In wading through the established journalistic insight, appropriately nox underground mutterings and generally tilt-heavy conversation upon (now) Los Angeles, California-based black metal act Lamp of Murmuur the conversation tips egregiously towards conspiracy theorizing about supply and demand before tangentially invested types begin to puzzle over vague notions of influence and process. Digging through discussions of what the second wave actually was, what constitutes raw black metal (and other such drudgery) we eventually land upon the most important factoid one could muster in gauging the lasting value of the artist’s earliest works: Most of their songwriting was built from improvised melodic ideas which were workshopped and machined into wandering do-it-yourself pieces, eventually manifesting on an ‘epic’ scale (read: ~10 minute songs.) In less plainly set terms the successfully cryptic, wandering soul of M.‘s music was previously guided by a flow state, built from some moderately trained aesthetic sense and little else. ‘Saturnian Bloodstorm‘ is the result of the artist tying off the flow, hermetically containing the self and utilizing a certain set of skills to achieve potent first entry into the ‘epic’ black metal canon as it relates to traditional heavy metal voicing. The result of this very practical downsizing of sub-genre widening ambition is an album decidedly off-brand and not necessarily made for the abstract-minded novice level cult of nowadays raw black metal that’d built the artist up. Instead we find this third album offering an entirely legit stab at the real thing and eh, even better, he’s got riffs.

Lamp of Murmuur formed sometime prior to 2019 wherein a series of three demos began releasing five years ago (almost to the date) which’d quickly established their name internet-wide. It’d be their third demo (‘Chasing the Path of the Hidden Master‘, 2019) that’d taken off most notably to start as it was the one to give some inkling of sole member M. developing decent rhythm guitar skills. Normally I’d say soak up every bit of a band’s beginnings if you’re that invested but the context of past works is not particularly valuable in this case, at least ’til we’re a few years and a couple of full-lengths downstream. Demo number five (‘The Burning Spears Of Crimson Agony‘, 2020) was the one that’d brought a notable influx of fans as it’d offered a leap into a much more sophisticated, droning and run-on style of raw black metal with eclectic focus without losing sight of the developing meme. It was a proper step towards a full-length ready state which’d arrive with ‘Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism‘ (2020) several months later. This was the peak of this improvised, “the songs are willed to me by the spirits” modus and for my own taste a much needed conclusion to that meandering style despite how many boxes it checked between vague melodicism, atmosphere, and somewhat intelligible longform statements.

This album sounds a lot like early 2000’s Immortal, bro! — Although it’d be apt to suggest major foreshadowing for the style found on ‘Saturnian Bloodstorm‘ arrived on a collection of B-sides (‘Punishment and Devotion‘, 2022) of leftovers from the ‘Submission and Slavery‘ (2022) sessions but we could also give a long, drooling stare at the song “Reduced to Submission and Slavery” and already hear the early 2000’s thrashing black metal influence giving that record its opening salvo of thrusters. So, of course their should be no getting around it that this album sounds like it was released circa 2003 right after ‘Sons of Northern Darkness‘ had fully exhausted the possibilities of what Immortal had been up to since roughly 1995. Now, bear with me here since I am a geek for ‘Damned in Black‘ in particular, having learned quite a lot of those songs on guitar and bass to the point that some of the thrash influenced quick-turns of phrase taken on ‘Saturnian Bloodstorm‘ definitely spoke to that album’s focus on tightly wound technique (see: “Conqueror Beyond the Frenzied Fog“) and sure, even moreso than the obvious tribute to ‘At the Heart of Winter‘ they’d intended otherwise. M. only borrows part of this cold-pissed and thrashing energy for the sake of structurally sound rhythmic voicing, the cadence of the vocals and general riff attack, specifically in presenting main verse riffs while working in his own melodic sensibilities as the major feature of most songs. Maybe it’ll be too obvious a thing to suggest but if you’re a fuckin’ dork for those classics, as I am, this new vision of Lamp of Murmuur should not disappoint at a time where this niche is rarely attempted and/or achieved.

Perhaps the bigger point to make here is that while this referential inspiration is clear as the night sky in starless Blashyrkh we couldn’t accuse this work of plain cloneage, there is enough of their own input here to create a Lamp of Murmuur specific melodic voice even if the bombast of it all will be ridiculously familiar to start. The only real ding to the experience is that they haven’t necessarily amplified that standard but met up with it, touched toe-to-toe with the old gods’ best-selling moment and caught a whiff for inspiration. Is this a new point of purpose? The hope is that this venture into referential medium for the sake of what feels right in the moment is youthful enthusiasm and not aimless scaffolding, since there were many class innovations found on ‘Submission and Slavery‘ back in 2021, such as the Bathory-esque nod of “Deformed Erotic Visage”, which might’ve translated here by way of early Hades (Norway) arrival-upon-the-shore cinema just as well. Granted, “Hymns of Death, Rays of Might” provides an applicably dramatic moment or two that’ll more than suffice. I am of course not at all here to backseat black metal so much as suggest that down the road beyond this breakthrough record there will likely manifest something more cumulative in voice which speaks to mastery whereas here and now this is a tangent in truth. Having picked such a lane for this third full-length I have to admire the “heavy metal” guided part of the artist’s brain so heartily engaged and cutting riffs left and right.

‘Saturnian Bloodstorm‘ reads to me as a strike upon something molten, an artist ready to do anything who’d chose to first launch his banners within a niche of black metal which is not only well-celebrated but inherently driven by personality. I wouldn’t have expected M. to nail this aspect, the arrogant yet intelligent fixation of epic heavy metal in strident black metal formation and especially not with programmed drums… yet it’d been hard to walk away from a song like “Seal of the Dominator”, which features more than a few nods to the heady vernacular of Inquisition-esque flow in its rhythm guitar work, and not feel the battlefield atmosphere reeking off of every riff. Reaching that third song in the running order is likely going to be convincing enough for anyone prone to enjoy this type of black metal, which is decidedly not raw and instead boasts full on direct statements in full-armored melee combat, but the final two pieces on the album will not only belabor the Immortal comparisons to the nth degree but also provide some of the better riffs on the album, primarily stacking the action within the keyboard stoked faster-paced clip of the title track/closer. The full listen cycles on repeat brilliantly, rests at a neatly 40 minute runtime and stops just short of overstating its relatively simple, easily read stylistic venture.

It won’t do the listener any good to have me dig too deeply into the details here, the effect of this album is straightforward enough to be easily read and enjoyed without such endless qualifiers applied. By today’s standards it will be a surprising sea-change, an initially hard-to-grasp shift, but likely a “for the better” situation for the seasoned black metal fan. When considering packaging and presentation the obvious, glaring note to take here is in glowing appreciation for the stunning cover painting, an illustration from German artist Karmazid whose knack for full color (acrylic, probably) painting continues to impress whenever it crops up (see also: Daeva‘s latest) as the image brings a color palette reminiscent of the early 90’s Greek and Brazilian black metal scenes without the oddly airbrushed shaping. This gives ‘Saturnian Bloodstorm‘ an additional aesthetic appeal up front, helps to signify a big stylistic change and provides strong imagery which lends a memorable stature for my taste. Point being that as I consider the whole package which Lamp of Murmuur‘ve curated for this third full-length it impresses me to no end that this release is not only aesthetic in a classic sense but likewise feels genuine and bold, even, for an act which many view as unofficial leadership in a rarely substantive raw USBM trendscape with very few standouts. To buck the trend is entirely honorable, to be able to do so is impressive and hey, as it turns out this record is actually pretty damned good. A high recommendation.

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