End Of All Light’s debut EP.
Formed in 2025 by multi-instrumentalists Joni Koivuniemi (Deep Six Hatred) and Mika Hanski, the band released its first EP, The Dawn of Unlight, the following year.
The sinister sounds are revealed right from the start with Eternal Darkness Arrives, the opening track that immediately highlights its Old School roots while developing a chilling and uncompromising Melodic Black Metal style, filled with ferocious growls. There is, however, a brief pause before the dark flow resumes, but the double bass drum gives the track a slightly different dynamic, making it more ethereal before completely breaking the progression to offer a more piercing and haunting sound, leading into a final wave that carries into Skull Beneath The Crown and its more aggressive approach. The influences are slightly different, making the track much more lively even before the vocals come in to create a sense of oppression reinforced by the continuous assault of the two musicians; but once again, the moment of respite allows us to catch our breath before a soaring moment that carries us toward Thousand Years In The Labyrinth and its mysterious introduction. I’d even say there’s a slight touch of melancholy in the mystical sound, but the arrival of the vocals makes it downright unsettling, and we have to wait until halfway through the track for the distortion to wash over us with riffs that are as haunting as can be – especially leads that lull us before giving way to The Devil Rides By My Side. This track is already the last one on the EP, but it’s also the longest, and once its strange introductory sample fades, it delivers a new wave of furious darkness, one that doesn’t hesitate to weave moments where clean and distorted vocals coexist, only to ultimately sink into silence.
With such a dense and gripping debut EP, End Of All Light makes a sensational entrance onto the black metal scene! The melodies on The Dawn of Unlight are promising, and I’m already looking forward to hearing what comes next!
90/100
