I would’ve loved to had captured the moment when I realized that this coruscating record was performed by one man, namely the multi-instrumentalist Jere Kervinen. This is the third installment of awe-inspiring fantasy oriented Melodic Black Metal, with main themes shaping around Dark Fantasy video games, and previous musical inspirations like Moonlight Sorcery & the pioneer in the genre Caladan Brood.
The sun slowly rises, and the chirps of robins and blackbirds awaken your wounded soul. Your gaze falls upon the living breath of nature, and as your adrenaline wears off, you realize you have fulfilled your duty as a knight. I had imagined purely from the title of this record that I would indulge in sombre tracks filled with regret and melancholy, but I was surprised to hear what followed after the sun had risen. After listening to the first two records of this one-man band, i realized how much the overall production had improved, vocals are dominant when they needed to be, the synths have more depth under the barraging melodies and chaotic drums of these 7 tracks, and it seems that Jere has a great musical palette for creating dreamy and uplifting melodies. This record is one of the rare musical discoveries where I actually preferred the synths and vocals over the distorted guitars and drums, despite all of those elements being omnipresent.
One important thing to notice, is that the entire project is inspired by Dark Fantasy video games with the likes of Elden Ring & The Dark Souls Trilogy, and as to the folk that already played and experienced those games the records under ‘Bloody Valkyria’ will leave a much larger impact compared to the ones that did not. Listening to this album while replaying one of those franchises would be a grandeur experience, but even to the metalheads that are not involved with gaming, this record is still filled with such good melodic tracks that i cannot state enough how much I’ve been enjoying it recently, and how much of a shame would it be if you were to miss this release.
To all the metalheads that are fans of Fantasy themed Metal music, and especially fans of Moonlight Sorcery, Summoning & Caladan Brood, this is a must listen. Let us hail the new breed of metal bands, the new melodies driven by relentless passion and iron will!
“Requiem: Reveries Of The Dying” will be released on April 3rd via Northern Silence Productions.
Track listing:
1. Symphony Of Silence
2. Life’s Worth
3. Always
4. Mending Through Suffering
5. When Everything Feels Like Nothing
6. Longing
7. My Beloved North
Passionate music enjoyer, my reviews are usually dedicated to the genre of Metal and all it’s subgenres. Nerd for underground releases.