Related to last toot... I'm listing to Saor... which took me three goes to remember the spelling of.

#Saor #metal

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!1 Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Black metal and the violin go together like peanut butter and jelly, which makes it particularly exciting when an artist who is accomplished in both steps forward. Weft is the solo endeavor of Charlie Anderson, the live violinist for Panopticon. His debut album, The Splintered Oar, is one of two releases by Bindrune Recordings on the weekend before the beginning of Listurnalia 2025.1 Nevertheless, this is a record that should not go unnoticed during the time of year when many of us have adopted either a backward- or forward-looking mindset.

Weft integrates the violin in a variety of clever ways that will sound comfortably familiar to fans of folk/black metal. The obvious comparison is Panopticon, particularly in the sublime acoustic guitar and violin pairing of the intro track “Leaves.” It also dances with the electric guitar in a wild, rugged manner like unto Windfaerer and Saor (“The Hull”). At the same time, Weft doesn’t allow the violin to become too overwhelming or dominant. Rather than solely relying on the customary trem-picking, the fierce guitar riffs and chord progressions of The Splintered Oar often prefer to wander into progressive death metal territory. Another surprising musical influence is Americana, featured briefly in “The Hull” and prominently in “Dream of Oaks.”

The Splintered Oar by Weft

Once things get going, the bulk of The Splintered Oar is quite exhilarating. “False Kingdoms,” the first full song, opens with a great buildup, facilitated by Austin Lunn’s purposeful tom rhythms. After this point, the intensity ebbs and flows, but rarely lets up completely. The demonic violin lines and frenzied shrieks in “Red Dawn” cut through the listener’s defenses like wind chill. Anderson’s deep growls are usually effective as well, though they sometimes lack force and come across as more of a croak. Andrea Morgan’s guest vocals in “The Hull” help compensate for this, joining with the soothing strings in a manner reminiscent of Dzö-nga, which is a very good thing.

What holds The Splintered Oar back the most is a shaky beginning and ending. “Leaves” would have been a much more effective intro if it hadn’t repeated itself and dragged out its runtime to 5 minutes. On the other hand, 12-minute closer “Dream of Oaks” struggles to remain coherent. The entire first half is dreamy Americana, which later morphs into sleek Opethian prog and then death/doom before finally resuming Weft’s signature violin-driven black metal. These individual components are enjoyable enough on their own, but they become confusing when considered together. “Dream of Oaks” might have been an epic conclusion if it had the same degree of cohesion between The Splintered Oar’s disparate musical influences that the preceding tracks display.

Weft is a rare example of what is possible when a violinist creates black metal. Charlie Anderson’s compositional versatility is immediately obvious. While it doesn’t quite stick the landing—or the launch—The Splintered Oar’s midsection is very promising and even goosebump-inducing at times. If the less conventional musical genres can be consistently integrated in a potential sophomore record, Weft will be a force of nature to behold.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Bindrune Recordings
Websites: weftmusic.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/weft_music
Releases Worldwide: December 19th, 2025

Metal Insider’s Emily Schneider’s Top 20 Albums of 2025

#BestAlbumsof2025 #TopAlbums #2025Releases #Saor #Amorphis #OmniumGatherum

Link: https://metalinsider.net/lists/metal-insiders-emily-schneiders-top-20-albums-of-2025