I’m not going to gild the lily too much on this one. I didn’t get a promo for it, but I sure knew it was coming out. Because Grima have been one of my most treasured black metal bands since I fell head over heels with 2021’s Rotting Garden. I really like the follow-up, Frostbitten from ‘22 as well, though was less floored by its brilliance than its predecessor. This is now their 5th studio record and though they have only been going a relatively short time I was wondering if they had hit their zenith (in my opinion) 3 records in. So it’s fair to say I was a little apprehensive when pressing play on this for the first time.

I’m very happy to say that the transportative nature of Rotting Garden is very much back this time around. I hadn’t considered this element, but the guys on Bangers and Mosh podcast (alright lads!) pointed out that the last record came out in late July. Which is baffling choice for what can only be described as the most icy and biting of elemental black metal. I walked to my local for a pint listening to this record about half an hour ago and I was wrapped up in a big coat, scarf, beanie, etc. underneath a slate-grey sky and with a punishing wind whipping round the remaining exposed sliver of my face. Yes, I know it’s not exactly the Siberian tundra where these folks hail from, but the music makes so much more sense in the cold. It just does.

To go into some of the specifics a bit further, you can expect huge swathes of melody, melancholic picked intros, tastefully and sparingly deployed use of an instrument which may be an accordion or something similar (but certainly something native to the band’s homeland) which imbues the compositions with an earthy, timeless quality that can only be truly evoked by authentic folk influences. The juxtaposition against, can I just say, some of the absolute purest and most evocative black metal vocals I’ve heard in a while, is notable for its remarkable congruity. It sounds like it shouldn’t work at all, but a few songs in, you only notice it as a pleasing part of the overall sonic ensemble. Which to call out something else, includes either a very clever synth or possibly a layered baritone vocal bed way down in the mix which generates a low end at certain moments which allows the songs to feel weighty and uncompromised at points which might otherwise feel a little scant. Yet when they want to evoke fragility or tenderness, that comes extremely easy to them as well.

I’m really not sure if I think this is as good as Rotting Garden yet. It’s a very high bar. But I’m well aware that that record was the one that made me fall in love with this band, so it might have a degree of bias in its favour. Either way, this is a magnificent example of black metal’s ability to be formed into shapes and sounds that purists from the early 90’s would recognise and enjoy, but also draws on post-metal, folk even elements of DSBM, but the result is ironically one of the more uplifting that you might find from a BM record this year.