Conjuring a second era, a second volume and general reskinning of their original vision within this sophomore full-length album Denver, Colorado-based melodic black metal quartet STORMKEEP strip away much of the nuanced atmospheric wonderment of their pandemic-era introductions and ready themselves for bigger stages herein. For their reprisal ‘The Nocturnes of Iswylm‘ pivots toward the loud, brazen cacophony of late 90’s/early 2000’s symphonic black metal noxiousness without becoming entirely overtaken by the wallop of it all. Though the folken mystère, fantasy synth traipses, and ‘epic’ stretches of their debut are echoes of the past now this very present, reasonably varietal return bears a number of impressive experiments which grant them some memorable, potent new powers.

Stormkeep formed back in 2017 by way of folks best known for their work in Wayfarer as well as lesser knowns Lykotonon and Lord Dahthar. As far as I’ve gathered Issac Faulk (Blood Incantation, Stoic Dissention) was/is the main composer from their inception but their work has consistently presented as a tour-capable band rather than a solo/studio only project. Intentionally obscured, rawly atmospheric sound and tremolo-picked guitar progressions suggested some manner of analogue for the mid-90’s medievalist symphonic and melodic black metal realm given some modern concessions on their first demo (‘Promotional Tape MMXVIII‘, 2018). This was realized within their ultra-hyped debut EP (‘Galdrum‘, 2020) soon after, gathering nigh instant momentum. When I’d reviewed that initial release I’d been impressed by the longform pieces on offer as the hazy atmosphere and dramatism therein offered above-average 90’s black metal revisionism citing key works from Gallowbraid, Enslaved, and Gehenna as close-enough references to the overall effect. From that point their work honed in on the intended vision, a sound closer to mid-to-late 90’s Norwegian black metal mysticism sans the havoc and aggression of that era.

The no-less celebrated debut from the band, ‘Tales of Othertime‘ (2021), smartly infused their dungeon synth interest into the tracklist rather than splitting it into two halves granting pools of radiant wonderment in between what I’d considered just alright late second wave theatrics. There was a satisfyingly folken ‘epic’ feeling to Stormkeep‘s work on that album which’d been appreciably removed from the techno-grime and slimy pop-metal/rock star extremism of the late 90’s black metal reality and in that way it’d felt like a decent, genuine homage to the heyday of stuff like Emperor, Windir and even Ulver to some small degree. The immersive details were there to enjoy within the mythical realm of Elda via lore and longform pieces though I’d say their concept and execution/sound design struck me as more successful than the actual black metal aspect of it, some fun and relatively ambitious nostalgia.

For this follow-up Stormkeep appear to have leaned into the grimdark, goth-metallic slime of the late 90’s as they shorten their average song length, increase its density and excise the loosely slung underground black metal aspect of their action. Gone are the folken drifting pieces and fantasy synth glow and instead we find a differently ambitious and surprisingly accessible release set to reprise the pomp and vision of their debut while cutting closer to the spikey operatic din of post-millennium Old Man’s Child, Dimmu Borgir and such. If you’re a student of those bands these pieces are not presented in the style of blast-heavy, symphony readied early 2000’s stuff rather they gank some of the tics, movement and synth/keyboard sounds of said era, even dipping into some of the celestial nodes found on Limbonic Art‘s earlier releases. At best pieces like “The Black Dragons Of Iswylm” resemble stuff like Thyrane‘s ‘Symphonies of Infernality‘ at their most heated pace otherwise.

Opener “The Taste of Immortal Blood” set a very promising tone for the full listen per its outright power metal chorus and symphonic black metal array, not their most ambitious arrangement to date but the possible bold move of a symphonic power-black sort of deal was compelling outright. When we hit the aforementioned “The Black Dragons Of Iswylm” right after my enthusiasm dropped off quick, that isn’t to say that it isn’t a fine reproduction of the whole symphonic black metal zeitgeist but that it is far, far less distinct than anything on ‘Tales of Othertime‘. From that point Stormkeep generally mix things up along the way presenting some manner of interest or differing statement with each piece.

The worst possible first impression for my taste came with key single “Imperious Sanguine Eroticism” recalling all of the horny, blood spitting vampire cape wearing USBM of a certain too-late era via its goth clean-sung verses and orchestrally stirred mid-pace. From my perspective these are among the worst impulses to come from the “dark metal”/gothic metal marriage with symphonic black metal back in the day and time has largely reinforced my point. Otherwise pieces like “Saccharine Subjugation” and the sublime “Echoes in the Vasts of Sequestration” reinforce the full listen with satisfyingly orchestral loft, taking the guitar heroicism of the previous album and giving it more of an Ihsahn spin here and there, even successfully finding some level of atmospheric drift in the former piece. The bulk of the album basically assaults the ear with these types of pieces, acting as a sort of writhing body without much actual impact beyond chaotically rushed motioning.

Part of this sensation comes from production values which aim for loudness, a confining and compressed feeling which only reads as depth when the full band isn’t firing at once. Sure, this echoes the greater throwback of their sound in general but just as it did back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s it grasps the sonic ethos of black metal at its most mangled state and creates a walled-up, obnoxious form from it. The one piece I’d say is most clobbered to dust by this sound design is closer “Ballad of a Fallen Star”, a righteous bookend beyond “The Taste of Immortal Blood” and one of the better overall pieces on ‘The Nocturnes of Iswylm‘. What should read as an oddly Bathory-esque soar into the dark beyond instead flatly honks within the loudness created, overpowering the acoustic sections and clean sung aspire. No doubt the “clash” of it all will be part of the effect for some, especially the nostalgic/revisionist listeners but for my taste it panders more than it generates potential.

The bare-breasted black dragon-riding foe which confronts our leading sorcerer on album artwork via the accomplished Simon Bisley is naturally comic book coded in its presentation, hurried up into the panel mid-action rather than distant and ‘epic’ as one’d expect. This offers reasonable equity with my thoughts on the album’s production and vision overall, a rush-into-view suited for maximum shaky-cam and open-mouthed “metal” impact within a sub-genre revivalist tradition. It is a fine image and actually a pretty solid album with consideration for its category, though it only seemed to strike a chord with me when stepping into less congested territory. I get the impression that most fans of this style care more for imaginative atmosphere and stylized sounds of the sub-genre rather than ghoulish post-millennial pomp but I don’t mind being proven wrong. It may not be the album for folks who’ve never left the sub-genre behind and obsess over that stuff but as an entry level/inductive prompt I think this second Stormkeep album gets the high fantasy camp and incorrigible brutality of yesterday reasonably right without sounding rote. A moderately high recommendation.

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