Band:	Spectral Wound
Album:	A Diabolic Thirst
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	April 2021

01. Imperial Saison Noire
02. Frigid And Spellbound
03. Soul Destroying Black Debauchery
04. Mausoleal Drift
05. Fair Lucifer, Sad Relic
06. Diabolic Immanence

Intensity. Beauty. Death. Solace. Hailing from my home base of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Spectral Wound had unleashed their unrelenting brand of melancholic black metal in 2016 with Terra Nullius. Then came Infernal Decadence in 2018; a brutal offering of a rare nature. Enters A Diabolic Thirst. Six songs over forty minutes of ferocious music. This album is very much made out of the same mold from previous releases.

The opener "Imperial Saison Noire" - besides being an awesome name for an imperial stout - crushes from the start and sets the mood for what is to come. It is emotionally intense, melancholic death/black with a strong malevolent aura. Essences of Darkthrone and Dark Funeral come to mind when listening to Spectral Wound. Most of the guitar work and atmospheres on the second half of "Frigid and Spellbound" might also evoke Bathory. So it is fair to say that blackened death elements are present as well. Spectral Wound are indeed Canadians, but the blazing sound and on-point shrieks/vocals are definitely closer to something we usually would expect out of Sweden.

The brilliance of their music relies heavily on the musicians ease to change the tempo several times within a song such as on "Mausoleal Drift" while retaining all of the harshness. Another strength is that memorable guitars riffs and licks have a way to surface despite the intensity. All of this allows them to shape the different emotions along the way. It also makes their sound captivating. As was the case on their previous albums, the production is tight and fitting. It makes for the perfect setting for those evil vibes to emanate easily. The blasting "Fair Lucifer, Sad Relic" takes that "Swedish" black metal sound to another level while "Diabolic Immanence" sums up everything great about this album and packages it into one final kick in the teeth. Rarely had I experienced such an intense album and immediately craved to play it whole again.

Expect your specter to be wounded by the black melancholy of A Diabolic Thirst. Spectral Wound have released another intense sonic experience. This comes highly recommended if you like your black metal pure and straightforward, guitar-led, keyboard-light and choir-less. Quench your thirst.