Of all the acts and magnificence that have come about since the turn of the century in the world of black metal, it can’t be said there’s a shortage of quality or intensity in any given sound with many modern flavors having come into existence since then. Every individual vein has its icons that are constantly pushing the sound to be the best it can possibly become even with many being met with adversity or disagreement as the many different colliding worlds of black metal lead to an exceedingly jaded fanbase. With names like Panopticon, however, forward has only ever been the sole choice. The years have only seen this master of atmospheric black metal meeting with Americana folk become ever more bewildering to gaze upon even after such masterstrokes like “The Scars of Man Upon the Once Nameless Wilderness”. Now, two years after its last full-length album, Panopticon continues a trilogy that taps on themes that are both common from Panopticon as well as those seldom thought of throughout the human experience.

Hands down, Panopticon has to be regarded as one of nature’s greatest representatives in the entire world of black metal and its many different forms. It’s ever-present in each work that Panopticon puts forth with every proceeding record tapping into something different which its predecessors did not whether that happens by design or through creative accidents with 2021’s “…And Again Into the Light” seeing Panopticon take on a warmer sound while still not abandoning its core values or its approach by any means. With “The Rime of Memory”, we see the mastermind travel further down that very same path. For the whole of this 75-minute excursion through time and horrid snow-free winters, Panopticon shows us that it is still very much in a stride the likes of which is truly undeniable from the very beginning. A deeply meditative work that reflects on the milestones of aging while gazing upon the sorrowful state of the global climate as it stands, “The Rime of Memory” deals in pains that are both viciously intimate but simultaneously existential in the most heart-wrenching form. With all but one track apart from the gorgeous intro clocking below ten minutes, Panopticon puts the listener through a slow burn that is just as effective as one could ask for in such a scenario with every aspect of Panopticon’s sound having more than enough room to breathe and become its own such that “The Rime of Memory” immediately eases into place in a growing discography of underground majesty. Poignant, powerful, and far more than anything my words could ever hope to do just for, Panopticon yet again shows us why it’s a pillar of the modern black metal landscape almost second to none.

This is what it means to come before unmatched glory whose splendor simply cannot be ignored, denied, swept to the side, or diminished in any capacity. Long has Panopticon been at the forefront of showing us what happens when we continue to defile the wilderness with the decay of it and our souls constantly hand-in-hand, and nowhere has that felt more personal and critical to this act than with all that’s been presented here in these six tracks. A monolithic creation that demands the very whole of your being in order to really take in all that it has to offer, “The Rime of Memory” is nothing but outstanding.

LISTEN to “The Rime of Memory” on Bandcamp here.

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