal album that sounds fresh and exciting. It’s like Spectral Wound are walking a tightrope between embodying grimness and being silly geese who just want to write some excellent, rocking black metal. More power to them.
