SPECTRAL WOUND: SONGS OF BLOOD AND MIRE
ALBUM REVIEW: Songs of Blood and Mire is Spectral Wound's fourth LP. It was released in August, 2024. After almost eighteen months of play, how does it hold up?
SPECTRAL WOUND: SONGS OF BLOOD AND MIRE
PROFOUND LORE, 2024.
When you churn through as many records as I do, you can’t help but wonder whether each platter you buy will ultimately become a Lifelong Friend, a Long-Term Relationship or a Passing Fascination, destined to be filed away after a couple of listens never to be played again.
Rationed free time, a completionist’s obsession and too much disposable income combine to create a first world problem, but I often wonder whether the record I play for the first time will still be entrancing me in a decade or two’s time - if I live that long.
To be fair, most of the records I write about on here are at least categorised as Long-Term Relationships - why waste my time writing about records I don’t care about?
But only - maybe - three albums - in a good year - go into that Lifelong Friend bucket, proving their worth time after time, being pulled out and played monthly, if not weekly - regularly drawing me back into their loving arms, always keen to offer me something new and exciting.
There’s something comforting to be found in the knowledge that some special LPs - and - spoiler alert - Spectral Wound’s Songs of Blood and Mire is one of them - will have been played within a few weeks of my last day on earth, whenever that is.
Born in Montreal, Canada, a little more than a decade ago, Spectral Wound are perhaps the most widely known band of the entire Quebec Black Metal scene.
As obscure-a-credential as that statement may appear to those unaware, it’s actually quite a significant thing to say. Canada has become a haven for exciting Black Metal over the last couple of decades, much of it fueled by the wild and woolly nature that surrounds them, and the long-standing pride in the province’s own unique culture. Métal Noir Québécois.
Bands like Forteresse, Gris, Crepuscule, Grimoire and Monarque lean into the nationalism theme more than Spectral Wound do. It’s important to acknowledge a nuance here, though. Whereas the word nationalism can have spicy connotations in many countries, the particular brand of it that the Quebecian bands promote is not driven by racial discontent or other fascist inspired motivations. It’s more concerned with championing a rich cultural history and independence that Quebec holds closely to its heart and that forms a fundamental aspect of the territory’s sense of self.
It doesn’t seem, to me at least, to be bigoted or anti-other-cultures, as much as it is proud if its own. But I’m viewing it from my safe European home on the other side of the Atlantic, so forgive me if I have missed a subtlety more profound.
Then there’s the renowned and flamboyant Departure Chandelier, with their Napoleonic obsessions. War Metal veterans Revenge, from Alberta - and the now defunct Conqueror - both of whom are probably worth steering clear of if you are a sensitive soul - and Canadian Black Metal pioneers, Blasphemy. Raw enough to still be bleeding.
Then there’s Sortilegia, Panzerfaust, Tenebrae, Nordicwinter, Conifére and literally thousands more, many centred in or around Quebec. It’s a huge and flourishing scene, with a reputation for delivering high quality, compelling and innovative Black Metal.
So to suggest that Spectral Wound are the cream of that particular crop is really saying something profound.
And I mean it.
The band’s debut release, Terra Nullius is impossibly hard to find now, but sophomore LP, Infernal Decadence and follow up, A Diabolical Thirst, are both still easy to come by and are highly recommended. Both albums are fairly raw, hooky and engagingly written ‘classic’ Black Metal albums. Must-have items for any self-respecting Black Metal fan.
It is, however, the band’s fourth album, Songs of Blood and Mire, that we’re here to talk about today.
It doesn’t break from what they have delivered previously; it’s a refinement, a tightening and a perfecting of the elements that have become cornerstones of their style: driving, catchy, full-frontal songwriting that translates amazingly live.
I was lucky to witness that first-hand last year in London; the best gig of the year, for me. Perhaps even outstripping anything else I’ve seen this decade in terms of sheer open-mouthed engagement and uplifting, diabolic anthems.
Much of the songwriting comes from the fetid imagination of drummer Illusory, who displays clear intent and focus with every bar he scrawls. That’s exemplified with album opener Fevers and Suffering, with its grunting and percussive punctuation breaking up the gnawing and distinctive descending guitar riffs; squalling motifs that give the song a sense a roiling maelstrom - one moment elevating high above the horizon, with surging dramatic pushes, the next plummeting to suffocating depths with pulls of free-falling bass and rhythm guitar.
The production is great - filthy but clear - it suits the writing perfectly, contributing to the energy and visceral violence magnificently.
Second track, At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls, is an instant, adrenalised and impactful chop-slapper. The intro hook peppers the composition and gives the song a real sense of maturity behind its dynamism.
It’s a really exciting listen, changing pace and texture throughout. It’s a real banger, and the engine of Illusory’s drums pushing Jonah’s harsh and grainy vocals is such a beautiful combination. Especially when everything drops back to be dominated by a wall of double-bass halfway through. It’s genuinely magical when the song returns to the opening riff and eventually arrives at a more laid back passage, dominated by a single-string, repetitious peddle that becomes the song’s second narrative hook - that sees the song through - more-or-less to the end, guiding us safely to the heavy-as-fuck climax.
