Spectral Wound Songs Of Blood and Mire

Somewhere at the intersection of thrash, speed, and second wave black metal is a very precise type of melodic black metal that’s a hell of a lot of fun. In this lane, the last decade has seen the rise of newcomers like Dödsrit, Daeva (my personal fave), along with Spectral Wound who really went hard on this sound with their 2021 album A Diabolic Thirst. It was enough to get a lot of eyes and ears on their stuff so it was simply up to them to keep the black metal fire burning.

They return with Songs Of Blood and Mire, an album that’s very much Spectral Wound. No overwrought atmospheric sections, no tacking on of other subgenres, just fast, dark, cold metal for that ass. Black metal is usually so self-serious to the point of parody that it’s hard to tell where bands lie. With Spectral Wound, you get the sense they’re here purely for the music, no greater ideological manifesto or theatrics that overshadow the music outside of looking the part (that’s a handsome group up there). This is the kind of black metal band where the esoteric and mystique is obviously welcomed with members named A.A. and Illusory, but also values a straightforwardness represented by other members simply named Patrick, Sam, and Jonah. Together, they have a grim and frostbitten mission to undertake.

“Fevers and Suffering” gets things off to a good start with rollicking instrumentation and a ceaseless black metal spirit. The writing and structure is solid, but it’s more about the power and speed, setting a good precedent for anyone who’s escaped the invisible orange grip of the band up to now. Where things really starts to get good though is “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”. It launches with tapered-off and reserved pacing, but that allows much more of the instrumentation and writing to become apparent. The bass is wholly audible, drum strikes are clear as a sunny Norwegian winter day, and the guitars tone down the tremolo ever so slightly to give us some additional texturing - much appreciated. It also has by far the hardest opening lyrics on the album: “We are lost, profligate and wasted/Against laws human and divine/We riot in hell tonight”.

“Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit” captivates with its strength just as “Fevers and Suffering” did. It’s the longest song by a few seconds and doesn’t change much of the formula from other tracks, but still has an evocative and feral solo at the end and a good build up to all the intensity in the middle and beyond. Where some other songs flirt with a contemplative, often poetic nature, this one just feels like straight hell. To that end, I also really enjoyed the energy in “A Coin Upon the Tongue” which goes all in on black metal’s punkier roots with walloping drumming, playful bass, and some guitar riffs and leads I’d expect out of more traditional heavy metal or thrash bands. In other words, a great song, probably my favorite on the album.

A few songs don’t achieve much that other songs do - “At Wine-Dark Midnight in Mouldering Halls” is an inspired title, but not particularly imaginative instrumentally, and I find it really, really hard to say anything of note about “The Horn Marauding” that I didn’t say about others with more conviction. They’re not bad, but lack some identity when stacked against other tracks I’ve mentioned already.

It’s sad to say that Songs Of Blood and Mire doesn’t have the memorability factor that previous albums or other bands do. I can think back fondly to a few different standout melodies from A Diabolic Thirst or even Infernal Decadence and it’s not even a matter of those albums being out for years longer. While there are clearly some good moments here on this album, they just don’t stick the same way and I can’t even say with certainty if I’ll be listening to the album much beyond its release week.

Bottom Line: Songs Of Blood and Mire is missing a certain fire, a black metal wonder that older albums had. It’s hard to be mad at though as what’s here is solid, just overall less remarkable unless you’re a diehard fan or deprived of this sort of ripping black metal, and even then I’d likely recommend their previous work before this one. Maybe my opinion will change over time, but that will require some motivation and separation to clear my head. If so, I’ll gladly eat that crow when/if the time comes.