Those of you who tuned into our 2020 Album of the Year podcasts will be very aware that both Da Ed and I have a serious amount of admiration for British post-hardcore artists Svalbard, whose When I Die, Will I Get Better? (Church Road) caught our attention with the subtle expansion revealing an icy Black Metal core, most prevalent in the proliferation and development of tremolo-picked motifs. Guitarist Serena Cherry goes one step further with her debut Black Metal solo outing, Wretched Abyss (Translation Loss), released under the Noctule banner, indulging her frozen soul and frostbitten inspirations.

Whereas Black Metal has allied with Fantasy, particularly of the Tolkien variety, as a source of lyrical treasure, and goblins and orcs have grimaced their sad, lonely ways for the last thirty years, Cherry takes this to the next level – theming this album around the role-playing action game Skyrim. On paper, this could be an approach that would raise more than the proverbial eye-brow, but in such skilled hands, it is a vision brought to life, especially with elements and melodies calling to mind the epic Summoning.

Wretched Abyss lives and breathes and succeeds in the more melodic Black Metal spaces, while covering a wide berth; easing from the rattling seeth of opener ‘Elven Sword’ to closing synthstrumental, the appropriately titled ‘Become Ethereal’; Cherry is adept at telling a story through the dynamics and twists of each song while pacing and varying the album at the same time.

The six songs in between these bookends take the prelude laid down by the taut opener and expand further as the magic of the Noctule realm is fully realised amidst a gamut of atmospheric and melodic blackened sculptures that present their proud individual stories. From the stately, serene and elegant, such as the snaking unveiling of ‘Labyrinthian’ and its intertwining guitar lines, via the Northern Lights beauty of ‘Deathbell Harvest’ and its Winterfylleth-ian peals, to the raging blizzards that pulse throughout, what sets Wretched Abyss apart is the exemplary and prevailing lead-work – signatures exploding on every track – peaking when Cherry manipulates the tracks to sensational, euphoric guitar leads, nodding to the shoegaze exhilaration of Sunbather (Deathwish) such as the unwinding of the title track.

Exhibiting the charm of mid-90s post-second wave melodic Black Metal and reminiscent of Old Man’s Child and early Borknagar while adding a dynamic and distinctive personality, whether Wretched Abyss is the first chapter of a long-running series, or a standalone off-shoot from the Svalbard main tale, it is a more than worthy addition to this year’s listening.

Buy the album here: https://linktr.ee/Noctule

8 / 10

STEVE TOVEY