Sunday morning. The perfect time to lay in bed and listen to Cumbrian black metal, at least for me. Helvellyn have been a potent force in the Cumbrian scene for years now with a firmly second wave sound that always thrilled listeners and kept us coming back for more. With their first full length Hevellyn prove that they are still consistently among the best in the game with a clear vision for a sound that is both gloriously atavistic but also executed with 25+ years of perspectiv on a genre that once took the world by fire.
The Lore Of The Cloaked Assembly impresses because of the depth of the compositions. It's black metal that pays clear tyribute to the sonic ancestors but also which seems to be thrilled to entrench the listener in that world alongside them. Tracks like 'Vikodlak Battalion' with their tremolo guitars and blasting drus tie in immediately to classic aesthetics and lean on wonderfully snarled vocals to leave listeners in awe. While the general execution of this band is relatively simple, basing their work on tropes, it doesn't really matter because the tropes in and of themselves are awesome. This is a record meant to sit on your shelf alongside your nineties black metal, and this release does an amazing job of proving that it deserves a spot in that vaunted pantheon.
Helvellyn have proven with The Lore Of The Cloaked Assembly that they can hang with some of the best and seem to consistently push towards deeper mastery of the craft. There is a deep understanding of classic black metal on display here, and as Helvellyn push through, slicing off heads and taking no quarter, they show time and time again what makes them different and endlessly exciting to those of us who have remained true to the kvlt.
Pre-order the album!
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