Is it me or is there a lot of music coming out of Belgium and Canada at the moment?  It seems like every other release that drops through my letter box or inbox is from one of these two pleasant countries. (not brushing over Belgium’s hideous colonial past).

From Quebec come the J.R. Tolkien obsessed Keys of Orthanc – named after the things that probably jangled around Saruman’s robes as he fumbled for them after a night out on the piss with the Orcs.

The Lineage of Kings is a love letter to Tolkien’s fantasy world of hobbits and wizards, dwarves and Orcs so it is only right that they blend Dungeon Synth in with their black metal. Dice rollers of the world unite!

Just like Dungeons and Dragons this appears to be a bit of a garage or bedroom project with the band – duo Dorgul – all instruments and vocalist Harslingoth have bashed out two albums during the Covid –19 pandemic. Take that Axl Rose!

In fact since beginning in 2018 this is the pairs fourth full length – though Horslingath only joined the quest in 2019.  The last album “Unfinished Conquests” was a purely electronic affair with everything being done via synths in a dungeon stylee.

In the Lineage of Kings is a return to a more mixed approach.

Opening with the quite frankly far too long and ambling title track I feel like I am on some kind of VR horse riding lesson with all the clippety clop and fake wind that goes on for several minutes. I was just going to reach into my pocket for a carrot for Dobbin (what don’t you carry emergency veg?) when some synthesized brass kicked in and I was transported back to the old Gauntlet arcade cabinet and I reached for 20 pence pieces instead. Warrior needs food badly!

You get the idea then – this is pretty lofi, lockdown lore and roll.  It is good fun though. Rollicking raspy black metal with a little too much synth brass and keys but then the cheese topping gives it a little lift.

There is plenty of epic soundtrack type vocal overlays and some female vocals mixed in as well for good measure to give a cinematic feel. Harslingoth often goes for a high pitched rasp a la Dani Filth which works well and there is an urgency to the drums and riffs that makes my metal claw grip the translucent citric fruit.  There is another scene setter “To the paths of the Dead” which sounds like someone recoding something in the bath but then I am sure it is relevant to the story – it being some 30 odd years since I read the Lord of the Rings.

King of the Reunited Kingdom has the listener being shouted at a lot by a character and it gives me scoutmaster flashbacks and I am glad when the black metal screaming starts again. Again, the synth brass ilies a little too heavy in the mix and the drums collapse under the weight and sound like they are tumbling from the top of the Eye full tower.

Final track proper is “Ive seen the Dragons Fly” which is an elf’s stab at being epic and folky  as  an earnest bard like vocal sits atop the synths. I lost interest if I am honest.

Keys of Orthanc have made the strange decision of ending the album with a 15 minute cover of Books of the Fallen by Salt Lake City’s Caladan Brood. I have never heard the original nor of the band so I have no reference point.

It’s blackened doom with an epic twist. But long.

Lineage of the Kings – Epic Black Dungeon Metal on a Spectrum 48 K – Horace the Dwarf goes skiing.

(6/10  Matt Mason)

https://www.facebook.com/keysofOrthanc

https://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp.com/album/of-the-lineage-of-kings