I enjoy writing about this Finnish Night Shall Drape Us, which can be classified as a band consisting of members from the highest echelons of Finnish black metal. Lunatic Choir is their debut album released via Season Of Mist. But who are the band members? Take a closer look at the end of this writing. LRH, Spellgoth, Infection, and Wraath surely don’t need any introduction, do they?
For the rogues and the uninformed among us, let me briefly summarize. Night Shall Drape Us originated from the masterful mind of LRH. Currently, he is active with Spellgoth and Infection in Horna and Chamber Of Unlight. Meanwhile, we know Wraath for his work in Darvaza, Behexen, and Ritual Death. The cheerful quartet is supplemented, for live performances, with Vexd, among others, active in Caestus and To Conceal The Horns, some lesser-known Finnish talent. This can’t go wrong in the realm of black metal, can it?
Not too long ago, I saw the Finnish Horna live on a very small stage in Geleen, at café De Meister. I must say that this has been one of the most memorable black metal moments in my long career. What a fantastic group of musicians, this has been rarely seen. The quartet, with Infection on bass, musically crushed the entire venue. Delightful!
Eight gems are waiting to be polished further. Over forty minutes of ultra-fast, melodic, Finnish-inspired black metal, I’m already getting excited. A brutal picking, a thundering bass, and rugged drum lines introduce you to this dark ensemble. Hymn Of Rebellion even features some jazzy guitar playing in its opening notes. It takes only a few seconds to realize that this could be the black metal album of the year. Listen to those hate-infused vocals, listen to those malicious breaks and drumming. Dead Eden is even more malevolent! What a blood-soaked classic with hammer blast sections! Then comes steaming and boiling the dragging Ethereal Constrictor. Spellgoth, Infection, and Wraath together at the microphone, guys, you have to hand it to them. I believe they are also responsible for the choir parts in this song. What a crazy choir. What a mess! Delightful!
Ashes Of Men blows the ashes out of every urn just waiting on any cemetery for its next visitor. And if that’s not enough, Mr. LRH significantly increases the tempo. You can call Unification a whirlwind. While Lunacy And Horror is mostly carried by a collection of razor-sharp, pointed, and angular guitar parts. But the song also harbors one of the most amazing melodic black metal riffs of recent years… And then some choir-like parts are added on top of that… Man oh man… These guys are insane. And then the brutally bold, biting opening riff of Under The Dead Sky is yet to come…
This Lunatic Choir by the Finnish powerhouse Night Shall Drape Us is a masterful piece of black metal crafted by LRH. Pure fucking black metal! Genius! Death Holy Death!
Score:
98/100
Label:
Seasons Of Mist, 2024
Tracklisting:
- Hymn Of Rebellion
- Dead Eden
- Ethereal Constrictor
- Ashes Of Men
- Unification
- Lunacy And Horror
- Under The Dead Sky
- The Queen Of The Red Streams
Line-up:
- LRH – Drums, all instruments
- Spellgoth : Vocals, Bass (live)
- Infection : Vocals, Guitar (live)
- Wraath : Vocals (live)
- Vexd : Guitar (live)
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