Published: January 15, 2025

For those of you looking for that contemporary black metal album that captures the gloomy piss and vinegar of the 2nd wave 90s heyday, Kaer Morhen awaits. With lyrical themes set in the world of The Witcher, also a product of the 90s, Hekseblad owe much of their sound to the likes of Emperor and Gorgoroth. It’s not quite all pastiche, however, as the old-timey piano waltz segment of “A Grain of Truth (Nivellin’s Waltz)” and the organ grinder/harpsicord-ish melodies in “The White Flame” and at the end of the title track help throw the band’s serrated riff-craft into sharper relief. Closer “Vatt’ghern” even wanders through a stretch of atmospherics before bringing the record to a triumphant close.