Published: December 20, 2023

The Canadian Rockies seems like a good place to find a Tolkien and darkness inspired black metal band lurking, and wouldn’t you know it, Kings Rot are just that band. Their newest record, ‘At the Gates of Adversarial Darkness’ is out now through Hypnotic Dirge Records, and while their excellent cover art looks like it was drawn from a 70s swords and sorcery novel, their music is a focused spearhead through your mithril chainmail.

Opener ‘Blazing Winds of Torment’ gives you an immediate taste of what to expect; dramatic windswept black metal, loaded with a fantastical setting and a real sense of the atmospheric storytelling that you’d expect from a Tokien-influenced band. Soaring melodies accompany a impassioned howling vocals, cascading drums pound their way across the vistas of ‘Twilight Breath Incantation’, while the stirringly bleak guitar tone cuts through the likes of ‘Last Dance for the Eternal Flame’ like Glamdring through orcflesh. Kings Rot do not let this fantastical influence take over however; each track still throbs with a ravaged burning darkness, patrolling grim skies of ash rather than crisp icy air. ‘Beneath the Hunters Moon’ is a great example of this, a dark and twisting cyclone of fiery traditionalism.

Much like the dragon on the cover art, there is a blackened grace to what Kings Rot do here, but there is no ambivalence as to what their true aim is. ‘At the Gates of Adversarial Darkness’ is a record of fiery black metal power, and while there are plenty of moments that stir even the coldest hearts to battle, the fantasy theme is still very much of a morbid kind. Remember, most of The Lord of the Rings was war, death, fire and black magic. Much like this record really.