Science fiction is something that has always had a place in metal, but, if you ask me, it deserves more recognition and widespread utilization given all that’s possible with it so long as it’s given the care and attention to detail that can really make for a spectacle. Such works can often feel few and far between for any given reason as it’s not on a regular basis that we’re given works of sci-fi that not only live up to the potential, but delivers at damn near every turn. Eight years after its debut album, any given song from Wyrgher’s second opus proves that the work has been more than worth the wait.

Despite what reservations one may have when realizing that the sole member of Wyrgher is part of the Ungfell, especially when it comes to thematic differences, I can only assure you wholly and completely that the quality that we associate with Ungfell should absolutely apply to all that Wyrgher is capable of. To compare the two would be a great disservice to them both as they are both black metal, of course, but this is a situation where the very setting and backdrop of the material in question comes into play.

“Panspermic Warlords” sees Wyrgher taking us on a galatic-wide excursion through the expanses of space following the theory of panspermia where life has originated from the same place, but it is throughout the record that we see that concept taken to a much more violent extent. Where species are formed and civilizations are raised by long-forgotten passing spaceships with the sole purpose of spreading their seed across the cosmos, the black metal put forth here fits almost too damn well. It’s cavernous in more than enough instances with the evisceration and ferocity to match that of a species looking to further their presence across the blackness, and “Panspermic Warlords” never misses an opportunity. Intensity is the name of the game here with Wyrgher more than adept at bringing forth the goods in heaping quantities even eight long yeras after its last utterance of fresh material.

Clearly, those eight years were diligently spent with everything about “Panspermic Warlords” flaunting the fruits of those labors all over the place without an ounce of shame. And that should absolutely be the case! Ignoring everything else that this one-man act has delivered under many other monikers, what’s been done here with Wyrgher should be considered as one of the best creations that the man has dished out up to this point. All the right boxes are marked off, everything was done exquisitely, and the black metal is absolutely pitch-perfect with the sci-fi backdrop; Wyrgher has put on a real stunner with “Panspermic Warlords”!

“Panspermic Warlords” releases on July 28th via I, Voidhanger Records!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Panspermic Warlords” on Bandcamp here.