Darklore’s banner flies once again.
Led from Australia by Lord Commander Raivendark (guitar/vocals), War Master Hargoth (bass/vocals), and High Priestess Luna (guitar), the band unveils its second album, The Great Elven War, in 2026.
It kicks off with the howling of wolves on The Hunting Grounds, a fairly dark and calm opening track with a simple but solid rhythm that incorporates both roars and some more surprising melodic touches, sometimes even borrowed from the band’s Folk roots. The majestic touch continues with the slowdown, then leads to the playful touches of Descendants of the Pale Moon, which pick up the pace, honoring symphonic influences as well as Black Metal, which skillfully colors the violent parts before offering us a moment of levitation with the introduction of The Beast of Beauclair, which hypnotizes us before laying down its quasi-military rhythm. The mix ignites, highlighting the furious Black/Death approach that will undoubtedly have the audience headbanging, but with a long break on the keyboards before a softer, more enchanting reprise that guides us to its climax and then to the mysterious Servants of Sauron, which returns to darkness and integrates it into every moment of its riffs. From time to time, cries of anguish replace the long harmonics, but although it easily exceeds six minutes, the track is the shortest, giving way to an even more suffocating progression on The North Remembers and its piercing coldness. The rhythm section is much calmer than usual, allowing the orchestrations to enhance it with their contrasting touch, while letting the vocalists offer some fairly unifying moments between two intoxicating harmonics, whereas Horns of the Buffira offers a much more virulent and jerky approach, as well as moments borrowed from the most festive Folk music, where one could easily raise one’s fist in time with the musicians. The pace suddenly slows down to lead into The Great Elven War, the eponymous track whose epic accelerations seem particularly effective at getting your head banging, but which also knows how to let the lead guitar run wild and offer more piercing harmonics before treating us to an acoustic passage on Wrath of the High Heavens, allowing us to catch our breath before taking on the full force of the song, which changes rhythm at will to keep us on the edge of our seats until the end of its adventure.
While Darklore‘s songs can sometimes seem very long, the band still manages to make the mix coherent, increasingly anchoring its riffs in folk influences on The Great Elven War. Fans of fantasy landscapes will be in heaven.
80/100