Band:	Spectral Lore / Locust Leaves
Album:	Spectral Lore / Locust Leaves
Style:	Dark ambient, Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	July 2012

Spectral Lore
01. Duty

Locust Leaves
02. Promise

The last time Spectral Lore released a split album was back in 2008, collaborating with Underjordiska to create a monumental ambient work - an hour-long journey through forests and ravines, over mountains and beyond into clear blue skies that went on for an eternity. Calling it beautiful is quite the understatement, yet this wasn't an entirely unexpected release.

With Spectral Lore, Ayloss has managed to navigate his way with a great deal of agility through the nooks and crannies of black metal's most epic and captivating atmospheres, uncovering new ways with each release to captivate his audience by unveiling more progressive elements into his sound. Beginning with his project's debut, I, and working his way up to his most recent offering, Sentinal, longtime followers of the band have witnessed a unique evolution within the realm of black metal - one that hasn't received any widespread legitimate criticism, and for good reason.

This split with Locust Leaves (an up-and-coming band with ties to Ayloss - official website here) is no different, in that it's a complete evolution that manages to continue in the same vein as previous outputs: dark ambient music with intense, seemingly euphoric melodies; epic atmospheric black metal that straddles the line between diabetes-sweet and church-burning-raw; and beautifully manufactured soundscapes capable of not only overwhelming the listener, but seducing them.

Not unlike the current Cascadian black metal trend, the musicians focus on not focusing on the black metal aspect of the music, and instead opt to highlight the lyrical theme by way of letting their inspiration flow through the pen and straight to the guitar. Dark forests, dank caves, the black abyss of the deepest waters - all paths traveled thoroughly and subsequently contradicted by similar journeys through majestic fields, over flowery hilltops, and across sun-kissed islands bathing in the warmest waters of the world.

Excellence in songwriting and a fairly original take on a not-so-original sound goes a long way these days, and when more than one band is capable of capturing the same essence without disrupting the flow or central theme, you have on your hands what many would consider to be a top-notch split release.

For your listening pleasure, click this link for a full stream via Bandcamp.