ALBUM REVIEW: While The Gods Are Sleeping – I Am The Night

So, what happens when you take a group of well-respected underground metal musicians, lock them down for a prolonged period of time in one of the most southern points of Finland amidst one of the heaviest blizzards that the country has seen in recent memory? Answer: You have the perfect scenario for creating truly evil black metal music. That is precisely what happened to I AM THE NIGHT. A band born from the ashes of a number of notable Finnish underground acts, they’ve come together to create one of the most exciting debut releases you are likely to hear this year in the form of While The Gods Are Sleeping.

From the moment the record begins with the opening chords of the title track you can tell that something truly sinister is brewing. The harmonised guitars add to the menacing instrumental swell, with vocalist Vanhala delivering his words with the kind of spellbinding gravitas that hooks the listener immediately. However, before there is a chance to settle into the ever-growing texture of the title track the doors are kicked full off their hinges with Hear Me O’ Unmaker. It’s a song that sees the band leaning into their traditional black metal influences with a swirling vortex of tremolo-picked riffs, blast beats and shrill, banshee vocals. The choral arrangements, synths and well-crafted lead guitars add a rich tapestry of atmospherics to proceedings and keep things feeling fresh, rather than resting back on the frankly over-trodden path of traditional black metal worship.

Ode To The Nightsky is one of the real highlights on the album. The song has a nostalgic feel to it, with the band drawing upon influences like DISSECTION and EMPEROR and putting their own spin on things to make them seem unique. Once again, it has to be noted that despite the bludgeoning nature of the song and ferocity with which it is delivered, I AM THE NIGHT are still taking great care in adding melody into the mix. It’s a skill that is not easy to come by, with many black metal acts failing to do so in a way that feels natural, or simply refusing to do so for fear of being outed by the militant beliefs of certain gatekeepers amongst metal’s most controversial subgenre. However, when it is delivered with this much quality it simply needs to be admired.

The album shows no signs of tailing off at any point, even when we get into the latter stages there are pearls such as The Owl. The frosty atmospherics float aloft the chaotic instrumental as the band wage war against eardrums the world over. The frantic riffing on this track is some of the most satisfying on the entire release and is sure to appease the old school black metal fans, owing to its high-gain tone and the surgical precision with which it is executed. It creates the perfect foundation for the demonic shrieking vocals to pierce through the mix and soar over the top of the rest of the band. This is black metal at its rawest and most exciting.

So, the pressing question here is what do I AM THE NIGHT bring to the table with While The Gods Are Sleeping? And the answer is simple. They are bringing nothing new. Nothing that has not been done before or that will shock people to the very core. However, they are taking a genre that is often over saturated with mediocre bands and played out formulas and tweaking them just about enough to keep things interesting and delivering them with the kind of confidence and mature song-writing that will make this one of the standout albums in the genre for the year. I AM THE NIGHT are a very good band and have the potential to surpass that in the near future and to get themselves to the front of the pack with their next release. We can’t wait to see it.

Rating: 8/10

While The Gods Are Sleeping is set for release on May 6th via Svart Records.

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