Album Review: Spectral Wound - Songs of Blood and Mire

Montreal's Spectral Wound return more urgent and visceral than ever for their latest release Songs of Blood and Mire due for release Friday, August 23rd via Profound Lore.

There are no long sweeping intros here as it goes straight into dominant basslines and furious yet captivating drum patterns alongside a cacophony of razor-sharp shrills for the album opener 'Fevers and Suffering.' This is then immediately followed up by an early highlight track, 'At Wine-Dark Midnight in Mouldering Halls' which is rich in atmosphere and has all the captivating elements from the band's previous album but with a tad more depth.

'Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal' thrusts a musical maturity via the aural medium, the snarls and screeches are complimented with swirling guitar tones and solos that serve as a composition of intent and purpose that feels like is truly a defining moment for not only this release but the band themselves. This is followed up by the sheer annihilation in the form of 'The Horn Marauding.'

Moving onto 'Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit' with an unbridled fury once more it is clear that Spectral Wound have really developed their cold, bleak aesthetic to include an unapologetic torrent of twirling terror, but yet underpinned in this is a real subtlety of soundscapes and if you need a further example, fear not as penultimate track  'A Coin Upon the Tongue' delivers in droves!

Very much in keeping with the pace overall is the album's final offering and longest track 'Twelve Moons in Hell' which if nothing else showcases how brilliantly blasphemous these 7 verses have been collectively.

Rating: 9/10

Track List:

1. Fevers and Suffering
2. At Wine-Dark Midnight in Mouldering Halls
3. Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal
4. The Horn Marauding
5. Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit
6. A Coin Upon the Tongue
7. Twelve Moons in Hell