What a satisfying song.
Next up is classic-in-waiting, fan-favourite and highlight of the live set, Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal. Amazingly, the most powerful hook in the song is relayed by the drums. Their two-beat-slam-and-roll motifs throughout are so fist-pumpingly cool that it’s genuinely difficult to go straight to the next track before replaying this one. There are chugs in abundance, soaring lead-lines and shout-along vocal passages all over the fucking place. Aristocratic… has to be the signature track of the album.
When you’re really listening to the band, it’s impossible not to realise what makes Spectral Wound stand out; the textural changes and melodic lines; cascading over one another - the songwriting and instrumentation hits this really sweet spot between never standing still but at the same time providing compelling continuity so that everything flows naturally.
Each passage is carefully written to have its place and to own its own space. It’s really accomplished, compositionally - across the board.
The second half of the album kicks off with The Horn Marauding, with its bouncy, plucked signature lead and triumphant barrage of chord-driven verses and choruses.
The nuance in the playing adds so much depth and differentiation to each repetition that, again, the song punches from start to end, making you feel like - in that one precise moment - that there is nothing more engaging to listen to.
The song slows down towards its end with a cyclic lead pattern delivering a chest-pounding victory run to its glorious conclusion. It’s truly mighty.
Less and Less Human, Oh Savage Spirit launches like the most in-your-face punk rock track you never heard.
And again. Those fucking drums… the weight they lend the thunderous passage a third of the way through the song lubricates your loins in the most thrilling way.
Oddly, though, it’s probably the least impactful track on the album. It lacks the guitar hooks that the others have on their side - which means it relies solely on dynamics for its impact and catchiness. That doesn’t mean it’s reckless or surplus to requirements - it’s not - in many ways it serves as a well-placed respite from the melodic ferocity that’s everywhere else on the album. However; ask me to hum the tune after the LP’s done and I wouldn’t be able to recall its key musical themes. At least not immediately.
And it’s got a guitar solo at the end that feels a little unnecessary.
But they usually are, I find.
Penultimate track, A Coin Under The Tongue, is an absolute ripper. It tears its way from the turntable like a light-speed Rottweiller projectile, before hitting a more Black ‘n’ Roll groove, that rumbles beneath a peddling lead guitar melody that occasionally breaks out into another solo.
Aside from that last bit of unnecessary flourishing, the track blisters your ears - the drums driving with a mechanical precision and Jonah’s vocals leading the rest of the instrumentation with determined spite. Some weighty chugs and elevating leads rustle up more texture - Thin Lizzy style harmonising guitars, for the last few bars - lend the track even more impact.
And then, finally, we hit the last track of Songs of Blood and Mire, Twelve Moons in Hell. From the off, it’s hallmarked by an unforgettable riff and pacey drums. The guitars cycle, swirl and take surprising dives, always engaging your ears and keeping your attention through their unexpected note choices. You never quite relax into the melodies, confident about what’s to come. There’s always something - a note or a pattern - that defies your expectation and keeps your attention alive. It’s genius writing that becomes more and more engrossing as familiarity takes hold over subsequent listens.
There’s some swanky ride work on the drums that allows nuance to rise above the barrage. Twelve Moons is a killer track to end the LP on. I especially love the slow/mid-paced stretch halfway through, that serves as a ramp for the super-energised climb to the end, across the second half of the track.
Songs of Blood and Mire is not only a great example of Canada’s expertise in Black Metal - it’s a landmark offering for the genre regardless of location. It’s exciting, flawlessly executed, varied and detailed - all things that, when combined, work to entrance you and keep you there, in the moment, defined by the band’s vision.
Spectral Wound have nailed the art of sticky songwriting. There’s an immediacy to it that snatches your attention but a depth in turn that deepens your engagement the more you listen.
Top that off with some cool as fuck artwork and a band whose visage is exciting, mysterious and haunting and it’s not hard to see why the band have received such accolades so far.
Spectral Wound are playing in Bergen in July, at the Beyond The Gates festival, which I can’t wait to attend - and they are an anticipatory highlight of that lineup, for me.
Most people reading this that are already fans of Black Metal will be familiar with the band’s Sargeist-style riffing and energy. It would be remiss of me not to mention the debt Spectral Wound’s sound owes to the Finnish overlords, but atop that inspiration, they are bringing something more - a knack and a confidence in their writing that goes beyond the genre and a niche audience’s trope expectations.
So spend some time with Songs of Blood and Mire, if you’re not already familiar with its charms. The band will swoop you up in moments if you’re even faintly keen to know what they’re all about. And once you’re swooped, you’re snagged. For life.
It’s not hard to see how once you’re in, you’re in for the long haul. I’m happy to introduce you to your new Lifelong Friend, forever reliably entrancing. Always offering more. A compelling occupation - and an addictive benchmark for all your future listening.
See you down the front.
Ave, Grubs!