There are few things in this world that catch my attention more than a solid Tolkien reference. Oh yeah, you can easily make some casual reference to the movies and call it a deep cut, but black metal tends to go further than that and it really pulls me in. While it’s not enough to make an album good by that reason alone, it makes the album all the better when the material is just as tasty. That’s how I felt listening to Gateway Specter’s debut full-length as it was something straight out of Barad-dûr.

With a band name that’s a direct reference to the greatest dragon of Middle-Earth, Ancalagon the Black, you better bring your fucking a-game in order to live up to something like that. Luckily, this band out of New York doesn’t disappoint as “Gateway Specter” is a marvelous display of melodic black metal that has lyrical themes set place in the home of Ancalagon himself. For all nine tracks, Ancalagon absolutely devastates with each part of this full-length showing that not only do these New Yorkers know their Tolkien but they also know how to translate it into black metal that’s actually fucking good. Tolkien material is a common thing in black metal, but all too often it’s execution leaves a lot to be desired despite the rich source material. “Gateway Specter” leaves no such thing to chance as its entirety consists of pure black metal excellence that does nothing but justice for the source material with how well Ancalagon respects it all whilst making it all very tantalizing, to say the least. The melody ties everything together, the intensity drives the tracks forward like lightning, the lore provides an immaculate backdrop to it all, and the execution is all but impeccable to make “Gateway Specter” a real treat for both black metal and Tolkien fanatics alike.

I’m no stranger to Tolkien being fused with black metal as acts such as Battle Dagorath are very familiar to me, but it’s not often that a brand new band can come up and show such promise while also beautifully representing the world of Middle-Earth. Yet, that’s precisely the case with Ancalagon. “Gateway Specter” is a piece that shows definite promise as it’s performed by actual talent, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw these guys return to the dark corners of Tolkien’s realm soon.

LISTEN to “Gateway Specter” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ancalagon on Facebook here.