Bloedmaan comes out at night.
At the end of 2025, Ronarg‘s project (all instruments/vocals, Antzaat, Ars Veneficium, Ronarg, live for Doodswens and Nachtmaer) unveils Vampyric War in Blood, its second album, on Immortal Frost Productions, with the help of Frederik Geuvens (Verwilderd) on drums and Lennart Janssen (Druon Antigon, Thermohaline) on keyboards.
The band is accompanied by Lukas Risbourg (bass, Cobracide, Crypts of Dusk, Nyrak, Serpents Oath, Temple of Acheron), Siebe Hermans (drums, Coffin Feeder, When Plagues Collide, live for Aborted, Benighted…) and Geert Devenster (guitar, Serpents Oath, ex-Leng Tch’e…) live.
After a haunting introduction with melancholic and medieval roots, where guitar and keyboards combine, the first riffs of Vampyric War in Blood, the eponymous track, unleash themselves and skillfully blend a furious base with scathing leads and voicings from beyond the grave. The melodies skillfully penetrate our minds and draw us into their virulent course while the vocalist roars over the frenzied rhythm, but the breaks allow us to gradually catch our breath, subsequently exploring a more dissonant approach before moving on to Return to Castlevania, which gives us a short welcome. The tranquility is shattered by the bloodthirsty rage of the track, which, although sometimes a little tempered, does not hesitate to drown us in its hurricane of martial darkness haunted by a vocalist who pushes his limits and leads us to the hypnotic The Clock Tower, which starts off in a rather haunting manner. The heavy rhythm grabs our attention while the vocals emerge from all sides, sometimes supported by solemn choirs and slightly more prominent drums, before ending with particularly soft keyboards, leaving What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse to set the stage alight and reconnect with much more explosive riffs. The rhythm carries us along in its wake and lets us savor all its intensity, even during the slower passages where the harmonics show us the way to the next blaze, which finally leads to Commander of Spectral Forces, where the tempo becomes more accessible again. The leads create a spellbinding web where the surrounding darkness naturally rubs shoulders with beauty and mastery of rhythm until the somewhat abrupt final that leads to Outro, which, although sometimes energetic, conveys a certain coldness before slowing down and revealing much more ethereal touches that eventually fade away on their own. Rise of the Blood Moon takes us by surprise and offers a new, fast-paced charge that eventually returns to Ronarg‘s roars, making the rhythm even more macabre, but still allowing it to calm down for a few more refined passages before the double bass drum forces us back into battle with its virulent assaults, drawing on mystical and intriguing melodies before finally stopping abruptly.
Rooted in Melodic Black Metal with unapologetic bloody touches, Bloedmaan has returned with a second album that is even more accomplished than the previous one. Vampyric War in Blood is a true ode to darkness that is as enjoyable to savor as it is to experience.
95/100