Lord of Shadows is back.
After a first EP in 2021, the project previously named Cruish-Nir created by Valentin « Shadows » Untaru (lyrics) with the help of Mike Lamb (all instruments, Sojourner, Lysithea, Remina, Light Field Reverie), Aaron Stainthorpe (vocals, My Dying Bride), Heike Langhans (vocals, Remina, Light Field Reverie, ex-Draconian) and Emilio Crespo (vocals, Sojourner, ex-Nangilima) unveil Echoes of Yore, their debut album, on Meuse Music Records and Tragedy Productions.
The album opens with Her Lips Were Poetry And Doom, where melancholy keyboards underpin the solemn vocals before saturation kicks in, followed by hoarse screams. The piano returns on Faith Of Thy Beloved, the next track, which anchors itself again in haunting heady tones to develop slow riffs which welcome the different voices, feeding the contrast between sweetness and brutality. Screams and clean vocals skilfully overlap, leading us into At The End Of Our Eclipse, which immediately reveals its heavy, majestic rhythm where the vocalists take turns to offer us a bewitching diversity. The riffs are relatively soothing, taking advantage of airy harmonics before fading out to let She Was But An Echo Of Yore take over with a slow but strangely reassuring sound. Vocals color again the various passages, coming together to create epic flights of fancy, before the atmosphere considerably darkens with Through Memories, I Gave Her Life and its suffocating overtones. The rhythm accelerates towards the middle of the track, then softness resurfaces, surrounded by darkness, leading into If The Tears Are Forgotten, which immediately reveals simpler, but much sadder sounds. Heike‘s voice accompanies us through the first part of the track, then the rhythmic pattern wakes up and leads us to Aaron and his striking double voice, but the sound eventually fades out, leaving Your Blood Weighs Heavy and its keyboards to slowly close the gates of this melancholic universe.
Lord of Shadows‘ ascent continues. Rooted in suffering, melancholy and haunting sonorities, Echoes of Yore is a sublime album which will require several listens to integrate its depths, and will leave a lasting impression.
90/100