The various avenues of black metal have become no less than fascinating for me as we can really see the style go into literally any different direction at the drop of the hat should any band of any kind come along and seek to take things in even a slightly different direction. Whether it’s a wildly different course or walking along the same street but on a different side, the opportunities feel downright endless so long as creativity never dies. For me, black metal can become the most interesting when it walks down similar roads but walks those paths different however slightly with loads of bands pulling it off at the flick of a wrist with, of course, varying results, but it’s with creations like Sylvan Awe that I cannot help but find myself crawling back time after time.

This is the kind of black metal that is very simplistic in its ideals but is everything but on the surface to those who look into its swirling madness of chaos, vicious melodies, and undeniable intoxication. In the best way, “Transcend” feels as though it can be broken down into two core concepts with which Sylvan Awe has made a truly massive creation out of with the first being uncompromising power. The style has had that as a major factor since day one, but this isn’t the type of creation that lets the power have complete reign over what happens with Sylvan Awe constantly honing the power of the release such that it is gloriously focused to make for an ultimately vicious vision that implements riffage, tenacity, and personal ferocity that takes the very whole of “Transcend” to a new level that does the very name of the album justice. The second core concept of this effort revolves around the most primordial and instinctual form of introspection. That’s something that many black metal bands have tried to deliver across numerous albums, especially in recent years, but only a relatively small portion of them have been able to successfully deliver it in such a powerful form that doesn’t feel like the mark had been missed or it wasn’t as strong as it could have been with every step of “Transcend” not only showing us how it’s done right from the beginning but how well Sylvan Awe knows their craft to the very core with no misstep or skipped opportunity to be had.

Such a craft like this is something that the style has been trying accomplish over and over again for years now with the best cases gaining wide success for all of the right reasons should they fall upon the right ears, and I truly do believe that it’s with their second full-length album that Sylvan Awe has created an effort that is more than worthy of that very same treatment. There isn’t a single aspect of “Transcend” that deserves to be ignored or denied for all that it brings to the table, and I can only hope it won’t be another six years before we hear back from this wildly promising Australian duo.

LISTEN to “Transcend” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Sylvan Awe on Facebook here.