This one took me by surprise. The way the blend different styles together and make it feel familiar, yet unique is hard to pull off and sounds very refreshing. Best debut contender for sure.

Yea this album is at the top for album of the year for me so far. Outstanding stuff!

Pretty average-sounding melodic BM if you ask me, good but nothing more. I also think you might be exaggerating the degree to which this is a genre-mixer. It variates in sound, sure, but more stylistically than anything else if that makes sense. It's taking influences from different black metal styles, it's not as if its blending black metal with doom, industrial, folk, etc. Now that would be interesting. Not shit but definitely not worth a near perfect score

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.07.2017 at 19:06

Pretty average-sounding melodic BM if you ask me, good but nothing more. I also think you might be exaggerating the degree to which this is a genre-mixer. It variates in sound, sure, but more stylistically than anything else if that makes sense. It's taking influences from different black metal styles, it's not as if its blending black metal with doom, industrial, folk, etc. Now that would be interesting. Not shit but definitely not worth a near perfect score

I am mainly talking about different styles of black metal (melodic, atmospheric, shoegaze, black n roll, tr00) blended with folk and Viking. The near perfect score is predominantly based on my personal view on the quality of the compositions themselves and the pure enjoyment experienced while listening.

Written by nikarg on 15.07.2017 at 21:14

I am mainly talking about different styles of black metal (melodic, atmospheric, shoegaze, black n roll, tr00) blended with folk and Viking. The near perfect score is predominantly based on my personal view on the quality of the compositions themselves and the pure enjoyment experienced while listening.

I get your point. I dunno, it's hard for me to get all that excited over melodic and atmospheric forms of black metal all that much. Probably because there's just so much of it around now it's difficult to really separate the "good" bands from the "excellent" ones. Honestly off the type of my head the only atmo BM bands I get seriously hyped up for new releases from are probably Wolves In The Throne Room, Fen, and A Forest Of Stars

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.07.2017 at 21:27

Written by nikarg on 15.07.2017 at 21:14

I get your point. I dunno, it's hard for me to get all that excited over melodic and atmospheric forms of black metal all that much. Probably because there's just so much of it around now it's difficult to really separate the "good" bands from the "excellent" ones. Honestly off the type of my head the only atmo BM bands I get seriously hyped up for new releases from are probably Wolves In The Throne Room, Fen, and A Forest Of Stars

I know it's not your cup of tea mate, but in my mind this album is different than regular atmo-melodic bm like memoria vetusta for example btw I don't particularly like any of the bands you mention

Written by nikarg on 15.07.2017 at 21:40

I know it's not your cup of tea mate, but in my mind this album is different than regular atmo-melodic bm like memoria vetusta for example btw I don't particularly like any of the bands you mention

Nah, not that it's not my cup of tea, I just think there are other bands out there that do this kinda black metal much better. That's all. AFOS I can understand as they're a pretty bizarre band, but if you're not a fan of Fen and WITTR you need to re-evaluate life

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.07.2017 at 22:27

Nah, not that it's not my cup of tea, I just think there are other bands out there that do this kinda black metal much better. That's all. AFOS I can understand as they're a pretty bizarre band, but if you're not a fan of Fen and WITTR you need to re-evaluate life

Sorry but they both bore me to death.. However, I'm a fan of Hail Spirit Noir and LoC so I'm not really beyond hope, lol

Thing is, this shouldn't even be labeled atmospheric black. Maybe the EP is more in that vein, but this is way too folk oriented for it (except maybe Godless Serenade).

What a debut...excellent review and thanks.

Written by Risto on 16.07.2017 at 01:18

Thing is, this shouldn't even be labeled atmospheric black. Maybe the EP is more in that vein, but this is way too folk oriented for it (except maybe Godless Serenade).

I agree and I don't think the EP should be under that label either. There is mainly folk and melodic stuff in Ghostlands. Having said that, I don't know how or why the label "atmospheric" was given, but I also don't care much about such things when an album is as mind-blowing as this one.

Even for me, a gothic and melodic death metal fan, this album is beautiful!

Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.07.2017 at 19:06

Pretty average-sounding melodic BM if you ask me, good but nothing more. I also think you might be exaggerating the degree to which this is a genre-mixer. It variates in sound, sure, but more stylistically than anything else if that makes sense. It's taking influences from different black metal styles, it's not as if its blending black metal with doom, industrial, folk, etc. Now that would be interesting. Not shit but definitely not worth a near perfect score

As some visionary said somewhere...

Quote:
As merry as lambs prancing around in meadows melodic black metal that makes this fat guy start a one man polonaise in his living room. Yes, boys and girls that is what Wormwood does to this man with 'Ghostlands: Wounds From A Bleeding Earth' So, very upbeat it all is. At times it makes me think of acts such as Finntroll and Månegarm. The kind of pagan black with a lot of folk leanings. Not everyone's cup of tea and to be honest, also not really mine. But at times this sort of black does go down well and it makes you smile. Well-executed, that has to be said. 74/100

I am definetely in the bandwagon of this album. It has something inside of it that feels as a mind-ear bomb after you listen to it, and it doesn't fade away with each time you hear it again. It mixes sounds that have been mixed before, but somehow this sound as if it is the way it has to be mixed since the beginning. It has a soul deep inside.

Very Good "debut" album. Reminds me a LITTLE of a more atmospheric Swedish Mgla. I just miss the cymbal flare of Mgla, but I pretty much always miss the cymbal flare of Mgla. I think while there is a lot of good, even a lot of very good atmospheric bm, great bands and albums are few and far between.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.07.2017 at 14:36


As some visionary said somewhere...

Quote:
As merry as lambs prancing around in meadows melodic black metal that makes this fat guy start a one man polonaise in his living room. Yes, boys and girls that is what Wormwood does to this man with 'Ghostlands: Wounds From A Bleeding Earth' So, very upbeat it all is. At times it makes me think of acts such as Finntroll and Månegarm. The kind of pagan black with a lot of folk leanings. Not everyone's cup of tea and to be honest, also not really mine. But at times this sort of black does go down well and it makes you smile. Well-executed, that has to be said. 74/100

Somewhere around there as well. Scored it a 7 on MS with the flat scoring, was ok, but every once in a while some cool little riff or section comes on that makes you nod in approval, so 7.5 from me. can't round up to 8, though.

Really good and enjoyable album, melodic black metal with folk elements and groove!
But... 9,5?! 9,5 is for something near perfetction, something that will still shine after many years... 9,5 seems to me a fanboy-vote.

Hell yes this is awesome! At first I found some parts to be too "folky" for my taste, but they are now awesome, four first songs are outstanding imo!

As far as Melo BM goes I think Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun and Dissection- The Somberlain would have to be my favorites. I am enjoying this release a lot though. It kind of transports you to an ancient medieval village in the mountains with a mythical landscape as the backdrop