Saturday, October 22, 2016

Diabolical Masquerade - Ravendusk in My Heart (1996)


Masterful Swedish black metal courtesy of Anders Nyström (under the pseudonym "Blackheim") of Katatonia. Dynamic songwriting that seamlessly transitions from ripping, thrash-y bits to folk-inspired melodies to straight-up heavy metal ("Under the Banner of the Sentinel") while maintaining a darkly majestic, second-wave core, with a tasteful backdrop of choral keyboards and clean guitars throughout. If I were to list my top 50 favorite black metal records, Ravendusk in My Heart would be a shoe-in.

Track listing:
1. The Castle of Blackheim
2. Blackheim's Quest to Bring Back the Stolen Autumn
3. Beyond the Spiritual Moon
4. The Sphere in Blackheim's Shrine
5. Under the Banner of the Sentinel
6. Blackheim's Forest Kept the Season Forever
7. The Darkblue Seajourneys of the Sentinel
8. Blackheim's Hunt for Nocturnal Grace
9. Ravendusk in My Heart

An arctic domain under a grinning silver moon

Other potential top 50 candidates:
Svartsyn -
... His Majesty (2000)
Nehëmah -
Requiem Tenebrae (2004)

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, dude. You should totally make a list of your top 50 black metal records, the amount of BM you've introduced me to through this blog is ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete