It was just the other week that I was encountered with something that we just don’t get enough of: black metal with a clear inspiration from classic heavy metal. It’s the sort of sound that is always loaded with potential, but very rarely do we get a band that doesn’t just recognize the possibilities but executes it all in such a way that feels fantastically compelling from top to bottom. I figured after my discovery of Majak, it would be some time before the universe once again brought something before me that not only satisfied that same craving, but again defied expectations. With the arrival of Magnetar, I’m ecstatic to again be proven wrong.

From the cover art alone, it’s clear that this is an album that is easily clinging to the menace that only black metal can bring to the table and that absolutely carries throughout the entirety of the album itself. A profoundly devastating offensive upon the light of the world itself while always making time for riffs, melodies, and backdrops that can effortlessly be traced back to classic heavy metal roots, “There Will Be No Peace In My Valley” is nothing if not a wildly engaging listen from top to bottom. Seven tracks of flame and destruction unbound by the confines of our conventional reality, the absolute whole of this record is what it means to be the most diabolical form of occult seduction with all the finesse, splendor, and dark magic that one could ask for when given with melodic black metal of this particular variety. Right from the beginning, Magnetar begins weaving a captivating spell that leaves nothing to chance with damnation being the ultimate goal and ultimate chaos the means of arriving to such a visceral destiny where the concept of faith itself is ripped from the masses and innocence a long by-gone fantasy in the face of such overwhelming torture and horror. Right from the beginning, “There Will Be No Peace In My Valley” holds nothing back as Magnetar’s brand of spinning black metal beckons you further into the inferno. And once they have you well beyond the reached of that bastard light of day, Magnetar’s clutches rend your very soul asunder.

Hands down, this is the kind of metal the underground is always needing more of. Invigorating in every possible form and a damn good time in each of its seven testaments of unrelenting darkness, “There Will Be No Peace In My Valley” is a truly bombastic entrance that has instantly put Magnetar on the map of many who recognize the magnificence that’s come before us here. For those who don’t recognize the glory, woe be unto their foolish souls for their eternal suffering has only just begun.

LISTEN to “There Will Be No Peace In My Valley” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Magnetar on Facebook here.