With our hackles up and senses blaring loud with their pinging alarm a flush of sweat and a tightened brow sends the eyes darting, widening as if prey preparing for the strike of claws as our long walk in the moonlight begins to yield visions of unreal predatory forms. Leaping from the deepest black corners of the night Portland, Oregon-based melodic black metal project NOCTURNAL WANDERER spill from the shadows as if hallucination taking clearer form, retaining the dreamlike atmosphere one’d expect on this second full-length album while sharpening the outline of their haunting shape. ‘The Evernight‘ finds the artist upping their general standard, taking some time to develop their outright tuneful yet patient approach to post-punk and heavy rock inspired blackened metal wherein both the render and the songcraft of the fellowe’s work take a step into the clearing and bask in the glow generated. Even if you’d been a devotee of their debut a few years ago this one should feel like a proper leap, a step out of the struggle of conception into capability where the identity of the project seems to have clarified into its core point of view and to eerily catchy results.

Nocturnal Wanderer formed circa 2021 by way of a fellow involved in various Portland-area black, death, and extreme doom metal projects since the late 2000’s with a love for the darkest niches of everything from obscure Swedish black metal demos to tomb-filling atmospheric death in mind. Little of that work directly suggested an interest in the late 90’s gothic/melodic black metal of say Rotting Christ in their more lead guitar hook-driven era or the black n’ roll tag that their debut album (‘Gift of the Night‘, 2021) was sometimes given when it’d released. Though we shouldn’t take too-deep stock of first impressions from the casual, passive ear of the polis… one could read the vibe hanging in the air as the loose-shouldered entrancement of that record had indulged in certain guitar techniques (see: “Lunar Spirit” verse riffs) one’d find in those references. The assumption was that it’d been a ‘pandemic’ record and at this point I’d say one with some promising ideas in mesh of simple heavy metal strokes with second wave black metal inspired intent now that this better realized record reveals that potential. I’d hesitate to fully direct listeners to say, Norwegian black n’ roll for comparison but certain Vried records (or their French and USBM equivalents) might make more sense in relation than Hellenic black metal, if we must point somewhere.

The use of ringing arpeggiato which introduces album opener “Waning Crescent” provides some immediate sense of drifting movement, a progression which underpins the melody which the lead guitars circle in a way which walks a line between traditional heavy metal and melodic punk when we set aside the bedroom black metal growl of the vocals, which do otherwise evolve in layers even providing a sort of backing harmony as the song develops its middle third. A simple guitar hook and a sentimental lead in this style with a slow-kicked beat read to me almost as horror punk (in the revivalist sense) to start and as we press on into “Lunar Spirit” I’d felt a certain Scandinavian black n’ roll inspired rhythmic treatment had begun to manifest within these ideas. This application isn’t as raw and detached as say, ‘Om kosmos och de tolv järtekn‘ but there is a treatment of dark punk lingering in the thread from the outset of ‘The Evernight‘ which matches well with its rasping mid-paced black metal thrust.

Up front we get a sense for ~5-6 minute black/heavy metal songs written with patiently revealed structure, each given an allowance for repetition and breathing room to develop and showcase either hooks, riffs, or (typically) a melodic lead that defines any given piece at its peak resplendence. “On Black Wings” for example builds its cadence steadily, circling back to a melodic black metal rhythm with four crests to its main statement and a counter-active ending riff as it winds down. All the while the more live and realistic feeling drum sound helps provide a sense of space beyond the cold and flat kit of the first record, now accentuated by a solid wood bass guitar tone that hums through space at a low growl with just enough percussive definition lent that it brings depth to both refrain and general movement. The slower trudging dramatism of “Before the Dawn” and its ever-waltzing step showcases this bass guitar tone and its active station best, especially as he hit around ~2:26 minutes in as we step out of the main thread; About four pieces in and you’ll have likely taken note of the persistent mode of the songwriting and its rocking movement, the tempered use of simple heavy metal riffcraft and such yet the personae of the band is reserved in terms of its elemental black metal forms. The first five or so songs might feel samey to some, or, varietal to those who’d caught the current quick and locked into this sound up front. It took me several listens to get this far into the album and begin to grasp its angle but generally speaking it’d already been far more ear than I’d given to the fairly raw tack of Nocturnal Wanderer‘s debut.

Just as I’d felt ‘The Evernight‘ droning on at its mid-point, and the need for a pace change was sorely overdue well before “The Final Sunset” grinds it in, we find Side B has more punk and more metal for us outstretched into each extreme. These are some of the most lively, charming pieces on the full listen between the punkish rattle n’ thrash of “Vesper” and the slow-motion Dissection-esque energy of “To Dream”. If the album had swapped to one of these pieces to polish off Side A it’d have given the album some much needed momentum though I understand the thread of the first five or so pieces will prove engrossing when experienced in a solid run through. The appeal of the two aforementioned songs suggests, for my own taste, that stretching that far into those modes only helps to flesh out the impression the artist ultimately makes. This is essentially where the album ends, save a small detour and a spooky outro.

For those unfamiliar with The Damned’s transition from punk rock into a gothic/post-punk direction at the outset of the 80’s their song covered here, “Wait for the Blackout”, was an important wave-starter and early single signifying said stylistic change. Not only do I appreciate the reference, I was always more a fan of their ‘Strawberries‘-level hokum eh, but this cover helps to break up the intense focus felt within the melodic voice developed elsewhere in Nocturnal Wanderer‘s work… and despite the composition amounting to goth-punk ‘Stones and the choice to use a faithful enough vocal style which avoids their black metal register. This extra bit of character set beside medieval pen-and-ink cover artwork per Thaumaturge Artworks has an early 90’s demo tape sketch look and feel to it from my point of view, quaint at a glance but with enough mystery to lend atmosphere to an estranged black metal tape’s up front read. All of this amounts to a distinctly personal experience yet one that is appreciably tuneful, performative in the sense that it understands where to put the rock and how thick to set gloom upon a piece.

Droning at times but tuneful throughout ‘The Evernight‘ is almost surprisingly accessible in its finery even with the context of Nocturnal Wanderer‘s debut in mind yet the steadfast focus of its main block of songs and the grouping of mostly related melodic ideas still gives the sense that there is more to do, more to develop beyond this insularly focused nodule provided. For those who’d appreciate highly melodic punk and heavy metal given black metal glaze by a devoted aesthete there is a bigger, now emboldened personality here on this record which yet retains the introverted, thoughtful spectrum of ‘bedroom’ black metal mull when all is said and done. Per my own taste the hooks found their way in though the lingering question in mind was, why bother with the black metal affect at all? I believe these songs would be memorable even in purely instrumental form per their level of active engagement yet they call for a bigger, louder voice to present their prose as the use of rasped vocals lends no specific charm here, feels the least developed beyond the actual cadence/arrangement, and the cover song suggests the artist is capable of much more. While I’d love to see those possibilities embraced I do think that for a second LP the step taken here is otherwise vast yet logical, a round of overall improved production values and craft which only becomes more infectious left me feeling this album was entirely notable, only deepening the potential available to this project. A moderately high recommendation.

nocturnalwanderer.bandcamp.com

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