Returning for a third full-length album of classic heavy metal inspired black n’ roll Bergen, Norway-based duo PHANTOM FIRE iterate upon their free-wheeling, off-the-cuff formula on this new self-titled album. No concept, no wild virtuosity, nothing all that trendy shows up here on ‘Phantom Fire‘ beyond a few tuneful songs and a few shots in the dark and that’ll either hit you as plain old shit or a well-restrained hand driven solely by feeling depending on your tastes. Though their impulsive, uncomplicated style might not be for the more convoluted spiral-cutting maw of your average extreme metal fan today there is a simple-yet-effective trait carried through each of the band’s records which suits their intent and occasionally sticks in mind.

Every couple of years since the MMXX pandemic initially hit guitarist Kjartan and vocalist/bassist Eld (Aeternus, Hellbutcher), both best known for stoner metal band Kraków, get together with a handful of somewhat prepared songs, hole up in drummer/producer Iver Sandøy‘s Solslottet Studio and sort them out for the first time. The main driver for their three LPs to date is nostalgia for a less self-conscious era of music where the lines between speed metal, heavy metal, hard rock, and black metal are blurred into what is essentially black n’ roll. When their first LP (‘The Bust of Beelzebub‘, 2021) hit it wasn’t fully clear what the band were all about in terms of keeping it simple, not overthinking it and doing their best to cobble together enough filler to get a ~half hour record out. Each record since has followed a similar template with a strong feature on Side A and mostly space filling experiments and instrumental vignettes on Side B where the major impact of each release consists of at least 4-5 mid-paced black n’ roll pieces.

With each record these folks hit it out of the park at least once or twice, such as “De Taptes Dans” from their second LP (‘Eminente Lucifer Libertad‘, 2023) where the energy and the atmosphere is up and their simple read on evil heavy metal produces a quick and dirty kicker with some swing to it. This time around opener “Eternal Void” is probably it per its speed metal chugging verses and some of the Motörhead vibes they’ve intentionally brought in for ‘Phantom Fire‘. This carries directly into “All For None” right afterward with a similar beat steadied up as those first couple of songs read like they were written on the spot, one after another. In fact the best part of this album is the consistency of style/sound they present over the course of its first four pieces where the black n’ roll ride of it all starts to catch fire by the time “My Crown” lands. For my own taste it is all kinda downhill from there.

The five minute instrumental “Fatal Attraction” is basically a love story between a man and his motorcycle on the run as far as I’ve gathered as it starts with revving engines and ends with police sirens. This is where the momentum of the album starts to die off fast as the song lingers far too long right at the peaking middle of the record. “Logðarhorn” makes up for this to some degree, reprising the energy of the first half of the record and kinda repeating the successes of “De Taptes Dans” in a few ways. There are a couple of mid-paced songs that follow without much impact beyond that point and the album officially loses me with its two part finale. The only point of mercy here is that “Submersible Enclosure Pt 1” is only three minutes and not five. Part 2 has a fine bassline to its groove otherwise.

I dunno if the formula Phantom Fire‘ve followed for each of their records always works for me but they’ve been consistent both in terms of presenting a “real” yet sharp enough render, some higher energy songs and a sort of psycho black/heavy metal personality behind each. The whole deal works for the sake of Sandøy being key support for the directness of their approach both as a drummer and general producer, otherwise the ruggedness of ‘Phantom Fire‘ only gels in mind for the sake of the possessed attitude set behind it and this sense that they’ve conjured much of the record from thin air and classic inspiration. When things turn flippant or stray from higher energy songs it all kinda unravels in ear, leaving about a third of this album reading as afterthoughts and halfway realized ideas. That said a couple of great songs is all most any “rock” record needs, though I’m nonetheless left with the feeling that cutting these sessions back to an EP length might’ve been more impactful. A moderate recommendation.

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