The digital age is quite a boon to the underground since we now have a much larger selection than ever before to choose from, and whenever a fantastic new album comes around there’s always a chance that it will spread like wildfire and earn the album in question the recognition it deserves. That’s always fascinating to witness since when the community latches onto a record, it’s always a vocal adoration with it taking an active effort to either miss or ignore that very literal word of mouth, and I do my best to investigate those wonders when I can. One of the latest that has come across my radar is the first full-length effort from Stormkeep, and like many others I simply cannot resist talking about it.

It always does cross my mind whenever I cover a widely popular release like what we have in this case that it almost feels as though one is beating a dead horse by continuing to cover what has already been covered extensively, but it’s also the sort of thing where it’s clear that an album like this is worth talking about and I refuse to not give a worthy effort the attention and accolades that it deserves. In every way, Stormkeep has earned such a treatment with everything that was brought to the table in order to bring “Tales of Othertime” to life. While this record was undoubtedly made with great reverence for old school black metal in mind, it’s with a modern mindset that makes these six tracks so epic right from the beginning as Stormkeep not only leaves the album at a tremendous showcase of riffs and black metal iciness with that being the most of it. Rather, it’s throughout “Tales of Othertime” that we see the sound wander and explore different avenues while never leaving the sight of the core of black metal with flavorful solos, brief cutaways to symphonic moments, and acoustic passages that are all surrounded by compelling, riff-filled black metal that is the very definition of entrancing.

It really does feel as though Stormkeep had injected a literal sense of magic and mysticism into the music it created to a tantalizing degree, and it does nothing but wonders for the album with it clearly being a contributing factor as to why the album has spread as far as it is. I couldn’t be any happier to see that be the reality as well. All the way to the very end, “Tales of Othertime” is a fantastical, gripping record that defies all sorts of expectations with nothing but apex efficiency for the entirety of the album to the point where I know very well this will end up very high on year-end lists for many people with such conviction being more than obvious and beyond justified.

LISTEN to “Tales of Othertime” on Bandcamp here.