American black metallers Azathoth’s Dream uveil their new track “Coven of the Ancient Black Flame”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second full-length album, “Solitary Forest Necromancy”, set for international release on July 11th via Iron Bonehead Productions.
A lynchpin among America’s Order of the Broken Sword circle that includes labelmates Luring, Wuldorgast, and now Sigorspéd, Azathoth’s Dream immediately made their presence known in 2023 with the debut album Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment. Aptly titled, the then-one-man band’s black metal was of a vampiric and undeniably late ’90s French vintage, maintaining a similarly necrotic-yet-aristocratic mysticism not unlike Osculum Infame, Bekhira, Winter Funeral, and very early Seth. One could also liken their sound to the uprising of raw vampiric black metal in the U.S., spearheaded by Sanguine Relic, Vampirska, early Lamp of Murmuur, and Geist of Ouachita among others.
Now expanded to a two-piece, Azathoth’s Dream likewise expound upon their core sound with their second full-length for Iron Bonehead, Solitary Forest Necromancy. Much as the not-inconsiderable debut album titularly presaged its contents, Solitary Forest Necromancy likewise sounds exactly as it should – and show Azathoth’s Dream to be far more than just another “raw black metal” newcomer. Still raw to an extent, the duo sharpen their swords with some degree of clarity whilst evincing the requisite grit to make moonlit black metal work. The foundation’s largely unchanged – said French vanguard, especially, as well as aesthetic forebears Black Funeral – but the riffing’s become both bittersweet and triumphant, melancholic yet invigorating. Coupled with a pronounced usage of mystical synths, sometimes even leading the (forest-bound) way, Solitary Forest Necromancy quickly becomes an engrossing experience, and one which cements Azathoth’s Dream‘s standing among American black metal’s new vanguard.
Tracklist:
1. Malefic Spellcraft
2. Death Denied
3. Ancient Black Blood
4. Solitary Forest Necromancy
5. Malevolence Enshrined
6. Coven of the Ancient Black Flame
7. Exsanguinated and Impaled
8. Heed the Call
9. Under Cover of Night
10. Beyond the Veil of this Reality
Listen below:
Mother of THE VOID.
Underground music is the ultimate weapon against mediocrity.
