ALBUM REVIEW: Under The Burning Eclipse – Stormruler
Hailing from the American heartland of St Louis, relative newcomers STORMRULER have re-released their blistering debut album via Napalm Records, titled Under The Burning Eclipse. Promising unrelenting black metal atmosphere and vision from various metal genres with a modernized twist of inspiration culled from war, high-fantasy and history, they sure promise a whole lot, but can they deliver or will they fall at the first hurdle?
The album opens with Shrine Of Ivory Horns, which is an instrumental introductory piece which immediately introduces some tense and cloying atmosphere before we are thrown headlong into Reign Of The Winged Duke, which is the first proper example of STORMRULER‘s style, which is comprised mainly of rich production, dramatic samples, frantic yet technical drumming and more riffs than you’ve had hot dinners. Throughout the hour that comprises Under The Burning Eclipse, there must be hundreds of different ideas for riffs, arrangements and structures, with influences clearly drawn from the entire breadth of the heavy spectrum. Excellently, some of the very strongest are present in these opening moments, serving to get even the most sceptical of listeners to immediately sit up and take notice.
The layout of Under The Burning Eclipse is worthy of mention. Obviously the weight of the material is lent to the incendiary, riff-laden black metal that this lot purvey, but each song is interwoven with separate, synth-heavy interludes, which seem to carry a loose form of non-committal drama, building up to and adding a narrative lean to the blackened fury they accompany, without forcing them onto the songs in the form of attached introductory segments. It’s quite thoughtful really, not in the mood for keyboard, wind noises and bird calls? That’s fine, just skip right ahead! But it should be recommended that they are listened to though, as this is not your standard lo-fi dungeon synth type intro that sometimes precedes blackness and evil, these are highly polished constructions, weirdly reminiscent of the interludes present in Nightfall In Middle Earth by BLIND GUARDIAN, which may delight fans of their particular brand of high fantasy drama.
As the album progresses, we see STORMRULER throw everything at the wall. Tracks such as Age Of Steel And Blood showcase the band’s maniacal quality for writing excellent and memorable riffs at any speed. Their quick riffs are jagged, coiling things made up of puncturing tremolo and their slower entries are bone-crunchingly powerful, as can be seen on the utter devastation present in Blood Of The Old Wolf, which betrays it’s clear IMMORTAL influence by virtue of the gargantuan power chord arrangements it casts out like shrapnel. They even manage to write some excellent material when slightly more restrained , such as on title track Under The Burning Eclipse, which is notable not only for some utterly powerhouse drumming but also its soft, acoustic breaks and stirring marches, bookended of course by some fine, almost mournful riff-work.
If there were to be but one complaint given, it would be that there is almost too much material here. Under The Burning Eclipse takes up a full hour with sheer intensity and mind-melting amounts of riffing. There is enough material here to comprise an album and at least two EPs and while it is all supremely high quality when taken individually, when listening to the full album a level of mental fog can be exerted on the listener. Their grey matter has been battered into submission and near-liquified by the confident aggression of the sneering conquerors that make up STORMRULER, to whom editing is merely a skill employed by lesser men.
While this may seem like a petty criticism, it is in fact the only one that can be feasibly drawn. Everything else about the album is elaborate and electric. Listen to any given track individually and you will see for yourself, if you are new to black metal, the production makes it accessible and quality of the riffs will hook you in and refuse to let you go. If you already love the genre and want a punishing, vitriolic slab of darkness with more riffs than you can shake your weird spiked club at, Under The Burning Eclipse is very definitely for you. It is an excellent showcase of one of the most exciting bands to lurch out from the USBM scene in years, one that should firmly be lodged in the lofty ranks of the ‘to watch’ lists of all who find themselves reading this review.
Rating: 8/10
Under The Burning Eclipse is out now via Napalm Records.
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