Unhallowed be thy name… especially as far as practitioners of black metal are concerned. This lot are relatively new, apparently forming in 2021 and with that in mind no surprise that this is their debut release. As for the players involved, well that information appears to be cloaked in some sort of secrecy with no names provided in various online mediums or even on the CD booklet. It does make one wonder if they are involved in other acts as musically this is pretty proficient stuff.

Heading straight back to the second wave of artists emerging from Sweden this is highly melodic craft displayed over 6 tracks and 37-minutes running time. Riffs are thorny and cold with plenty of furrowing repetitive tremolo weaves about them. Drums batter away precisely, vocals are snarly rasps and add to the sharp edges of the music. A bit more bass definition wouldn’t go amiss here but as we bomb into the opening title track the charge and velocity do a good job of sweeping you off your feet. There are some really cool melodic breaks, often found at the beginning of songs and there is absolutely no denying that they are versed historically from the normal suspects of Swedish darkness, namely Dissection fans are likely to dig this.

Chaos, shadows and darkness are the sort of cheerful subjects lyrically found here but this is not all icy cold stuff as elementally one cannot help finding themselves somewhat burned during the journey. This is especially noted on closer ‘The Firecrowned’ as skies are set aflame and the burning embers extinguish existence leaving nothing but ashes in their wake. There are occasional diversions from the all-out inferno. We get some visitors in the form of corvids swooping above to plunder battlefield bones, some backing vocals and a section of choral effects. Apart from these Unhallowed are pretty much unswerving, the dark passions unfurling with grit and determination with the power to draw many a listener into their depths. Not a bad start for the band at all.

(7/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/Unhallowed.Band

https://unhallowed-band.bandcamp.com/album/awaken-the-black-flame